Ticket Sales and Retail In New Ross Affected By Ferry Bridge Closure

The closure of the Ferry Bridge in New Ross is leading to a drop in sales for the town.

That's according to Fine Gael councillor Bridin Murphy who says footfall is way down since the repair works began last month.

The key passageway between Kilkenny and Wexford is set to be closed until the end of August.

A number of road traffic incidents have been reported on the diverted routes in the area and Councillor Murphy says it's having an impact:

"There has been a number of vehicle crashes with lorries on those roads because they're not suitable to hold the volume of traffic which is now on those roads.

"People are not coming into New Ross because of those reasons and now because there has been a number of crashes, people are avoiding it.

"I was in a couple of businesses this morning and they're saying the town is quiet and they are putting that down to the closure of the bridge."

It's also feared ticket sales for events this summer are being affected by the closure.

The Guitar Festival is due to begin next week but there are fears attendence could be low as people are avoiding the area.

Councillor Murphy says this is an unintended consequence of carrying out these repairs at one of the busiest times of the year.

"People from across the other side of the bridge aren't coming here because it is quite the round trip to get into an event.

"There's a lot of festivals happening and we are starting to see the impact of that.

"It was discussed at previous municipal council meetings that there would be an impact and we're seeing that come to fruition."

Councillor Murphy says it's unfair for organisers to see their hard work not get rewarded due to circumstances outside of their control.

Yesterday's meeting of the New Ross Municipal District heard the works are on track and should be finished in about 6 weeks time.

However, Councillor Murphy says some people just can't wait that long:

"I would hate to see those festivals and events being affected because of this due to the amount of work that's being done in the background.

"You're relying on business here, you need to sell tickets in the theatre to make it viable to put on these shows and if this is having an impact, it's very unfair on those who are in it."

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.