The council is to meet with representatives of Mullingar Chamber to discuss the future of street festivals in the town, following a debate at last week’s meeting of Mullingar Town Council.
Cllr Peter Burke wanted to ascertain whether the street days held to date had been a success for the town.
“We have set aside €30,000 in the budget for 2012 to support the business and retail sector, and I just want to ensure businesses are getting the benefit of it. If we had one festival weekend, would it be easier to market?” he wondered.
Cllr Bill Collentine said he felt festivals had proven very successful thus far.
“They should be expanded, but we are not ready to build up to a big festival yet; this will happen gradually,” he said.
Meanwhile Cllr Mick Dollard said people had to come into the town in the first place “to see what it has to offer”.
“We should be trying to attract not just our own people but those from outside the town and from other counties. Maybe it is time to revisit the traffic plan and see if one or two streets can be pedestrianised,” he suggested.
