Year in Review: Looking back on the news across Louth in July 2025

1 July
15 year old Kofi Jackson Owusu, who tragically drowned while swimming with friends in Laytown, Co Meath, was remembered as “a great young man” who brought “joy and smiles” to everyone as he was laid to rest last Friday.
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Officials from Louth County Council met with elected members of Dundalk Municipal District to discuss recent environmental concerns raised about Blackrock Beach.
The meeting addressed several key issues, including the build-up of seaweed, the designation of bathing areas and water quality.

8 July
A total of €1,142,988.63 in representational payments and expenses was paid to Louth councillors in 2024, an increase of over €43,000 on the amounts paid in 2023, according to figures recently released by Louth County Council.
The highest amount was paid to Cllr Seán Kelly, who received €52,365.25 in total, and the lowest amount paid to a councillor who served as councillor for a full year in 2024, was to Cllr Kevin Meenan, who received €32,063.30.
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Louth County Council surpassed its social housing delivery target for 2022–2024, completing 1,030 new homes, which was 6% above the assigned target of 976 units.
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The Louth Garda Division saw a significant increase in the number of burglary offences recorded in the county in the 12 month period to March 2025, compared to the previous 12 months, according to the latest figures released by the CSO.
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Dundalk Chamber of Commerce announced the appointment of John McGahon as its new CEO.

15 July

Figures released by the HSE through request by the Freedom of Information Act 2014 show that over €7,975,216 was spent by Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Louth County Hospital on the services of recruitment firms and agency staff last year, not including the month of December.
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An Bord Pleanála has upheld the decision by Louth County Council to refuse planning permission for a development of 37 new homes in Haggardstown.
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Dundalk Institute of Technology said it was delighted to welcome its new Students’ Union (SU) Team for the academic year 2025-2026.
Gerry O’Brien steps into the role of SU President, Tobi Bewaji, took the role of Vice President for Student Engagement; and Rosheen Hornby joined the team as the new Vice President for Welfare and Equality
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Louth County Council has been asked to carry out a road safety audit at a junction near Faughart National School, and carry out appropriate traffic calming measures and renewed line markings.
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Ardee representative, Cllr Dolores Minogue, has hit out what she described as a “lack of clear and timely communication” from Uisce Éireann (formerly Irish Water), in relation to a water outage in the Ardee area over the past number of days.

22 July

More than 2,700 sixth class pupils in Louth have been left waiting over six months for routine dental checks while nearly 100 children with the most severe orthodontic needs are stuck in limbo for up to two years, according to HSE figures.
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New plans are underway for a mixed-use development in Ardee, that if given the go ahead would see the development of a new hotel, apartments and retail units in the mid-Louth town.
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There were just three homes available to rent in Dundalk, within either the standard or the discretionary rate of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Scheme, over the three dates surveyed in June for the latest Simon Communities of Ireland’s quarterly Locked Out of the Market report.

29 July

An Bord Pleanála upheld the decision by Louth County Council to refuse planning permission for a new Large-scale Residential Development (LRD) in Dundalk, that had it been given the go ahead, would have seen the construction of 194 apartments on a site at Hill Street.
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Dundalk-Carlingford local representative, Cllr Fiona Mhic Conchoille, has welcomed the support received for a motion she brought before Louth County Council at its July meeting, calling on the Central Bank of Ireland to immediately stop the regulation of the Israeli Bond Issuance Programme.