THE 1,500 residents of Slane in Co Meath have their work cut out to bring some life back into their village in the run up to their 250th anniversary later this year.

The main business premises in the village, the Cunningham Arms Hotel closed only a few weeks ago, after trading for the best part of a century. 0ther recent closures include Meade’s butchers shop, one of the oldest business premises in the village, a high class restaurant, The Poet’s Rest, and a supermarket next the hotel.

Earlier, branches of the Bank of Ireland and AIB had also folded. Even the local garda station is only manned periodically despite a sharp increase in the number of young people using drugs.

So Meath County Council's plan to mark the anniversary by opening a tourism and heritage centre on the site of two rundown cottages donated to it by Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mountcharlescomes as welcome news. The cottages are just off Slane's main street.

The scenic village once attracted thousands of tourists each year but lost out heavily when a new entrance to Newgrange was opened on the opposite side of the River Boyne.

Visitors to the world famous site now seldom travel on to Slane because of the lack of facilities and the heavy passing traffic mainly from Northern Ireland.

Local councillor Wayne Harding, one of many campaigning for a by-pass around the village, says the heavy traffic has “crushed the very life out of Slane”. A study has shown that on average 2.5 lorries pass through the village centre every minute.

Efforts to redevelop part of the village have also been frustrated by An Taisce which recently blocked a development of 25 townhouses which had earlier been approved b y the local planners. To add to the woes of local business people, the usual Slane concert which brings thousands of people into the village, was not held this year. A range of other concert venues have now grabbed the action.