Drogheda - Local Economy

Local Economy

The local economy of Drogheda, like that of many other towns in Ireland, is changing rapidly. The old industries based around linen and textiles, brewing, shipping and manufacturing have now disappeared or are in decline. In recent times, business has slowed because of the recession and Drogheda faces an increase in unemployment.

There are still a number of large employers in the town, including:

• Glanbia, dairy products factory. (Glanbia Dairies, Drogheda was founded as Ryan Dairies (1957), becoming DDD (Drogheda & Dundalk Dairies) in 1959. Taken over by Avommore Dairies in 1986, which merged with Waterford to form Glanbia in 1997).
• Premier RHI AG, or Premier Periclase, produces Seawater Magnesia products at its plant - 115 employees
• Flogas, a national gas distributor
• Natures Best, a fresh food processor
• Hilton Foods, a meat processor
• Boyne Valley Foods, a producer and distributor of olive oil, jams and honey
• Irish Cement, Ireland's largest cement works at Platin.
• International Flavours & Fragrances (IFF), a producer of perfumes and food fragrances (plant closed 2010)
• Becton Dickinson (BD), a manufacturer of medical syringes and associated equipment

Recent additions to the local economy include:

• IDA Business and Technology Park: a 25 hectares (62 acres) area with direct access onto the Dublin-Belfast motorway, developed and landscaped for the needs of both the IT, financial and internationally traded services sectors.
• International Fund Services, a leading provider of fund accounting and administration services to the hedge fund industry globally, is to establish a hedge fund administration operation in Drogheda, Co. Louth, with the creation of up to 235 jobs.
• Eight enterprise incubation units for high tech startup companies are provided in the Milmount complex.

The opening of the Drogheda bypass has led to the development of two large retail parks adjacent to the motorway, either side of the Boyne cable bridge. On the northside, is the M1 Retail Park and on the southside is the Drogheda Retail Park.

Unfortunately due to the recession and economic crash, a multitude of business and factories have closed down in Drogheda. As a result of this, Drogheda has a serious unemployment problem, which has in turn led to a serious rise in social problems, including crime (organised, violent and petty), poverty, lack of affordable housing, homelessness, and various substance abuse. As a result large parts of Drogheda have been designated RAPID areas, which means that areas have been identified by the Government as urban areas of concentrated disadvantage.