Longford offers huge array of retail choices for Christmas shoppers

The importance of supporting local business and ensuring Longford town reaps the benefits in the run up to Christmas has been highlighted by Longford Municipal District Cathaoirleach Seamus Butler.

The former president of Longford Chamber of Commerce who served in the position for nine years from 1994 is well aware of how local businesses rely on a productive festive period.

Councillor Butler stated there is an abundance of choice and he referred to praise he heard from family members who travelled from county Cork.

“We had family relatives who came to Longford for a day and they were blown away by the choice of women's clothing and accessories that were available in the town," he said. "They said there was as much choice as any provincial town in Ireland."

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The Fianna Fáil representative said he is optimistic the council parking initiative will encourage more people to do their Christmas shopping in Longford.

"We have free off-street parking every weekend up until the week before Christmas and then we have continuous (free) off-street parking every day of the week, that is a big plus," he added.

Cllr Butler stated this measure will ensure people will not have the inconvenience of searching for coins.
"We are trying to get more of them converted to alternative card payment machines and hopefully we will see more of them in the new year," he said.

"We had people complaining that they wanted to go to Roscommon town because you did not have to pay for parking."
Cllr Butler has encouraged shoppers to support Longford businesses and local communities this Christmas by spending their money in local retailers and visiting their websites.

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"There are quite a lot of Longford shops who do quite a big proportion of their business online so if you are thinking of searching for deals I would say look-up Longford businesses as well as searching on Amazon and all of these other sites.”

The Christmas lights were switched on last Friday, November 29 and the Longford MD Cathaoirleach stated the county town is a welcoming place and he highlighted the importance of shopping locally.

“Local communities are behind locally-owned shops and even the bigger ones that have numerous stores around the country, all the staff are local and they earn their living there and live in the community," he said.

"So instead of going outside Longford you have huge choices here and I would urge everyone to consider that because families and their children coming will want to see a vibrant Longford."