Limerick council urges cafes and retailers to extend opening hours and increase footfall in city

The request comes following increased demand for alcohol free activities 

The night-time economy advisor for Limerick City and County Council, Craig Power, has been working on the Twilight Thursday initiative to revitalise the city. File picture

Limerick council has urged cafés and retailers to extend their opening hours to increase footfall in the city and to meet the “massive demand for non-alcohol related events”.

The night-time economy advisor for Limerick City and County Council, Craig Power, has been working on the Twilight Thursday initiative to revitalise the city.

Mr Power said there has been increased demand for alcohol free activities.

“It’s something we're trying to cater for. I’m proud to say we’ve had lots of events that are alcohol free, so we do think there is something for everyone.

"With the national night-time economy initiative, all of us advisors across the country are working on a late cafe initiative.

We'd love to see businesses come forward to us with ideas for unique events, or even just extending their opening hours because we've justified that there's definitely increased footfall in the city centre.

“If people have been in the city for Twilight Thursdays, they can visibly see it's a hell of a lot busier than usual. We're trying to get people to come back in and fall in love with the city again.” 

The initiative is also about getting people to get out and visit the city.

“In a time where you have entertainment on your fingertips with Netflix, you have your food being delivered to your house, this is a way to get people out of the house and to reconnect.

“I think loneliness is a big thing. Even last week, I heard about an elderly gentleman talking about how he used to meet his friends on a monthly basis. And now he's meeting them for the first time in 14 months because all they do is just chat on WhatsApp,” he said.

He noted there can be no guarantee that by extending opening hours, “X amount of business will come in”, but that they encourage people to think outside the box.