From The Archives: 'Bombs bring business boom' to Kilkenny

With more money in circulation than ever before, Christmas shopping in Kilkenny is already booming.

Reasons for the unprecedented spree were given as a marked reluctance by many to shop in Dublin because of the three explosions there recently and the spate of bomb scares since.

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Kilkenny traders also say they are now offering a bigger, more collective and highly competitive range of goods.

A flash survey carried out by the Kilkenny People revealed that people who traditionally shop in Dublin were staying at home this year, with memories of the recent bombings being reinforced by Wednesday’s warning of incendiary devices in major Dublin stores.

In stores throughout the city the tinkle of tills happily echoed the satisfaction of traders as they spoke to our reporters about considerable increases in businesses.

A tendency to shop early, which has been creeping in for years, has blossomed as thousands of early shoppers from city and county began stocking up well in advance.

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“Already business is up by 15 to 18% on last year,” said Tom Cunniffe, manager of the VG Supermarket on Parliament Street.

“One of the reasons is that people are afraid to travel to Dublin because of the bombs.”

“There is no doubt that business is better than ever,” said John Street businessman Eamonn O’Keeffe. “In the Wine Centre people are showing a marked tendency to shop earlier. It has become easier to sell quality wines.”

‘Excellent’ was how Tom Duggan of the Monster House described the Christmas trade.

“There is no comparison to last year,” he said. The reason, he thought, was that Kilkenny, as a business centre, has developed enormously over the past few years.

“It is as good a place to shop as anywhere in Ireland,” he said.

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Toys are clearing from shop shelves rapidly though Pat Allen said this was also the trend last year.

“However,” he said, “I would imagine that trade is slightly better than last year and there is certainly more money in circulation.”

And the reason? “Kilkenny is now a much more competitive spot,” said Pat.

Swelling the amount of money in circulation in Kilkenny this Christmas is no less than £60,000 given out by St Canice’s Credit Union in the past few weeks. A very sizeable sum was also issued by the Penny Bank.