by Louise Doyle
LETTERKENNY Chamber of Commerce has said lessons must be learned and future consultation carried out following a financial loss to businesses in the town centre during the bank holiday weekend.
Businesses have reported counting the cost following the closure of the town’s Main Street for a time on Saturday morning to accommodate a protest and counter protest.
There was a significant garda presence in Letterkenny during the protest and counter rally.
While both protests passed off peacefully with just one arrest made by gardaí, disappointment and frustration has been expressed at the lack of consultation with the relevant stakeholders in advance of the decision to close the Main Street to traffic at 10am on Saturday morning.
While businesses were aware of the protests, they were not notified about the road closure.
Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and its members have said they support the right to protest and the promotion of free speech, while understanding that the gardaí had a duty to protect the public.
However, they feel that as representatives of the business community that their members’ concerns did not appear to have been taken into account.
Very little business was done over what would have normally been a busy bank holiday weekend, the Chamber points out.
Jimmy Stafford, President of Letterkenny Chamber, said: “This protest has resulted in next to no business being done on the Saturday of a bank holiday weekend and has impacted the wider retail areas outside of the Main Street, including the retail parks and the shopping centres.
“Retailers were handed leaflets on Friday afternoon stating that there would be no parking but they were not informed there would be no traffic allowed from 10am the following day. As a consequence, anyone wanting to come in to town was restricted.”
Letterkenny Chamber also moved to quell suggestions made on social media that they had been involved in the decision making process leading to the closure of the Main Street.
“The retailers were simply advised there would be no parking and were unaware of the level of policing operation required.”
Among the businesses to express their disappointment about the absence of consultation over the Main Street road closure was Foot and Ankle Clinic, Letterkenny.
In a social media post, the business pointed out how their customers were “forced to walk through some very vocal protesters” to make their way to the clinic due to the road outside the premises having been closed.
“We are sorry for any distress caused. We also have some clients with mobility issues that could not get into the clinic.
“There was no consultation with ourselves or any other local business, as far as I am aware, prior to closing the roads. Had we known, had we been consulted, we would have closed and rescheduled appointments to avoid this,” the post states.
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