Pop-up stall adds flavour of West Cork to English Market

City shoppers can pick up west Cork produce direct from a dedicated pop-up shop in the English Market from today.

The ‘Fresh from West Cork’ stall opened this morning at Unit Six, offering goods from more that 30 of the region’s top market suppliers.

The venture will see fresh fish, vegetables, organic beef, smoked fish, artisan breads, jams, chutneys, meats, cheeses and organic sea salt on sale as the Christmas shopping season takes hold.

Goleen-based organic farmer Walter Ryan-Purcell has spearheaded the effort to open the stall for the past year.

“It’s a pop-up shop to begin with, but since the food we have to offer is absolutely delicious, we hope the customers will like us so much they will want us to stay.”

He secured pledges of €100 from more than 50 supporters to set up the fledgling business.

“The support for the stall idea has been incredible, right from the start. It’s such a simple idea. West Cork is the home of some really fantastic food so it makes a lot of sense to have a stall in the city. It’s exciting.”

The fridges and much of the produce arrived at the English Market yesterday, ready for today’s opening. Mr Ryan-Purcell is relocating to Cork temporarily to man the stall, which opens Monday to Saturday.

Cork City Council has given provisional permission for the stall and the group tendered for a permanent slot in the English Market last week.

A pop-up stall set up in Schull over the summer months went down a treat with both locals and tourists.

“We initially thought we were getting a stall last March, (to open on St Patrick’s Day), but that fell through, so this is the next focus. It’s a long process, but we are sticking with it.

“The stall in Schull went brilliantly. It showed us that really all you need is footfall,” Mr Ryan-Purcell said.