Proposal to revitalise town’s thoroughfare with arts quarter

An east Cork town hopes to reverse a long-term commercial decline on two of its main thoroughfares by transforming the area into an arts quarter.

Friar St/South Main St in Youghal — which extends 200m from the town’s Cork entrance to the town centre’s Clock Gate — was traditionally a bustling thoroughfare.

As five factory closures contributed to the loss of more than 2,000 jobs from the mid-1980s, the streets reflected the decline. Friar St/South Main St lost a hotel, two cinemas, several pubs, two bookmakers and numerous small retailers. Approximately 17 former retail premises lie idle in the area.