Cork City traders unveil plan for expanded Princes St market over the holiday weekend

Expanded 'eat on the street' will coincide with the first public holiday of the year, and with Munster Rugby's match against Crusaders in Páirc Uí Chaoimh 

Among those taking to the street — Princes St in Cork — this weekend are Edito Ortaleza, Quinlan’s Seafood Restaurant; Paul and Cliodhna Montgomery, Clancy’s Cork; Sonya Hickey, Irish Cancer Society; Gerard McCarthy of Gerard McCarthy Trophies; Corine Ngandeu, Cork Niche Fragrances, and Salvatore Toscano of Rossini’s restaurant. Picture: Larry Cummins 

Cork City traders who pioneered an ‘eat on the street’ venture, hailed as an inspiring post-pandemic recovery initiative, have unveiled plans for a new street market for this holiday weekend.

The Prince’s St traders developed the idea in response to the wave of negativity after a raft of high-profile restaurant closures since the start of the year, including the shock closure of the street’s Nash 19.

They plan to bring their business outdoors again this Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4pm to encourage people into the city and interact with the street in a new way.

And, with the Rugby Six Nations tournament kicking off on Friday, and Munster playing the Super Rugby Champions Crusaders in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, the city is expecting thousands of visitors.

Mathia Righetti, Daniele Plati, and Davide Pinna will be serving up Ristorante Rossini’s fine Italian food and drinks on Princes St, Cork, on Saturday and Sunday. Picture: Larry Cummins

The pubs and restaurants will serve food outdoors as usual under the street’s colourful parasols.

The event will also feature outdoor cooking and cookery demonstrations, and some traders will offer their goods, everything from t-shirts to trophies, paintbrushes to perfume, for sale from market stalls.

Paul Montgomery, who runs Clancy’s pub, said the trading environment is very challenging and various business groups have been lobbying local and national government for solutions. In the meantime, he said it is vital that business owners find solutions where they can and respond in a proactive and positive way.

Corine Ngandeu of Cork Niche Fragrances is one of the Princes St business owners who will be trading their wares from stalls on Princes St on Saturday and Sunday. Pictures: Larry Cummins

“There’s no doubt that things are very difficult for everyone at the moment and there has been a lot of negativity, especially around the city centre,” he said.

“Certainly, the closure of Nash 19 here had a big impact — that resonated nationwide.

Clíodhna and Paul Montgomery of Clancy's, with Salvatore Toscano of Rossini's and Gerard McCarthy of Gerard McCarthy Trophies outside J Joyce and Co in advance of the holiday weekend street market on Princes St in Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

“We now need to find more reasons for people to come into the city centre, to offer them something new, to assure them that it is safe and value for money, and we think this street market venture will do that,” Mr Montgomery said. 

Salvatore Toscano, of Ristorante Rossini, said that, when Nash 19 closed, the street didn’t just lose a great neighbour, it also lost a great voice for the street, and that Cork had lost a champion of the city and of Irish producers.

“And when someone like Claire Nash has to close, someone who is driven and passionate, who did what the system wants, that’s very tough to take,” he said.

“It is challenging out there, there’s no doubt about it, and the restaurants and pubs really do need to be separated from hotels on the vat rate.

“Some businesses are struggling but it’s not all doom and gloom.

One thing we learned from the pandemic is that if we work as a team, we survive. We are being proactive, we are coming together, we want to fight this together.

“So this weekend, it’s about creating a neighbourhood feel, creating a community in the city centre.”

He said visitors to the street market will be able to watch some of his seven Italian chefs cooking outdoors, including the visually spectacular bucatini cacio e pepe — a traditional handmade pasta prepared by cooking the pasta on a giant sambuca-soaked flaming wheel of parmesan.

Mr Montgomery said: “There’s a symbolic element to this street market idea too — it’s not just the food and drink businesses, it’s everyone working together to offer something new, to encourage people to visit the city centre, to interactive with the street in a new way.”

The Restaurants Association of Ireland estimates that 280 Irish restaurants and cafés were forced to close between last July and December, with 50 closures announced in November alone.

Among the casualties in Cork City since January 1 were Pigalle, Tung Sing, which had been trading on St Patrick's Street for some 60 years, MacCurtain St restaurant and bar White Rabbit, and Electric on South Mall.

However, it was the shock closure of Nash 19 on Princes St that rocked the city and the hospitality industry more widely, given Ms Nash’s national profile.

It also focused political attention on the issues facing business owners, including the restored 13.5% vat rate, the increase in the minimum wage, changes of pensions, and especially warehoused debt.

Both the Tánaiste and Finance Minister have since indicated that Government is examining the terms of the debt warehousing arrangements.