Bleak outook for the fair day: care to help?
Animal rights lobbyists object on grounds of cruelty to animals. Ballinasloe fair green is being nibbled away, bit by bit. Smithfield horse market has been given the hard knock - it didn’t gel with nearby luxury flats. Kenmare shopkeepers object to traffic jams in the town on fair day.
Internationally, markets are now a rarity. In Ireland, drivers are no longer held up by the fair day when driving through small towns. In the US, farmers markets are now so rare as to have a novelty/tourist value.
In England the vast majority of fairs are long gone: indeed livestock may be sold over the internet.
At the moment fair days have no defenders. I would like to hear from anyone interested.
Dominic O’Neill
368 Lower Kimmage Road
Dublin 6W
