The Celtic Tiger: From roar to snore?
The shop in question is situated on the main Newcastle West-Tralee Road and can’t be missed by passing traffic. With all glass frontage and running over 8,000sq feet, it’s a riot of colour, modern design and pattern.
Objekt could sit in Montparnasse in Paris or on Sachs Avenue in New York and not look remotely out of place. The west Limerick shop just exudes the confidence, money and ambition of Celtic Tiger Ireland.
Its owner Aoife Hayes laughs at my assertion. “Yes. Ten years ago it would have been hard to imagine certain towns in Ireland as pioneers when it comes to the subject of contemporary interior decoration. We’re finding ourselves at the forefront of a revolution of sorts,” she says.
Furniture brands here are the stuff of Elle Decoration and other such high-end interior magazines. From the Missoni rugs, Leolux furniture, to the perspex dining room chairs and rubber bean bags, it’s a modernist’s heaven. Scattered around the shop are copies of magazines like Munster Interiors which, in itself, owe their existence to the Celtic Tiger and its property boom.
Newcastle West — which likes to describe itself as the capital of west Limerick — was described as the fastest growing town in Ireland in 2000. It has experienced a significant influx of immigrants which helped double its population in 20 years to about 8,000 in 2002.
The town, 36 miles from Tralee and 26 miles from Limerick city, was built around the Castle of the Geraldine Earls of Desmond more than 600 years ago and continues, to this day, to be a huge commercial centre.
Cutting through the town centre is the fast-flowing River Arra — which caused mayhem when it burst its banks during the summer — while the old Desmond demesne and its castle provides up to 40 acres of public parkland for locals.
The town may have once been the fastest growing in Ireland but now worries are growing about its ability to sustain itself post-Celtic Tiger, as the town’s biggest employer for the past decade has been construction. There is some industry on the outskirts of the town like Pallas Foods, a food distribution company which employs 300 people and Rettig, an engineering company which employs a further 300. Many more of the employers are a commute away from the town, companies like Wyeth Nutrition in Askeaton and the Aughinish alumina refinery on the River Shannon between Askeaton and Foynes.
But, just like west Waterford, west Limerick has suffered badly because of the imploding global chicken industry with hundreds of jobs lost in the past four years at Castlemahon and Kantoher chicken plants, 300 and 140 jobs respectively.
Ireland just can’t compete with the chickens being farmed in Thailand and elsewhere in the Far East where regulation and cost are depressingly low.
Walking around the town, it’s inspiring to see how few chain stores there are. Every street has at least two or three boutiques and, chatting to the owners, most seem locally owned.
Probably the best known to fashionistas is Ela Maria’s on the square, which opened in 1981 and now holds three floors of labels like Escada, Armani, Maria Grazia and Laurel. Its owner Mary Hayes admits that the Celtic Tiger was good to Newcastle West and to her and her family who own several businesses in the town.
“It was a crazy time,” she says. “The amount of money that was around the town had rocketed out of all proportion. I believe, that as a nation, we needed to be brought down to reality. Even when we opened in the 80S we did well though. I think that people spent more on clothes then and were less obsessed with going out and going on holidays.”
Mary isn’t concerned about her business suffering with the credit crunch. “We have generations of the same family coming to us. I’ll know many people by first name and now see their children coming in to me. We have a steady clientele.”
The mood, however, isn’t so cheery across the river at Sherry Fitzgerald’s auctioneers where local managing director Colm O’Donovan openly admits to being “shell shocked” at the speed and scale of the property downturn.
Colm worked in an estate agents in Tralee before moving back to his hometown. “I could see a lot of potential here,” he says wistfully. “In 1998, there were one or two housing estates being built in the town. Five years later, there were at least eight at any one time.”
He admits he now sees the immigrants packing their bags and leaving Ireland. “Not all of them though. There are still many here,” he says.
“It was great for the past few years but now I have never seen confidence so low. So much of the housing market is based on psychology. When prices went through the roof, I couldn’t get people out of my shop and now, when there is a buyers’ market, I can’t get them in the door.”
On the day I visit, I am the only person in the shop apart from Colm and one other employee.
Colm believes that the Government have to get more high-end industry into towns like Newcastle West, citing land prices that are half that of Limerick city, good road and airport access, a well-educated workforce and a good infrastructure.
“On every front, we are competitive in this town — just look at our house prices here. You can still get a four-bed semi for upwards of €220,00. Prices may have risen here but we never lost out on affordability. We can compete very well with Cork and Limerick on so many levels”.
Mary Kelly is a part-time teacher, former senator and mother of six. Despite her Labour Party background, she is effusive in her praise of what the Government did for Newcastle West.
“There have been massive changes in this town, beyond our wildest dreams. It’s gone from being somewhere where you knew everybody that passed you on the street to somewhere where you mightn’t recognise the person walking past you, never mind not be able to name them,” she says.
She says the need for the town to develop its own industrial jobs has been a “mantra” among all the parties for a long time.
“Hundreds of jobs have been lost at Kantoher and Castlemahon and the worry now is about the local radiator valve factory, Scanglo, as the housing downturn continues. We still have good employment at Ballygowan Water and Pallas Foods but you can’t help but see the ‘houses for sale’ signs that are everywhere,” she says.
But Mary is resolutely upbeat about the future of the town that she has lived in for 35 years.
“The town has hugely benefited over the past 15-20 years. Look at all the younger people setting up shops and making money from them. There’s the new secondary school, Desmond College, a new Gaelscoil, the upgrading of the existing schools, new county council offices and social welfare offices. There’s also the upgrading of the square, Maiden Street and St Ita’s Hospital.
“This social infrastructure will withstand a recession. This investment in the town will allow it to bounce back. I believe things will continue to plateau off but they will rise again,” she says.
For Shay O’Riordan, manager of investment company West Limerick Resources, the Desmond Complex in the town, for community activities, exists thanks to the economic boom.
“There was a huge upsurge in community investment. Just look at the new community radio station, West Limerick 102. That has been a huge asset to the town. It has given the community a real boost and allowed great networking. And, there’s the Desmond Complex which is a top quality facility. The day of draughty run-down community halls is gone. Places like the Desmond Complex, with its community crèche, meeting rooms and daycare centre for the elderly, are quality environments where people enjoy being,” he says.
A mother of two, who did not wish to be named, says Newcastle West has changed beyond recognition.
“I just look at my children. They had everything they wanted down the line, clothes, toys, whatever. And, their clothes were all brand names. We had foreign holidays every year and a break in Ireland every Easter. It was great.
“There was so much money that there was no regard for money. If a bike was punctured, they wanted a new one. People always wanted to be spending money and the road to Limerick city was choc-a-bloc every Saturday. There was no problem getting loans. But I tell you it’s changed now. The credit union has gone very strict and there are sales on in shops everywhere.”
Looking out her window, she points out the houses which have been left vacant by immigrants.
“Why wouldn’t they go home if there isn’t work here? Why would they stay?” she asks.
As for Aoife Hayes in Objekt Design, she doesn’t think that her shop will be under huge pressure with the property slowdown. First-time buyers were never her market.
“I think Irish people like to spend money on their home now and the trend now is for people to renovate what they have or extend rather than buy. People will always want furniture and, for young people, something a bit different. We have a particular market of medium to high-end earners and we should be fine.”
