Economic boom provides added boost to buoyant towns along the east coast

The east coast of Ireland has always been the nation's centre of commercial activity. Many towns close to Dublin have had higher population densities and better infrastructure than those further from the capital. And there is room for even more expansion: the economic boom is affecting towns like Dundalk, Drogheda, Wicklow and Arklow, and in varying degrees, they are all experiencing growth.

Dundalk, for example, is on the brink of buoyancy. Held back for years by the troubles in the North, it is now about to get an 80-acre technological park. Its third level institute, the Dundalk Institute of Technology, is expanding hugely and locally, there are hopes that it will gain university status. Recent sewage works in the town give Dundalk the capacity to service a population of 50,000.

Navan is an Irish town undergoing a transformation worthy of attention. With a population of 22,000, it has been targeted as a centre of growth north of Dublin. Commercial, industrial and residential developments here are growing at a steady pace. Coastal towns such as Drogheda, Wicklow and Arklow have experienced substantial trade through their ports in the past. But the boom in housing developments in places like Drogheda is undoubtedly linked to an enlarged commuter belt servicing Dublin. .

However, Wicklow and Arklow are lagging behind midlands towns such as Portlaoise and Mullingar in terms of the number of new housing developments. But housing in these towns is nonetheless attracting Dublin buyers pushed out by inflated prices in the capital.