The mayors of Ireland's five borough corporations have called on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to amend the Local Government Bill in order to preserve the status of their corporations, as well as retain Kilkenny's city status.
In a combined statement issued after the five met in the Drogheda Corporation offices, the mayors of Drogheda, Kilkenny, Sligo, Wexford and Clonmel said they believed that being downgraded to town council status would "see the economic downgrading of these urban areas with an erosion in the level of services provided to them for centuries".
The mayors also pledged to lead the campaign in their own towns and cities, involving voluntary groups, business interests and the public in the fight to preserve their status.
The mayor of Kilkenny, Mr Paul Cuddihy (FG), said the Minister was to meet the Corporation members in the city in the autumn, and they wanted him to adopt an alternative wording to the relevant section of the Bill that allowed for the retention of the five borough corporations, without affecting its main thrust.
The Sligo mayor, Mr Sean MacManus (SF), said overseas investors were reluctant to invest in areas that had town council rather than corporation status.
The mayors of Wexford, Mr Patrick Nolan (FF), and Clonmel, Mr Brian O'Donnell (South Tipperary Workers and Unemployed Action Group), said they did not want powers for administration of water and sewerage schemes in their boroughs passing into the control of county councils.
Alderman Frank Godfrey said: "There will be no downgrading of Drogheda or the four other borough corporations. The Minister must listen to the people on this issue. There is a clear message: hands off our corporations."
The five mayors are to meet again in Kilkenny on Thursday.