15-07-2010
Kieran Dineen in the echo last night

Hundreds join Kinsale market campaign

KIERAN DINEEN

MORE than 200 people signed a petition yesterday calling for a return of the Kinsale farmers market to its former spot.

The market used to be staged on Short Quay, in the middle of the town, but was moved to the St Multose Church carpark five months ago on health and safety grounds due to a problem with electrical cables going across the road.

Mike Cattell, the organiser of the market, said the 30 traders experienced a drop in trade to the order of 60% when they moved to the new site for the market. He said over the months the number of traders had dropped to about half of what had been there originally.

The licence has now expired for the use of the church carpark and the farmers market has, according to Mr Cattell, now effectively collapsed.

The traders are now demanding that the market be held in its original place, on the Short Quay.

Mr Cattell set up his fruit and veg stall on the quay yesterday, as no licence is needed to sell those products, and will do the same again next week. He collected more than 200 signatures from people who want to see the farmer’s market back in the town yesterday.
Mr Cattell said the traders had got an engineer to carry out a safety report which found no problem with holding the market at the quay.
He said he could not understand why holding a market on the plaza fell foul of health and safety standards when Kinsale was able to host a concert there recently as part of the Clipper celebrations and during Kinsale Arts Week.
“Some of the 30 traders are local producers who would rely on the market for 40% of their sales. Traders will end up moving somewhere else and the town will have lost its farmer’s market forever.” he said.
Cllr Michael Frawley, mayor of the town, said he would love to see the market back in Short Quay, however, the health and safety report had been carried out by an independent engineer and that ruling had to be followed.
He said a solution must be found as the market was a great addition to the town, but that it must also take into account the views of businesses in the town.