Carrick on Suir has been on a downward spiral since the 1980s according to a local activist.
The comments from Eddie Reade come in the wake of the announcement that Corman Miloko is to close in June with the loss of 31 jobs.
Speaking on Tipp Today he said the decline began in the mid-80s when the tannery closed.
“That was kind of the start of it, then we had Schiesser’s, SRAM, a lot of industries gone and now Miloko.
“You walk across the Main Street and there’s 20 odd shop fronts empty – that’s the Main Street in a fairly big size town. 400 odd metres and you’re talking about 20 empty shop fronts. If you go back to the early 80s you couldn’t walk across the Main Street and now its like a ghost town.”
Promoting the tourism aspect of Carrick on Suir is one of the key focuses for the future.
That’s according to Carrick on Suir Tourism and Economic Development Committee in the wake of the latest blow to the town with the announcement that Corman Miloko is to close in June with the loss of 31 jobs.
Maurice Power is a member of the group as well as being honorary treasurer of the Carrick on Suir Business Association.
Speaking on Tipp Today earlier he said the allocation of 18 million euro to the town under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund is a huge boost.
He says efforts will now be made to increase tourist numbers to the area.
“At the moment there are about 10,000 – or there were, 10,000 visitors a year to the castle. We want to over a period of time to bring that up to about 50,000.
“We have the Blueway also contributing to that so I think its not all bad news. We have all sorts of assets – we have rivers, we have scenery, we have mountains, we have location but the biggest asset we have is our people.”
