‘Talk To Me’ shops sold to Eircell

February 2000

Mobile phones make a local businessman a millionaire. Hugh McEvoy, founder and owner of the ‘ Talk To Me’ chain of mobile phone shops, sells his nine outlets to Eircell for a reported £1.5 million.

There are two shops in Dundalk, two in Swords and one in each of Drogheda, Navan, Cavan, Mullingar and Dublin city centre.

The first opened in the Demesne shoppping centre, Dundalk in 1995, just before the market mushroomed.

‘We were the first dedicated mobile phone shop in Dundalk,’

Mr. McEvoy recalls.

‘Until then, mobile phones were being sold in shops alongside two-way radios and electrical goods.’

The sale comes after 18 months of negotiations, the company having previously started talks with Esat Digifone.

However, Mr. McEvoy says it is Eircell’s position in the market place, as well as its record as a big employer in the Dundalk area, which results in him entering a deal.

The acquisition of ‘ Talk To Me’ brings to 86 the number of shops owned by Eircell.

Educated in Redeemer National School and De La Salle College, Hugh McEvoy has lived in Dundalk since 1974.