Cork retailers seek heavier garda presence on city centre streets

Energy support scheme will be extended if needed

Pictured at the Retail Excellence, informative retail and discussion event at the Deane Hotel, in Cork were from left, Duncan Graham, CEO Retail Excellence Ireland; Paul Gallagher, Corkboard member and MD Skechers; Damien English TD Minister of State, business, employment and retail and Matthew Browne, retail futurist consultant. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Retailers in Cork said a heavier Garda presence is needed on the city’s streets as they are experiencing a concerning increase in antisocial behaviour.

Businesses complained of regular incidents of open drug use, thefts and abuse of staff a city centre locations.

At a gathering of retailers in Cork yesterday hosted by Retail Excellence and attended by the minister of state for business, employment and retail Damien English, business owners said they feared criminal incidents would impact the attractiveness of the city centre struggling after the impact of pandemic restrictions.

Cork Business Association president Kevin Herlihy told the meeting they have written to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris asking him to come to Cork to speak to retailers about the issue.

“It is becoming a bigger problem,” he said. “We saw recently on Prime Time about the same issues in Dublin. I have experienced incidents personally in just the last week and other members are the same.

“It’s not as bad as Dublin but it is bad and it’s getting worse. It needs to be nipped in the bud,” he said.

Mr English said he would bring the matters raised to Justice Minister Helen McEntee.

Mr English took a walking tour of Cork yesterday to assess the state of retail sector in the city and met with Cork City Council

Speaking at the event, the minister also responded to queries relating to soaring energy costs businesses are facing. He said the €1.25bn temporary business energy support scheme announced in the budget that is due to expire in February would be extended if required but said they were taking the issue month by month.

“We don’t know what is going to happen with energy come March. However, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that if we were in the same situation with energy prices the scheme would not be extended. If we have to extend it further then the money is there.”

Retail Excellence CEO Duncan Graham said they wanted to hold the event on the future of retail in Cork as the city made a number of progressive steps during the pandemic with the support of the city council including expanding pedestrianised areas and supporting outdoor dining.

The event, held in The Dean hotel, was also addressed by retail consultant Matthew Brown who spoke of the changing trends globally since the onset of the pandemic. Despite the rise in online shopping in recent decades, which surged further during the pandemic, Mr Brown said physical retail stores were still the future.

“Even Amazon are experimenting with physical stores looking at ways to connect the online world to the offline,” he said.

Mr Brown said there was no reason regional cities such as Cork should have to play second best to other cities. He pointed to Lifestyle Sports on St Patrick’s Street, on the site of the former Capitol Cinema, which he said was the best store in the chain, as evidence of how smaller cities can lead in retail.

Earlier, the minister officially opened the new Cork Southern Region office of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to provide members of the public with the agency’s services including dispute resolution, redress, and enforcement.