‘Under severe pressure’: Calls for urgent action as Waterford retailers reach ‘crisis point’

A Waterford councillor has expressed concerns over the challenges facing retailers across the county.

Independent councillor Joe O’Riordan, who himself is a retailer, raised the issue at the September plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr O’Riordan said: “Retailers, particularly small retailers, are facing huge challenges, ranging from difficulty of access to town centres with regards parking, the challenge of online shopping, rising costs in terms of labour and energy rates and competition from the major population centres.”

He added that retailers have never enjoyed the same support from the council as tourism and hospitality providers, even though the two sectors are closely linked.

To counteract this, Cllr O’Riordan suggested that the council set up a ‘retail sub-committee’ in order to discuss ways in which they could support the retail industry across the county.

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He added: “I would say that retail in our county is under severe pressure - possibly at crisis point.

“Small retailers in particular need our support. They are a very important part of our business ecosystem and when small businesses start disappearing from town centres, that’s a bad step for the rest of the businesses, including hospitality.”

Cllr O’Riordan received no response to his suggestion from members of the council executive.

At the same meeting, Fianna Fail councillor Jason Murphy raised the issue of lack of night-time activity in the city centre.

While Cllr Murphy welcomed the council’s launch of the Night-Time Economy Pilot Grant in July, he asked if there was anything else the council could do to incentivise retailers to stay open later.

Cllr Murphy said: “I suppose I’m of a generation that will remember late night Thursday and Friday shopping in the city centre one time which allowed people that worked from 9-5 to get into the city.

“I was wondering if there was anything we could do through our rates system to give people a bit of a reduction if they opened beyond 5:30. Just to incentivise, it might be something we could consider.”

In response to Cllr Murphy, Senior Executive Claire Hartley said that while retail vibrancy and late opening hours are both something that the council is looking at, it is ultimately dependent on the co-operation of the private sector.