Traders are paying the price since ms closed

Retailers located in the Fair Green are still reeling from the drop in footfall following the closure of Marks and Spencer this time last year, according to a local businesswoman.

Hair salon owner, Geraldine Daly, says that there has been a marked decrease in the number of people visiting the Fairgreen Shopping Centre since Marks and Spencer closed in doors in mid-August last year. The fallout is being felt by all businesses in the vicinity, including her hair salon, Anam Cara.

“Marks and Spencer would have a certain clientele. People came from everywhere and we’d know it because we are chatting to people all the time. They came from Cavan, they came from Roscommon, and Marks and Spencer was the draw. The client is now gone from the town. They were having a cup of coffee, they were maybe coming down here for a blow dry or whatever, and then they might toddle down town and do a bit of shopping. That client is gone out of Mullingar.

“If Pennys goes up there, this area is finished. It’s the only draw there. You have beautiful units up there and it’s a shame,” she said.

Ms Daly, who moved to Mullingar from Dublin 10 years ago and opened Anam Cara in 2011, says that she is speaking out because she “loves Mullingar” and feels that the powers that be should be doing more to attract new businesses to the town. “Much more needs to be done. I love this town. Something needs to be done, sooner rather than later. Everyone is talking about it every day in the salon. I suppose people are beginning to feel disheartened about the town. We have lovely restaurants, we have great little shops, we have loads of people that came from the town that are amazing.

“If you listen to anyone out there, they are going to shop in Liffey Valley, they are going to Athlone. Mullingar is moving out. We are only 50 minutes from Dublin. We are one of the best locations in Ireland. I call it the belly button of the teddy bear because we are 50 minutes from Dublin, 35 minutes to Athlone, an hour and half to Galway. This is a prime location for people to commute, but what do we have to offer? At the moment we have nothing. I’d be out there attracting people into town and maybe giving them reduced rent or rates for a year. It will create employment, it will make the town busier, it will make the town more attractive for people to live in. It would be like a domino effect.

“Maybe some people are afraid of the big shops coming but I think competition is healthy. It keeps you on top of your game. There are people who love going into small boutiques so everyone would get a spin-off. You have to attract people in.”

However, while the entire town could do with a boost, Ms Daly says that 12 months on, businesses in the Fair Green area are still “paying the price” for the closure of Marks and Spencer.

“There is nothing as bad as an empty unit, nothing as bad. It just gives the wrong impression... We haven’t even got a newsagents or a coffee shop down this end, we haven’t even got an ATM. We have nothing.”