Wexford council delay Gorey town centre works to allow businesses avail of Christmas trade

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Wexford County Council (WCC) has confirmed that works to upgrade Esmonde Street in Gorey town centre will now commence in January. Originally scheduled to begin in September, the works had been delayed due to contractual issues with Irish Rail and Uisce Éireann (UE). However, with Christmas fast approaching and retailers fearing their busiest time of the year would be negatively impacted, there were calls to wait until the New Year to begin construction of new footpaths, cycle lanes and road surfaces on Esmonde St.

Now the council has confirmed that it will wait until January to begin the works thus allowing traders to avail of the additional footfall over the festive period.

Welcoming the news, the cathaoirleach of WCC, Councillor Joe Sullivan said common sense had prevailed.

"This will give traders the opportunity to get full value out of Christmas without any interruptions,” said the Gorey councillor. “The works will commence in January which, I feel, is a common sense approach on behalf of the council. Those businesses are the lifeblood of the town and anything which impacts upon their ability to trade at their busiest time of the year would be counterproductive. This is the right decision for all concerned.”