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In June 1995 l heard it being said that the typical Athenry shopper loaded up his car with the weekly shopping in the big supermarkets of Galway and only stopped in Athenry on his way home to ‘get the meat and a few things as the quality was better and the money had run out. ‘Tick’ was the name of the game and ‘I’ll see you again’.

Things are changing for the better. I was pleasantly surprised recently to hear from an ardent ‘Shopping Centre devotee’ that through no fault of her own she was forced to do her weekly shopping at home. To her astonishment the stores here were cleaner and brighter, service was personal, the quality of the goods was as good if not better and there was free delivery to her door without delay.

Shopping at home gives us more than that. We are creating jobs and are spending the money at home which is also very important. If we add these facts to the nuisance of the city traffic and the time spent travelling, we find that it definitely pays to shop at home.

Don’t forget that if you are pleased with your shopping say so, as everyone needs encouragement. Any criticism needs to be constructive.

Personally I think it would pay to have a fax machine with which to send in your main shopping list, to be delivered, and treat shopping for the extras as a social occasion with a visit to the other excellent facilities in our area, for coffee or ‘wine’ – and it might help with the traffic problem.

We have a traffic problem and the Women’s Group must be commended for high-lighting this. They know all about it as they drive the children to school and do the shopping. They are not on their own, they have twelve hundred signatures to prove it. ‘They would like a system put in place to alleviate the traffic problem’. They are not advocating any one particular system but state that a system is needed. It is in all our interests to find a solution. Many potential shoppers bye-pass Athenry because of our traffic problem.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Kieran Hickland to the parish as Manager of Enterprising Athenry A.D.C. Ltd. He is due to take up office early in January and I’m sure will be anxious to meet with and facilitate project teams. May his stay in this area be an enjoyable one. We in The Athenry Journal are happy to work with him and will help in any way we can to promote this unique method of development in our area.

Rath Dé ar a obair agus orthu siud a bhéas ag obair leis.

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Written by Finbarr O'Regan

Published here 10 Jan 2023 and originally published December 1996

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