They are worried about shops closing in Arklow.

So they introduce a one-way system on the main street?

Now I presume there is some kind of weird logic there, but I'm damned if I can see it.

They rightly say that Arklow has suffered job losses through the closure of several industries.  They also point out that a new shopping centre has opened just north of the town.  So they have identified in a nutshell why shops are closing in the main street.  What the fuck has traffic flow got to do with anything?

When unemployment goes up, people have less cash to spend and therefore retail suffers.  Simple economics.  When it comes to shopping, people prefer shopping centres because a) all the required shops are conveniently located in one place, b) there is handy parking and c) they are generally much cheaper.  Again, simple economics and simple logistics.

If reducing traffic on the main street is the solution, then the town must be booming, as it's not so long ago that the M11 motorway took all the Dublin to Wexford traffic away from the town, but this little nugget seems to have escaped them.

I am trying very hard to work out the reasoning here.

Will the one-way system make people stop and shop?  No.  Why would it?

Will the one-way system provide more parking in the main street?  Possibly, but the council will rip them off with parking fees if they do.

Or is this an attempt by some brain-dead little jobsworth to try to justify his overpaid position by providing a desperate and futile measure so he can be seen to be doing something even if it hasn't a chance in hell of achieving anything?

Somehow I suspect the latter.