Local authorities have been urged to create a network of local produce markets throughout the State to boost tourism and rural development.
Cheesemonger Mr Seamus Sheridan said: "County managers should be proactive in facilitating and regulating markets" with the aim of having one such market in every town and village in Ireland.
He was speaking following a confrontation early yesterday between traders and gardaí in Kilkenny over a newly established market in the town. Gardaí, responding to a private complaint, queried the right of several food producers to trade at a car-park on St John's Parade, next to Kilkenny Castle, as they have being doing for the past month.
Mr Sheridan said: "The gardaí threatened us with confiscation of our stalls. We decided to risk that and sit it out because we were confident about our legal position." He said local trades laws, dating back to 1847, protected the right of markets to exist, and these were upheld in a High Court action taken three years ago to safeguard a market which had just then been created at Bantry, Co Cork.
After discussions with the traders, the gardaí said they would not take any further action and would leave the matter to Kilkenny Borough Council. Describing the decision as "a great day for us", Mr Sheridan urged local businesses and politicians to get behind the creation of similar attractions. "They've great economic, social and tourism benefits," he said. "Everyone wins because they bring more business into the towns."
His call was echoed by Ballymaloe chef Ms Darina Allen, who recently helped found a new representative body for cottage industries, the Artisan Food Producers' Alliance. "We're not looking for grants or subsidies. All we need are urban councils and chambers of commerce to facilitate and support these markets."
She said the main obstacle to markets was local shopkeepers "putting pressure on local councils to stop them". However, she said, their fears were unfounded, noting research of village markets in Europe showed they boosted the trade of local shopkeepers by 18-36 per cent.
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, has backed the traders' campaign to establish a network of local produce markets.
A spokeswoman said the Minister had received funding to appoint a co-ordinator for small food producers under the EU leader programme for rural development. Mr Ó Cuív also plans to host an open forum on the issue later this year, bringing food producers and regulators together to try to formalise their relationship.
A spokesman for Kilkenny Borough Council said yesterday it planned to introduce by-laws next month which would, for the first time, regulate casual trading.
