SCHOOL’S CONTINUED CLOSURE HITTING LOCAL BUSINESSES HARD

FOR A large part of the Slaney Language Centre’s existence it has relied on one bus operator to transport its students to and from local attractions, to the capital, to the airport – basically, to anywhere they want to go.

Slaney Tours has become an integral part of the school, as important as the host families and the teachers.

And its owner, Jim Shannon, said the school’s closure has hit his business hard.

‘ The students would have accounted for 80-90 per cent of my business. We’d usually be bringing them on three tours during the week and then a bigger one at the weekend, maybe to Dublin or Glendalough.

‘And they love coming here, they prefer it to

Dublin or Galway, they love the people here. I always ask them what they like most about the place and they say it’s the friendliness of the Wexford people.’

During the peak season, Slaney Tours would have been running three full buses on a daily basis, ferrying as many as 180 students across the country, even hiring buses from other companies to cope with the demand.

All that has gone now. And with many students usually only coming for a month or two, Jim said families simply can’t afford to send their children abroad right now.

‘I think the 14-day quarantine is killing the industry,’ he said.

‘ These families are saving for years to send their children and for them it’s the most important thing in their lives to learn English. They can’t afford to lose out on those two weeks.’

With regards to his own business, Jim said they are carrying on as best they can, picking up the odd school run here and there, running one bus while the rest sit idle.

‘We’re on a knife-edge at the moment, it’s been devastating for us. We’re only a small business, we still have to pay insurance on our vehicles even if they’re not out on the road.

‘I go on gov.ie every day to see if there’s any bit of help for us but it seems like they’re putting the shoulder to the wheel for the bigger companies but doing very little for us.’

Another local business hit hard by the school’s closure has been the Surf Shack in Curracloe. Owner Jack Tim Murphy estimates that 75 per cent of his customers come from the Slaney Language Centre, with students spending appoximately €50,000 on lessons every year between February and October.

‘It’s closure has made us completely change our business model. We’ve had to downsize as a result. Each group would probably spend €1,500 and over 30 weeks you’re looking at in excess of €50,000, just from the language school,’ said Jack.

‘We started out in 2015 and every year we’ve been bringing in more and more students, we’ve kind of been brought along with the centre as its grown.’