Concerns about vacant units and missing businesses

In addition to foot-traffic woes, locals like Luke Fitzpatrick, manager of JF Sports, point out notable vacancies.

“If you’re not on Tullow Street or not in the Fairgreen, you’re probably missing out a bit. But then you see prime spots on Tullow Street empty. You have the shop across the road (from us) that’s empty, and the café at the corner, that’s empty as well.” 

The abrupt closure of Wetherspoons still mystifies many who saw the Carlow branch as successful, yet it vanished along with other regional locations. And Carlow Shopping Centre, once anchored by Superquinn/SuperValu, has struggled to retain new tenants – Claire’s Accessories, Penneys and Sam McCauley’s have all moved on.

Cralow County Council chief executive Coilin O’Reilly points to the council’s proactive approach to vacant buildings: “There were two (empty) shops near St Leo’s that we’ve taken back and now they are social housing units. We took the two on Dublin Street, Cox’s Lane, we took those two buildings back and there are now six apartments and six houses. You can bring people back living in the town centre; it’s an intervention around getting people living in the town centre rather than outside.”

 The council also has a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) programme for long-standing empty units. Mr O’Reilly highlights an example on Tullow Street: “The one beside the barber shop – we’re putting it on the derelict sites register and that’s the first step to CPO.” He considers this approach “a really good tool for us for the regeneration of town centres”, noting that of their social housing delivery last year – roughly 92 units – half came from vacant properties rather than new builds.

Some mention that even if better parking or events attracted more people, poor lighting in the town centre remains a deterrent. Pat Bramley says: “I don’t know if you ever came into Carlow on a dark evening, it’s terrifying. Some people say they won’t come into the town after four o’clock on dark evenings.” He wants to see lighting in the core improved to match the well-lit roads on the outskirts. Survey data from YourCarlow.ie (the council’s September 2024 public survey asking residents what they would like to see improved upon in the town) backs him up: ‘appropriate street lighting’ ranked among the top five improvements people wanted.