Sadness as well loved Limerick butcher closes

THERE is sadness in a Limerick community after a local butchers shop ceased trading.

Macs Butchers at the Caherdavin Shopping Centre closed earlier this week, with its owner Paul McNamara confirming the news on Facebook. He had traded on the city's northside since 2004.

He wrote: "It is with great sorrow that we have to inform you that the shop is closed. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the years. It was always appreciated. We have not taken this decision lightly and wish you all the best for the future."

Reacting to the news, local Fine Gael councillor Olivia O'Sullivan said: "It is very difficult for an independent local retailer to compete in the shadows of three large supermarkets nearby. We all get caught up in busy lives and opting for convenience, but if we don’t support small businesses, we risk losing them all."

She added that the moving of the Bank of Ireland, and subsequently the post office across the road to the Jetland Shopping Centre would not have helped the business.

"I'm just really sad to see it. He'd be very well known and very well liked. People were used to popping in. It's a sad sign of the times. We are all guilty of giving in to our busy lives and opting for convienience when it's in front of us. But this is what happens if we forget about independent businesses and choose to go down that route, and forget our trade is what keeps these businesses open. If we don'tr support them, we are going to lose them," she said.

With the loss of an independent business, Cllr O'Sullivan said you lose a character in a neighbourhood, and it forces more people into supermarkets, making it harder for smaller traders to consider opening again.