Craftworkers and organic food producers at Galway's traditional market are to take the city council to court over licences and "pitches" for Sunday trading, Lorna Siggins reports from Galway
The Galway Market Traders' Association represents all but one of some 90 licensed traders at the Saturday market outside St Nicholas's Collegiate Church.
The market, which has medieval origins, was once dominated by county farmers, but now also attracts cheese and bread-makers, jewellers, milliners, candle-makers and other artists from as far away as Mayo and Cork.
After a 14-month campaign, the city council recently agreed to extend trading hours to Sundays and bank holiday Mondays. However, a dispute arose when the council decided to issue the new licences on a lottery basis. It had received 132 applications for Sunday trading - 48 of which came from existing traders.
Under the lottery system, 40 of those original traders were successful, but eight were not. An additional 60 licences were given to new traders. Ms Cait Curran, an organic food producer and traders' association representative, said this is in direct contravention of the casual trading bye-laws adopted by the local authority in 1997. The bye-laws state that "due recognition will be given to traditional traders in the allocation of casual trading spaces and in particular to persons who can satisfactorily support their claim to be established traders".
She emphasised that her association welcomes all new traders, and the conflict is not with them.
The council responded to the traders' concerns by agreeing to issue licences to the eight Saturday traders who weren't successful. However, the 48 Saturday traders have been given different "pitches" or trading spaces on Sunday.
Trader Mr Dirk Flake said his association now feared that all licences would be issued by lottery next year under the new rules. "Using a lottery system to allocate licences is not a fair way to treat people who have traded in the Saturday market for years and in some cases for generations and who make a living from it.
"We feel that the council has left no other avenue open to us but to initiate these legal proceedings," he said. The traders have spoken to legal representatives.
"The council are putting jobs at risk by their inaction on this matter and in today's harsh economic climate people should be rewarded and not punished for providing jobs in Galway," the traders said. They point out that the market provides a livelihood for many of its stallholders and makes a significant contribution to the commercial life of the city. Some of the most successful businesses in Galway began life at the Saturday market, they said.
Galway City Council said it is awaiting legal advice, but described the current situation as "unfortunate". A spokesman said the decision to issue two separate licences for the two days had been agreed by the traders. Pitches for the Sunday licences have already been allocated, the spokesman said, but the council agreed to review this next year.
