Thats a very confusing question, indeed I have been criticised heavily in the past, by visitors to this website, some of whom don’t even live in Sligo, demanding I call Sligo a City.
But what is the criteria involved in making a town become a city?
It has nothing to do with the population of Sligo, nor has it anything to do with the fact that there is a cathedral (or two) in Sligo.
So what is the official criteria for defining when a town is no longer a town, but a city?
Even the Department of the Environment, which is responsible for all local authorities in the country, said that for administrative purposes there are just five cities in the country laid out in the Local Government Act of 2001.
These are Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
The spokesperson said that other than that they couldn’t really say whether Sligo could be regarded as a city or not, because in this country there is no official criteria as such in terms of population or otherwise to define what is a city.
However, Academics from Dublin Institute of Technology and the Urban Forum claimed that even if Sligo‘s population doubles over the next 20 years it will not become a city.
They went on to say that Sligo and other so-called “Gateway Cities” cannot grow enough to become “cities”, they not only say that Sligo isn’t a “city”, they reckon it will never be one.
So, does it really matter that much whether we are called a town or a city?
Kilkenny with a population of 22,000 it is always referred to as a city – you never hear it called Kilkenny Town , and thats all down to King James who, in the year 1609, declared Kilkenny a city by Royal Charter .
So, is Sligo a town or a city? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know your opinion’s by Clicking Here and your answer’s could be printed on this very website.
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