Kinsale town council meeting

03 November 2009

What happened last night at the Kinsale Town Council meeting , which was supposed to kick off at 7.00 pm , was completely un-democratic and pre-planned. The Council convened in private session at 6.00pm to discuss among 2 other items , the future of the Farmers Market in the town. Neither the public nor the Press were allowed in .

I believe that as of December 22nd , the Farmers Market in Kinsale will cease to exist .In truth the death knell sounded when we were moved from the Short Quay, on foot of a spurious Health and Safety audit called down by Frank Morrison. Despite numerous meetings and Emails , the County council officials , specifically the town manager, Ms Mary Ryan , from Ennis, Co Clare have refused to discuss or address the issues in the H and S report with me , as Market Manager.

As far as they are concerned a move back to the Short Quay is not an option,

and the only alternatives are completely un-suitable and ridiculously expensive, and would result in the closing down of the market , and would also remove it as a draw to the thousands of tourists that frequented it up to this point . we will be re-licensed

I do not believe we will be re-licensed in our present location , in the Town Park , unless we agree to pay a minimum of 20,000 euros to the council , to subsidize

a move that we don’t want , weren’t consulted about , and won’t agree to . Make no mistake , this is merely a money grab by the Council , without any commitment to

pay someone to run the Market .

As we discovered to the Stall-holders cost this year , the market will not survive being moved around , and needs to be in the centre of town , to be of any benefit to the town , and to the Stall-holders. We have already lost 4 stalls, and will lose more.

It is in-arguable that the café’s and shops in the town centre are noticeably

quieter on Tuesday mornings ,since we moved to the Town park , which is only 100 metres away!

I fail to see what more I can do , other than to let events take their course , to the detriment of the town of Kinsale . Don’t say you have not been warned .

Miles Cattell