‘Unsavoury characters’ impacting on town market
NO BYLAWS MEANS UNAUTHORISED TRADING IS ALSO RIFE ON WEST ST
‘SOME unsavoury characters’ operating illicit trading at Drogheda’s historic Saturday market, are turning people off going to the place.
‘ They are doing things under our noses,’ Cllr Paul Bell told fellow councillors at last week’s council meeting, adding that he has received a number of complaints in relation to the selling of ‘ tobacco, CDs and other things’.
He said Bolton Street was one of the oldest markets in the country and they needed to sit down and discuss it properly.
He said a lot of the issues have arisen because council does not have casual trading laws.
‘ There is criminal behaviour and revenue officers are up there but we are stuck with the law. We need to revisit the whole thing.’
Director of Services Paddy Donnelly said that market rights in Drogheda was an issue.
They had received numerous complaints about market right claims and there were ‘unauthorised traders on West Street and elsewhere’ and particularly at key times like Mother’s Day, etc, taking away from shops in the area. ‘ They are now competing with unauthorised sellers,’ he said.
He explained that because there were no casual trading laws, the council had ‘no rights over it’ but they intended to bring the issue to the councillors ‘in the next few months’.
‘ The ratepayers expect a fair share of business,’ Cllr Bell added. ‘Even the chairs on West Street are covered. We have to act on this quickly.’
Cllr Kevin Callan said that the market ‘is not the market it was’ and there were ‘intimidating characters’ there. He said the idea of traditional market rights ‘was romantic’ but new laws were needed now.
Cllr Frank Godfrey raised the matter and said he feared the market would become extinct and that people needed to be brought back to it.