I was on the road again last week and this time my destination was Charleville in Co Cork. The town is on the N20 between Limerick and Cork cities, and when traffic builds-up it can be a nightmare to get through. I’m on that road a lot and know a few shortcuts around the town, which of course is no use to Charleville as I drive by without spending a single cent.

After years of promises, it’s now been announced that the N20 is being upgraded to a motorway and in the process the town of Charleville will be bypassed. So fair dues to the Charleville Chamber of Commerce for organising a breakfast briefing for over 100 people on what this will mean for the town.

Speakers included local TD and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed who urged everyone to “think long-term and plan for the future”.

On the whole, the speakers painted a hugely positive future for the town and the region around it. With a population of just 4,250 people the town provides over 4,000 jobs in dairy and food, retail, biopharma, engineering and a range of over 200 small to medium enterprises. Agriculture is the backbone of the local economy. There’s 98 acres zoned for commercial and industrial use and land zoned for 700 houses.

William Batt, a consultant with Indecon said the challenge for Charleville, and towns like it, will be how to attract more people to live there. He said that if you take Limerick and Cork cities out of the equation there are still 280,000 people living along the motorway corridor.

“Charleville and all the towns in this region are no longer distant from anywhere, they are near ports and three airports and can compete with anywhere,” he said.

It fell to David Fitzsimons of Retail Excellence Ireland to flesh out what Charleville and towns like it have to do to remain attractive places to live, work or visit. A town plan is the first thing to do. This needs to look at what the town offers when it comes to retail and hospitality, both day and night.

It means improving the public areas with trees, seating, and painting.

It also means understanding that more and more shopping is about “weekday convenience and weekend experience”. The latter is all about a good food experience, hospitality and having something special to take part in or see.

Kilkenny is a prime example of taking this model to the limit, with over 40 festivals taking place in the city and its hinterland every year. None of it happened by accident and it takes serious commitment to keep it going.

Getting road and broadband connectivity right is critical for rural Ireland. This connectivity is also critical for our regional cities, which in order to survive and thrive must offer a counterbalance to our capital city. Of course, you can’t ban further development of Dublin and the surrounding counties and that’s not what’s being suggested. But starting with our regional cities and towns, we need to get much better at promoting them as great places to live, work and play. Well done to the Charleville Chamber of Commerce for starting the conversation in their town and region.