Longford councillor calls for support for rural business

The State's responsibility to supporting the lifeblood of local communities was highlighted in a notice of motion discussed at the March meeting of Longford County Council.

Cllr Garry Murtagh tabled a motion calling on members of the Longford local authority to write to the Minister for Rural & Community Development, the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Enterprise to make a case to support rural business.

He proposed a pilot scheme in rural Ireland to support a shop local incentive: “Such a scheme would increase footfall and reward loyalty for customers that support rural business and small villages, such as shops, pubs, filling stations.”

Cllr Murtagh outlined the difficulty many local retailers experience: “These businesses cannot compete with multinational companies that offer a wide range of special offers, discounts and incentives, including an extensive delivery service that is literally wrenching the heart out of rural Ireland.”
The Fine Gael representative spoke of the reason he brought the motion to the chamber: “The reality is these businesses are going to close, and if they close they are gone.” he warned.

He said there are little to no incentives for rural shops despite their vital service to communities: “We are promoting that people should move and relocate and build houses in small villages and in around small towns but the infrastructure is gone.”
He spoke of the State's responsibility to rural Ireland: “The Minister needs to do more to support villages in Ireland. I think now is the time for the Minister to step up and come up with something like a private scheme or some sort of incentive to encourage these people to keep going in providing this vital service.”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Colin Dalton, who commended rural businesses: “It's very hard for small shops to compete against big multiples. We have to remember back to the Covid times when we could not go outside our area and the outstanding service they delivered. We all need to be supportive of this motion.”

Cllr Martin Monaghan agreed with the motion, but said the council's decision to raise rates for business in the last budget was a “retrograde step” that had a disproportionate impact on small business: “The small shopkeeper has kept Ireland going for the last 100 years, but they are now being taken over by multinationals. The consumer will pay a heavy price for that.”
Members agreed to write to the minister on the proposal.