resronse from Minister Gormley's office

Dear Mr Cattell ,

I refer again to your recent emails in connection with the Kinsale Farmers Market.

I made some enquiries on your behalf with the Town Manager Ms. Mary Ryan and she informed me that there are no plans to relocate the farmers market back to Short Quay. According to Ms. Ryan, there are two separate reports which identify Health and Safety concerns with that location. The Town Council have identified an alternative location at Church Square car park which they say is satisfactory for most of the traders. They propose to continue the market at this location.

Please understand that the Minister does not micro-manage the day to day affairs of local authorities and therefore decisions
regarding the location of the farmers market is totally a matter for the Town Council.

Yours sincerely,


Eddie Kiernan
Private Secretary

response to 3rd Audit

18/08/10

Dear Ms Kelleher

I have just received your correspondence via Mr. Daly.

I find it strange that I was not consulted by Mr Stockdale , on any of his concerns, some of which do not exist .

I would like to take this opportunity to address same .

1. It is planned to pave the Sq to the first step, and pedestrianise , and we have worked around all obstacles for 5 years . Was Mr Stockdale made aware that a market had been running there for 5 years without a hitch?

2. The layout of stalls submitted by me , would not impede any fire exits, This was not given to Mr Stockdale.

3. Again the new layout would not impede access to emergency vehicles.

4.There are 5 exits from the site .

5 No diesel generators have ever been used in the market.

6. Gas bottles are used in every market in Ireland , but if required we would disallow the use of same in Kinsale.

I trust you will consider the above , as Kinsale needs a successful Market as much as the Market needs Kinsale .

I have over 500 signature from the towns people to con firm this.

Yours Miles Cattell

3rd safety audit

Mr. Miles Cattell,

Slieveroe,

Riverstick

Co. Cork

12^th August 2010

Re: Short Quay, Kinsale, Co. Cork

Dear Ms. Cattell,

I refer to recent reports in relation to the Short Quay as an appropriate location for the Farmer’s Market. As you are aware I have received an independent report stating the the Short Quay is unsuitable for such a market for the following reasons:-

• 1. Too may levels and obstacles in the space
• 2. Stalls would impede existing fire escapes
• 3 .Access to emergency vehicles would be impeded
• 4. Concerns in relation to safe egress from the site
• 5. Concerns in relation to the use of diesel generators
• 6. Concerns in relation to the safe use of gas and distances required from existing buildings and other stall holders.

Given the above report, the Short Quay has been deemed unsuitable for a market. I have met with the exiting stallholders who have confirmed to me that they wish to remain trading at Church Square.

I am available on the above number should you wish to contact me.

Sincerely,

______________________________

MICHELLE KELLEHER

A/TOWN CLERK

letter to town Councillors 30/07/10

As there is to be an extra meeting of the KTC, I wonder if you could spare the time to re - visit the issue of the market . The farmers market in Church Sq, which was for a 3 month trial, is not working , from the traders or the town , as what little business we are doing , down 60%, is drawing people away from the centre of town.As you are aware we had a safety audit done by Lordan Safety, which stated that there was zero risk to holding the Market in Short Quay.In response the Manager called for a 3rd , supposedly independent audit, which we have not been consulted on or given sight of , which I am told says that while it is safe to hold rock concerts it is not safe to hold the market in the Short Quay.

While trading in town recently, I have received over 300 signatures requesting the market be reinstated in the Short Quay, including traders in the quay itself , such as Liam Edwards, and the fact that we are being blocked from trading there is reflecting badly on the Town Council , who are perceived to be going against the wishes of the town's people , as they can all see that this has nothing to do with Health and Safety.

This is the last chance for you to reinstate something that was good for everybody in the town , as has been seen since the Market was moved , so I implore you all to act on this . Yours Miles Cattell

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.

delayed again

The Council has called for another ,3rd, (independent) H and S report on the Short Quay , so the market has ceased . I am going to sell fruit and veg etc ,under market trading rights on Wednesdays, probably in the Short Quay , because we need to move the produce. Anybody else must make their own minds up , but are welcome to join me . I will keep working on the re-instatement of the market but I don't hold out much hope.

If anyone wants to support the reinstatement please feel free to use the comments section as an online petition.Miles

letter to KTC

Hi Michelle again, on reflection we have no wish to cause problems during the Clipper week so we are happy to postpone the move to Short Quay until next Tuesday the 2nd July.

I will forward the H and S audit to you as soon as I have Hard copy of same .We do not want to be confrontational on this but it is not possible to continue the market in its present location. If we don't hear from you we will assume that it is OK, Yours Miles

letter to Town Clerk

Hi Michelle, Having addressed all the items on the Health and Safety audit , verified by our own Hand S audit , by John Lordan , we feel there is no valid reason not to move back to the Short Quay, as the surface has been cleared by Mr Lordan.

Therefore we are proposing to move the market on Tues 29th June to the Short Quay , and hope this is OK with you , Miles

This is a letter sent by Cronin's coaches to the Kinsale Town Council.

Dear Sirs/Madam,

We are an Incoming Tour Operator with an offices in Dublin and Cork and we are in the business of bring Tourist to Ireland for business but mainly leisure. The Cruise business is a very important part of our Incoming business – yet we have other ad hoc groups and individuals traveling with us in Ireland throughout the year.This year there are 56 Cruise ships coming in to Cork Port and we are looking after a number of the shore excursions for the passengers going ashore.

The tourist season has begun and we are in very serious difficult economic challenging times for all types of business including the tourism business as well as retail and hotel business etc. On Wednesday 21^st April we had our first cruise ship in – the Grand Princess which had come from Fort Lauderdale so passengers were at sea for 8 days and then visited Edinburgh, Dublin before arriving in Cork on Wednesday finishing up in Southampton today. On Wednesday we took 11 coaches full for cruising guests to Kinsale. Many Cruise passengers visit a place just for a short while and if they get a good impression of the country, its people or the places they visit they will return or tell friends or family about their experiences so all visitors need to be impressed by what we have to offer at all times and it will mean repeat or new business in the future – this is the way we have to think about tourism and visitors at all time.

Unfortunately the toilets were closed on Wednesday and nobody could advise why they were closed and if they would be open again. In my enquiries I came across varying versions of why they were not open. Can you advise if a permanent decision has been made to close the public toilets in Kinsale and will they remain closed for the remainder of the tourist season?

In general I would like to question if Kinsale really wants / needs or welcomes tourists coming by to visit Kinsale. Visiting Kinsale is challenging at the best of times as there is limited parking and the driver are regularly moved on from parking – as late as Wednesday (we only had two coaches there at that time) the coach was asked to move from along the sea front next to the monument. They were not blocking anything and the drivers were sitting in the buses waiting for the people who tend to be older rather than younger to return to the bus.

Was is the position about buses visiting Kinsale – We continuously get the impression that buses are not welcome in Kinsale and now the public toilet facility is not available which from a Tour Operators point of view makes Kinsale less attractive from a practical aspect. On Wednesday people had to go in to hotels and pubs in order to use a toilet facility – many people would go to a pub or coffee shop for a refreshment in any case but some people just walk around the shops or buy an ice cream and would be content to use a public toilet but the first thing people ask for is where are the toilets and guides or drivers have to direct the passengers to pubs restaurants or hotels to use the toilet facilities when really is not fair on the premises in question.

If this is the case I would like to know and we will make alternative arrangement - we also do a tour to Youghal and the tourist office make their toilets available to the guests as well as the public toilets near the tourist office – free of charge and are very happy to have the tourists stopping of in Youghal even if it is only for an hour.Kinsale has always been a challenge – we would like to continue to include Kinsale but there are basic requirement for the comfort of people to use a toilet and if this basic need is not there – then it may have to rethink the programmes – Unfortunately we have agreed the programmes with the Cruise ships for this season but we can limit the numbers to 1-2 buses to keep it in the programme but we need to know if Kinsale really want the buses to visit Kinsale.

I await to hear from you so that we can make suitable plans and arrangements for guests going forward. Thank you for your attention and I hope to hear positively from you

Margaret Cronin

Att : Miles Cattell

Kinsale Farmers Market

Dear Miles,

We are delighted to announce that the World Union of Wholesale Markets, (WUWM) and International Operators Market & Street Traders, (IOMST), are jointly hosting the 3^rd WUWM International Retail Market Conference in Dublin in the Royal College of Surgeons on June 25^th and 26^th 2010. The Conference will be opened by John Gormley, Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The conference will put public markets firmly back on the Irish political agenda and will discuss how public-private partnerships can effectively and profitably manage public markets. Some excellent speakers from Europe and the US will explain how markets have become a sizeable contributor to their countries’ economies.

The strapline of the conference “Retail Markets – Business with a Human Face” explores the comprehensive benefits that public markets bring to their localities. The conference will kickstart a campaign to redevlop Irish market culture and foresees markets become a significant contributor to our beleagured economy.

According to latest estimates, private and public markets in Ireland generate approximately €120 million per annum. However, public markets in the EU generate €35 billion per annum, with UK public markets accounting for £7.65 bllion of that figure.

Using those figures as a template, public markets in Ireland must have the potential to generate between €800 million and €1 billion per annum.

Visit the conference website www.odysseyconventionireland.ie/WUWM2010 for further information. The early bird registration fee of €250.00 is valid until April 30^th, so book early to avail of this offer and to avoid disappointment.

Kind Regards,

Alicia O’Reilly

IOMST

The Secretariat

3^rd WUWM Retail Conference

wuwm@odysseyintl.ie

Dear Miles,

Firstly may I congratulate you on your market achieving accreditation from Bord Bia. As part of an agreement with Bord Bia Good Food Ireland will only accept and promote accredited markets within our organisation.

Good Food Ireland is about discovering the best and that means having standards. All our members passionately pledge their commitment to using local Irish and artisan food produce and support farmers, fishermen and food producers. We operate as a not for profit industry driven marketing group with a voluntary steering group and passionate and dedicated members. Good Food Ireland’s goal is to grow Ireland as a food tourism destination and ensure that our members are number 1 choice for all lovers of good food both nationally and internationally.

We are now in a position to include Farmers Markets within our membership and I therefore would like to invite your market to become a member of Good Food Ireland.

We offer numerous promotional opportunities including location of your market plotted with details on our Good Food Ireland Touring Map of which 500,000 copies are distributed. Our next Touring Map is going to print in the next two weeks so I would greatly appreciate a speedy response should you feel that you might be interested.

The cost of membership is €500 per year and is based on a two year agreement. We will forward you a hard copy of this letter along with a complimentary Touring Map for your attention also. ( We would be delighted if you could forward on a contact address please)

If you need to discuss membership further please feel free to contact Susan Kerr in Good Food Ireland 053 9158693 or email skerr@goodfoodireland.ie

Yours Sincerely,

Margaret Jeffares

Managing Director

The winter break is over , and we are back on Tuesday 2nd of Feb , at the new , and hopefully permanent venue in the Church Square carpark , behind the Garda station. Please support us in the new venue , and hopefully it will be as successful as the old one .