For nine years the team at Rachel Murray Eyecare have been finding a balance between function and aesthetic in eyewear
A LOCAL business which specialises in eyecare and eyewear recently celebrated nine years in business.
Rachel Murray returned to Sligo in 2013 to set up a business of her own after accumulating 10 years of experience in the United Kingdom. Now, almost another decade later, Rachel Murray Eyecare is thriving in Tobergal Lane.
With a small team and a vision of a different approach, Rachel Murray opened the doors of Rachel Murray Eyecare in September 2013. Some people grow up wanting to be a rock star, a famous athlete or even the president of Ireland. Rachel’s childhood ambition was to be an optometrist and run her own opticians. “The last nine years have just flown by so quickly,” she said.
“After working in the UK for 10 years I always felt I wanted to come back to Sligo and set up a business of my own. 2013 was still an uncertain time as the country was still just coming out of the crash, but rent prices were reasonable which made a big difference in us having the room to establish ourselves.”
The motto of Rachel Murray Eyecare is ‘see and be seen’. This sums up the approach quite nicely as Rachel and her team strive to strike a balance between function and aesthetic.
“I am conscious of both the clinical and aesthetic side of glasses. Anyone should be able to wear a pair of glasses that serve their purpose while also making the wearer look and feel great.”
Rachel’s customer-base has enjoyed steady growth since first opening her business in 2013. She has developed a far-reaching catchment area courtesy of Sligo’s status as a tourism-friendly town. “Being in a central part of town we naturally get a lot of local customers, but we also have quite a number of regular customers who travel to come to us having called into us before while on a visit to Sligo. It is mostly people from the region and we also have a customer who lives in Tralee!
“As an independent business you often have to build your base starting with family and friends and we are very grateful with how that base has grown and how loyal they have been to us.”
As with any business, Rachel Murray Eyecare had to face head on into the pandemic and the uncertainty that came with it.
“Fortunately not long after Covid-19 hit we were declared an essential busines,” she said. “We did shut for a few weeks for employee and customers safety until guidelines were made available. With all that was going on, people still needed access to eyecare and eyewear to go about their day-to-day lives. There was busy days and quiet days and it was important we kept a steady flow to avoid the place becoming crowded.”
In almost a decade of business, Rachel said she is impressed with how Sligo has grown and continues to grow as a place to do business, with fellow workers in the industry often remarking positively on the town.
“Colleagues from elsewhere are always very complimentary of how Sligo has grown as a place to do business.
“It sometimes takes an outside view to appreciate what a town has and having been away for so long I also found a new appreciation for what Sligo has when I returned. The town has had a lot of positive growth in the last decade and long may it continue.”
It takes many factors to make a business work and there is none more crucial than a dedicated team of employees. Rachel said her business is served by long-term employees who have struck up many positive relationships with their customers.
“I have a great team working with me here for a number of years. Not only is it important that customers who come in are dealing with someone they know but also dealing with people who genuinely love their jobs.”
Rachel Murray Eyecare is open from 9.30am until 5pm on Monday and from 9.30am until 5.30pm from Thursday to Saturday.
BELOW: Rachel Murray Eyecare on Tobergal Lane. RIGHT: Rachel and members of her team.
EIGHTEEN people from or living in Sligo, out of a total of 1,200, have made an application to the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) for their birth information since the launch of services under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 came into vogue one week ago. Of 1,288 applications made to the AAI from October 3 to October 10, there were 1,176 from people living in Ireland, 48 from the UK, 28 from the USA, and others from countries including Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, France, and Canada. Thirteen of the UK applications were made by people living in Northern Ireland.
In Ireland, the largest number of applications came from Dublin (419), followed by Cork (162), Kildare (53), and Meath (52). The county with the fewest applications was Leitrim (6).
The Birth Information and Tracing Act provides a full and clear right of access to birth certificates, birth, early life, care and medical information for any person who was adopted, boarded out, had their birth illegally registered, or who otherwise has questions in relation to their origins.
Additionally, it allows for access to information by a child of a relevant person where their parent has died, and for access by the next of kin of a child who died in an institution.
Adoption Authority CEO Patricia Carey said: “There has been an incredible response to the launch of birth information and tracing services – with more than 1,200 people applying to the Adoption Authority in the first week, and many others also applying to our colleagues in Tusla.
“People who were adopted, boarded out or had their birth information illegally registered in Ireland have waited a very long time for this legislation. Trained staff in the Adoption Authority are working through all the applications we receive as quickly and professionally as possible to ensure that every applicant receives any information about their birth and earlier years that we hold.”
Applications for birth information and tracing services can be made online at www.birthinfo.ie.