Shops lead counter revolution
It was a day of obligation for country people who visited their local shops, bought their presents and began the countdown to the festivities.
Women ordered the turkey from the local butcher and cleared unpaid bills. Men folk had a seasonal drink in the pub and talked about the dying year and the state of the country. And children gazed in wonder at the colourful displays of decorations and toys.
Good fellowship abounded. There was a special bond between shoppers and shopkeepers. They depended on each other for survival. There was mutual respect and trust.
Women would bring a dozen of eggs to the shopkeepers in appreciation of their kindness during the year and they, in turn, would present them with an iced cake or a box of chocolates as a ‘thank you’ for their custom.
Today, the eighth of December is still a big shopping outing but the retail landscape in rural Ireland is unrecognisable from the time when it was a landmark date in the lives of the people.
Back in those days, people could buy groceries, wallpaper, paint, mixtures for cough, and tyres for bicycles in what were one-stop shops before the term was even invented.
And then there was the chat across the counter, which was often laced with infectious good humour.
Much of that social inter-action was lost when local shops gave way to the supermarket and chain stores. The growth in large supermarkets and out-of- town shopping centres dealt a severe blow to the small shops connected to their communities.
The latest journal of Cumann Luachra devotes 16 pages to the demise of rural shops with a focus on the changes that have taken place in Rathmore and Gneeveguilla in Co Kerry, and Boherbue in Co Cork.
Donal Hickey, the editor of the publication, writes that Rathmore once had more than 40 shops.
Today, it has just three, all supermarkets. Brosna once had 17 shops. It now has one. Some villages are without a shop of any kind, such as Mountcollins and Tournafulla.
Those changes are reflected in statistics which show that the number of grocery outlets has reduced by 54% since 1977. Nearly 90% of the market is now controlled by five groups, Tesco, SuperValu, Dunnes, Aldi, and Lidl.
Kevin M Leyden and Richard Silke from the School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway estimate that the figures equate to 13 shops shutting their doors every week.
They say that local shops offer a service for many that cannot be replicated by multinational chains. Their importance should not be underestimated. Policy-makers should recognise the role they play and support them through planning guidelines.
Those issues were highlighted earlier this year when the Kilkenny Leader Partnership worked with south Tipperary, north Tipperary, Carlow, and Laois Leader and Partnership groups to organise Ireland’s first national conference on community shops in Horse and Jockey, Co Tipperary.
‘Counter Revolution’ was the rather apt title of the conference, which was attended by more than 200 people who heard there is no right or wrong way of setting up a community shop. All that is needed is a committed community, a few volunteers and a venue.
Declan Rice, Kilkenny Leader Partnership chief executive, predicted that community shops are going to become huge over the next few years.
With rising transport costs and the closure of more and more commercial services in rural areas, there is increasing pressure on communities to provide their own solutions.
A number of communities have already set up their own local shop and others are in the process of doing so.
Crosspatrick in Co Kilkenny is one such place. Joan Vaughan told the conference how their community shop was born out of panic. She said the chilling fact came as the first pub closed, then the post office, but it was only when the village shop closed that the reality of the situation dawned. No one stopped in the village anymore.
Crosspatrick opened its shop with volunteer help. Profits are put back into the community, but the real profit, according to Joan Vaughan, is that local people continue to meet each other and have a chat andthe craic.
Meanwhile, in Loughmore, Co Tipperary, similar moves were made to combat the decline in services and the even bigger problem of rural isolation.
It all led to Mary Fogarty and Maeve O’Hair opening a co-operative community shop and tea rooms in a renovated 18th century cottage that retains many of its original features.
The shop, opened in 2012, is based on a concept developed by the Plunket Foundation, which has set up around 260 community shops in England. It has the support of the community and that of North Tipperary Leader, and prides itself on locally produced food and crafts.
Ms Fogarty said they offered parishioners the opportunity to become shareholders in this new co-operative and were delighted with the response they received from the entire parish.
“There are no words that can express the joys and happiness the cottage has brought back to our entire community,” she said. “It has actually given it back its heartbeat. There is now life in what was a dead village.”
