Town keeps its locals onside amid changes

Five years ago, business in Newcastle West was challenging. Claire O’Sullivan returns to see what changes have occurred and how owners have coped

IF YOU walk around any city in Ireland, it’s depressing to see the number of shops that lie vacant. Some units in swanky retail developments have never had a tenant while others on more established thoroughfares housed businesses that traded for generations but couldn’t ride out the recession.

So imagine how hard it must be to earn a living from a small shop in a small provincial town. The picturesque town of Newcastle West in Limerick is 58km from Tralee and 42km from Limerick City. It has seen dozens of businesses go under in the past five years as thousands joined the dole queue following the collapse of Castlemahon and Kantoher poultry plants, as well as the construction industry.