It has been almost fifty years since the iconic visit of Pope John Paul II to Drogheda, but calls for the rebirth of “religious tourism” in the Louth town were sounded again this week.
Drogheda made headlines across the world when it hosted the late Pope John Paul during the first papal visit to Ireland in September 1979, an event which attracted hundreds of thousands of people, putting the town on the map as an international tourist destination.
Now, five decades on, it was another religious event – the 400th anniversary of the birth of St. Oliver Plunkett - which has led to renewed calls for Drogheda to tap into the tourism potential of divine devotion.
The monthly meeting of Drogheda Borough District saw a series of councillors highlight the success of the Oliver Plunkett commemorations in the area throughout last weekend.
Cllr. Pio Smith spoke of the “real tourism potential” which emerged from the success of the events around the commemoration.
He added that visitors were “very impressed” saying “whether you are religious or not” the shrine was a tourist attraction, and the potential for Drogheda to build on that was clear.
He called for the “Welcome to Drogheda” signs to feature information on the town as “home of the shrine to St. Oliver Plunkett” and asked for these signs to be approved for use by Louth County Council.
Cllr. Kevin Callan said: “Nobody can be in any doubt, looking at the success of the events, the tremendous potential of religious tourism for Drogheda.”
He welcomed the council’s involvement in the Oliver Plunkett exhibition held at the civic buildings.
"But anything we can do between now and the end of the year is important, because these events are going to continue to run, these people will continue to come to Drogheda, they are international visitors as well as Irish, so what they see now will encourage them to come back again.”
Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Michelle Hall praised all of the work which had been carried out around the Oliver Plunkett commemorations, including the exhibition at the Civic buildings in Drogheda, which she said had created a “vibrant and positive space”.
She added that the success of the events held to mark the anniversary had shown “the continued interest in religious tourism.”
Cllr. Hall acknowledged the challenges the church had faced, adding that she hoped that people could celebrate “their own faith systems in a more positive manner,” adding “It is great for Drogheda to be associated with it.”
Chief Executive of Louth County Council, David Conway, agreed the commemorations had been a real indication of just how popular religious events could be.
"It was a proud day for Drogheda, it was absolutely fantastic, what it showed is the ability for Drogheda to develop it’s religious tourism potential. People came from, you could say, the four corners of the world, to pay their respects to what was happening.”
He added that were a number of ways in which this could be leveraged for tourism, saying that it would be “foremost in our thoughts as we look at our Tourism Strategy which is coming up.”
He said it was hoped that the temporary exhibition on display in the civic buildings could be captured in a more permanent way.