Green Shoots anyone?
Gorey seems to have gone to a mini-revival in recent weeks and there seems to be a genuine sense of optimism around the town, but is this change just a superficial one.
A feature in the Gorey Echo a couple of months ago regarding the dire situation on Main Street in the town. Businesses were closing down left right and centre. There were vacant premises all along the street and it cast the town in a poor light.
However in the past month there have been serious changes afoot with new businesses opening and old businesses reopening. Pulse accessories, Now and Zen and even a new fishmongers have all located on the main thoroughfare of the town.
Along with this The Fowler pub reopened two weeks ago and The Bank (although under a new as yet unknown name) will reopen following extensive renovations in the coming weeks.
Add to this Dominos Pizza opening near Gorey Shopping Centre, Via Veneto II and Cafe Veneto opening their doors on The Avenue and of course the new Movies@Gorey cinema opening on the Courtown Road this Friday and there seems to be a genuine sense of recovery in Gorey.
When the Gorey Echo ran the feature on the poor economic state of the Main Street, a member of the Gorey Chamber of Commerce said that things like that went in cycles and he seems to have been proved right with the recent upturn in fortunes.
Is this sustainable? It is surely not a coincidence that all these businesses have started up or reopened in the weeks leading up to the busiest time of the year in north Wexford. Within a month families and holidaymakers will swell the population by up to 50percent in the region and no doubt businesses will thrive.
However come September when all the blow-ins return to their homes and the days start to close in again, where will Gorey be left? Will businesses again begin to slowly close down and will jobs be lost?
It is inevitable that this will happen because the jobs currently being created in ‘new’ businesses will not be sustainable – perhaps with the exception of the jobs created in the much-anticipated cinema.
No new sustainable businesses have been created in Gorey in some time and with the IDA bailing out of the town without creating a single job in ten years. The sale of the IDA site on the Courtown Road is currently being finalised.
So where are the jobs going to come from? One woman this week announced a scheme to try and create jobs and business ideas from within. Roisín Markham from Ballygarrett is looking to set up a Gorey Jobs Club for professionals who are in transition or out-of-work.
She believes that by bringing together the skilled, experienced people from Gorey and networking some great ideas will come out from it.
This is the type of initiative that will create sustainable, homegrown jobs that will not disappear along with the hordes of people who leave the area once the schools return.
At last month’s Gorey Town Council meeting, the councillors said that instead of people commuting to Dublin every day, there should be indigenous business created here that will sustain the growing population of the area.
This is an admirable goal, but it requires specific action and cooperation between the Town Council, County Council, Gorey Chamber and the wider community to make it a reality.
So while Green Shoots are in evidence in the town, maybe we need to look a little closer at the types of Green Shoot being created and break the up and down cycle of the economic health of the town.
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