New businesses

Westernyelp

Xenji wrote: »

I have not heard anything, in fairness it is a dead market unless they fill it with what the likes of Downtown Records have or has been an independent record store for years, it would be great if it was more like something from High Fidelity

I presumed it was musical instruments etc.

voz es

Westernyelp wrote: »

Conditional Permission given for the large retail/restaurant development at bridge street Castlebar. Planning is nearly always conditional.

I just had a look a this planning application, nothing wrong with what Faddens fashions are doing but its a terrible pity that top nosh was not bought by the council.
If that building was demolished it would open up the promenade along the market square carpark very easily.
Lavelles bakery which is also now being redeveloped by Ivan and Karen Carroll is beautiful. This the stone cut building to the rear could have been exposed to the main street.
A river walkway installation similar to that at Bachelors walk along the river Liffey would upon up that whole area.

The building over the river where extra vision is although pretty and i'm sure quite old, is holding up the prospects of Castlebar town center rivaling Westport for beauty.

If you manage to make a place attractive to shoppers it will be attractive to retailers. Imagine a paved main street served either side by large car parks and leading onto a promenade towards Hopkins road.

Castlebardude

voz es wrote: »

I just had a look a this planning application, nothing wrong with what Faddens fashions are doing but its a terrible pity that top nosh was not bought by the council.
If that building was demolished it would open up the promenade along the market square carpark very easily.
Lavelles bakery which is also now being redeveloped by Ivan and Karen Carroll is beautiful. This the stone cut building to the rear could have been exposed to the main street.
A river walkway installation similar to that at Bachelors walk along the river Liffey would upon up that whole area.

The building over the river where extra vision is although pretty and i'm sure quite old, is holding up the prospects of Castlebar town center rivaling Westport for beauty.

If you manage to make a place attractive to shoppers it will be attractive to retailers. Imagine a paved main street served either side by large car parks and leading onto a promenade towards Hopkins road.

Agree with you 100% Voz Es, that's an excellent idea ! And imagine the main street paved & pedestrianised & dotted with a few new bars, cafes & restaurants running up as far as Parsons with people dining & drinking outdoor similar to Quay Street in Galway - that's what Castlebar needs - we are the county town,we have the population, we have the jobs,we have the shopping, the people are there (its just that they are spending their money in Westport ! ) - we just need to make it an attractive place to socialise in once again.Ohhh.....and we could do with getting a couple of town centre hotels back too - Military Barracks has great potential for a large hotel. The future is looking bright..ish - you have Mc Carthys & the Fadden/Carroll development reinvigorating the bottom of main street this or next year. Sam Adams is a nice place & will surely be bought & reopened soon. The Welcome Inn will surely come back & be refurbished. Hopefully we'll see big shows coming back to the TF again soon. You also have that big stone building in Mill Lane that was once touted as a superpub & the 2 adjacent sites on Linenhall Street (formally Flynns) which again were once going to be developed as a large gastropub. It would be nice to see those coming back on stream again. Maybe a few of the existing publicans might throw a few quid into their place to give them a lift. Its a pity that fine former Kingsbridge building wasn't kept as a bar or restaurant with it's prominent location - it seems wasted as offices. I also think that Enda is going to start pouring serious money into his hometown this time 'round - he's going to want to leave a nice legacy for the people & have them forget all about what he didn't do for the town, the first time as Taoiseach.

Alternatively we could just continue to do nothing & complain & moan about why everyone is going to Westport & blame the buses & the taxis for taking everyone away from the town even though they operate each way & could just as easily be bringing people to the town if there was actually something worth coming over for !

Xenji

Far too many ifs and possibilities, focus should be on definites and not more empty promises, I disagree that we have the jobs, they are sorely needed in town and on a far larger scale than a new bar or restaurant, the town also needs to rebuild it's image and see some of these building proposals completed and turning a healthy profit to inspire confidence in others to invest in more potential projects.

Nothing is going to happen overnight, and a handful of new restaurants and bars will not solve many of the deeper issues the town faces, baby steps are needed and actual solid progress shown, no point papering over the cracks or investing money that ultimately ends up wasted.

Thou

voz es wrote: »

I just had a look a this planning application, nothing wrong with what Faddens fashions are doing but its a terrible pity that top nosh was not bought by the council.
If that building was demolished it would open up the promenade along the market square carpark very easily.
Lavelles bakery which is also now being redeveloped by Ivan and Karen Carroll is beautiful. This the stone cut building to the rear could have been exposed to the main street.
A river walkway installation similar to that at Bachelors walk along the river Liffey would upon up that whole area.

The building over the river where extra vision is although pretty and i'm sure quite old, is holding up the prospects of Castlebar town center rivaling Westport for beauty.

If you manage to make a place attractive to shoppers it will be attractive to retailers. Imagine a paved main street served either side by large car parks and leading onto a promenade towards Hopkins road.

I had just assumed that the demolition of the former Top Nosh building would've been part of the project.

The now Bronntanas shop was built over that side in late 20's 30's, the visual impact of civic space wasn't necessarily foremost in people's minds then, or come to think of it, it is probably not too much in the present either.

Rightly so exposing the former Lavelles building displaying now extinct craftsmanship, from as many vantage points as possible at that end of town would be great.

Thou

Just to add I haven't seen the plans but thought that they would have had the greenway continue as close to the river and as near to the Lavelles building as possible before crossing over at McCarthys, makes sense right? Or is this in the plan?

Castlebardude

Xenji wrote: »

Far too many ifs and possibilities, focus should be on definites and not more empty promises, I disagree that we have the jobs, they are sorely needed in town and on a far larger scale than a new bar or restaurant, the town also needs to rebuild it's image and see some of these building proposals completed and turning a healthy profit to inspire confidence in others to invest in more potential projects.

Nothing is going to happen overnight, and a handful of new restaurants and bars will not solve many of the deeper issues the town faces, baby steps are needed and actual solid progress shown, no point papering over the cracks or investing money that ultimately ends up wasted.

Yeah I wasn't sure to write "we have the jobs" because you're right, we don't, but we do have more than in a lot of other towns in Mayo and I believe there is a lot of people commuting here to work, then leaving again to spend their earnings in their own home towns and villages where there is probably more going on at the weekends than in Castlebar.

nuac

Castlebardude wrote: »

Agree with you 100% Voz Es, that's an excellent idea ! And imagine the main street paved & pedestrianised & dotted with a few new bars, cafes & restaurants running up as far as Parsons with people dining & drinking outdoor similar to Quay Street in Galway - that's what Castlebar needs - we are the county town,we have the population, we have the jobs,we have the shopping, the people are there (its just that they are spending their money in Westport ! ) - we just need to make it an attractive place to socialise in once again.Ohhh.....and we could do with getting a couple of town centre hotels back too - Military Barracks has great potential for a large hotel. The future is looking bright..ish - you have Mc Carthys & the Fadden/Carroll development reinvigorating the bottom of main street this or next year. Sam Adams is a nice place & will surely be bought & reopened soon. The Welcome Inn will surely come back & be refurbished. Hopefully we'll see big shows coming back to the TF again soon. You also have that big stone building in Mill Lane that was once touted as a superpub & the 2 adjacent sites on Linenhall Street (formally Flynns) which again were once going to be developed as a large gastropub. It would be nice to see those coming back on stream again. Maybe a few of the existing publicans might throw a few quid into their place to give them a lift. Its a pity that fine former Kingsbridge building wasn't kept as a bar or restaurant with it's prominent location - it seems wasted as offices. I also think that Enda is going to start pouring serious money into his hometown this time 'round - he's going to want to leave a nice legacy for the people & have them forget all about what he didn't do for the town, the first time as Taoiseach.

Alternatively we could just continue to do nothing & complain & moan about why everyone is going to Westport & blame the buses & the taxis for taking everyone away from the town even though they operate each way & could just as easily be bringing people to the town if there was actually something worth coming over for !

You are talking about huge investment, massive footfall.

Talk to operators of present businesses. Business not hectic.

Westernyelp

If you build it they will come! (If you do it well and use a bit of progressive thinking and get good will and buy in from the existing traders etc who are more often than not intransigent on these matters. Plus a few other issues like funding ) I'm all for it.

naughto

Castlebardude wrote: »

Agree with you 100% Voz Es, that's an excellent idea ! And imagine the main street paved & pedestrianised & dotted with a few new bars, cafes & restaurants running up as far as Parsons with people dining & drinking outdoor similar to Quay Street in Galway - that's what Castlebar needs - we are the county town,we have the population, we have the jobs,we have the shopping, the people are there (its just that they are spending their money in Westport ! ) - we just need to make it an attractive place to socialise in once again.Ohhh.....and we could do with getting a couple of town centre hotels back too - Military Barracks has great potential for a large hotel. The future is looking bright..ish - you have Mc Carthys & the Fadden/Carroll development reinvigorating the bottom of main street this or next year. Sam Adams is a nice place & will surely be bought & reopened soon. The Welcome Inn will surely come back & be refurbished. Hopefully we'll see big shows coming back to the TF again soon. You also have that big stone building in Mill Lane that was once touted as a superpub & the 2 adjacent sites on Linenhall Street (formally Flynns) which again were once going to be developed as a large gastropub. It would be nice to see those coming back on stream again. Maybe a few of the existing publicans might throw a few quid into their place to give them a lift. Its a pity that fine former Kingsbridge building wasn't kept as a bar or restaurant with it's prominent location - it seems wasted as offices. I also think that Enda is going to start pouring serious money into his hometown this time 'round - he's going to want to leave a nice legacy for the people & have them forget all about what he didn't do for the town, the first time as Taoiseach.

Alternatively we could just continue to do nothing & complain & moan about why everyone is going to Westport & blame the buses & the taxis for taking everyone away from the town even though they operate each way & could just as easily be bringing people to the town if there was actually something worth coming over for !

Enda didn't give a f1uck in the las 5ys about Castlebar and they still voted him in again. What makes you think he will be any different this time round when he has to ask ff to help him out to stay in power.

Castlebardude

nuac wrote: »

You are talking about huge investment, massive footfall.

Talk to operators of present businesses. Business not hectic.

Why do you think that is ? It is a catch 22 ! If they invest big money in their business there is a chance that they might not make it back because business is not hectic at the moment but I can tell you one thing for sure, if they DO'NT invest in their business, refurbish,rebrand,reinvigorate whatever, business will not get any better for them & if anything will probably get worse & when a new competitor comes into the market, they will get left behind.

A friend of mine works in the nightclub in Westport, this time last year, business was not too hectic for them, and hadn't been for quite some time. They were losing out to 3 late bars because people weren't willing to walk up that end of town & pay to get in when they were getting the same product in the other venues for free.

The Corcorans then completely refurbished & reinvented the club & I don't mean they gave the place a fresh lick of paint, they spent huge money on the club to turn it into one of the best venues in the country.They now have 4 separate rooms & every Saturday & bank holiday Sundays (and every Sunday during the summer), there are 2 different bands & 3 different Djs spread across the 4 different areas which includes a very large sheltered outdoor smoking area with its own bar.
Now, every Saturday since they've opened, they have to close the door by 12:30 because its full with over 1,000 people in the place & there could be 2 or 300 people queueing up outside trying to get in. People from all over Mayo are hopping into buses and going there because its unique & its where everybody wants to be. Although those other late bars suffered initially, I believe it has settled down again & they have their own crowds back & they now benefit from those 2 or 300 hundred people who didn't get into the nightclub.

In the mean time, publicans in towns like Castlebar,Ballina,Claremorris,Hollymount,Ballinrobe,Foxford,Swinford,Charlestown & many more are scratching their heads wondering where have all the young people gone off too in buses. If the Corcorans, hadn't reinvested in their nightclub this time last year, business would still not be hectic for them too. I'm sure they have their investment recouped by now. BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME !

Castlebardude

Westernyelp wrote: »

If you build it they will come!

Ha Ha I hadn't seen your comments when I posted the same thing ! Great minds think alike !

Xenji

It is a double edged sword, what looks good for the town might also be its death knell, imagine a big money project actually gets off the ground in town and is completed and starts to turn a healthy profit, this in turn leads to more confidence in further investment for new projects, but on the other hand the same said project bombs and suffers huge financial losses leading to trepidation and wholesale reluctance for others to make further investments.

Westernyelp

That's the spirit.

nuac

I have great admiration for those who set up and develope new businesses in retail and catering.

Not easy, many hoops to jump thru, many dangerous reefs to navigate.

In theory banks are lending to develope a business, but the reams of terms and conditions may make it impossible. And of course the old PG ( personal guarantee ) still lurks.

It is all very well to say build it and they will come. But not enough willing to pay a viable price may come.

Castlebardude

naughto wrote: »

Enda didn't give a f1uck in the las 5ys about Castlebar and they still voted him in again. What makes you think he will be any different this time round when he has to ask ff to help him out to stay in power.

Coz that's what I would do if I was him, wouldn't you ! He had to be seen not to be doing the parish pump politics thing the first time 'round + he had the bigger job of an entire country to try and fix rather than just his home town but now in his last term, I reckon we'll see a bit of action. Apart from "that Late Late interview" Flynn is remembered for the "good roads", the garda station, the library etc Kenny will want to better that methinks !

Castlebardude

Xenji wrote: »

It is a double edged sword, what looks good for the town might also be its death knell, imagine a big money project actually gets off the ground in town and is completed and starts to turn a healthy profit, this in turn leads to more confidence in further investment for new projects, but on the other hand the same said project bombs and suffers huge financial losses leading to trepidation and wholesale reluctance for others to make further investments.

Castlebar is at an all time low & has been for quite some time now. I don't think it can get much worse, things can only get better & for that reason I actually think this is an exciting time for the town & failure won't be an option. I believe it will turn a corner over the next 1-2 (maybe 3) years & as these new projects come to fruition they will breathe new life & confidence into the town & as Xenji said "this in turn leads to more confidence in further investment for new projects".

The developers who have the balls to invest in these projects right now are so going to reap the rewards down the line.Mark my words, Bridge Street will soon become a hive of activity, Mc Carthys will become the place to be as a pub for bar food & for entertainment, you won't get a table in the new Bay Leaf on a Saturday night, Mick Byrnes will bounce off the other 2 as will the new Sam Adams around the corner and whoever opens a "right" nightclub will absolutely cream it ! It will be up to the others than to step up to the plate or get left behind.

yorlum11

Castlebardude wrote:

Coz that's what I would do if I was him, wouldn't you ! He had to be seen not to be doing the parish pump politics thing the first time 'round + he had the bigger job of an entire country to try and fix rather than just his home town but now in his last term, I reckon we'll see a bit of action. Apart from "that Late Late interview" Flynn is remembered for the "good roads", the garda station, the library etc Kenny will want to better that methinks !

Kenny is no P Flynn. He's has and will be no benefit to Mayo.

ethical

If Kenny dosent buck up he will ruin any chance his daughter has of succeeding him!

Canadel

yorlum11 wrote: »

Kenny is no P Flynn. He's has and will be no benefit to Mayo.

You say that as if it's a bad thing!

yorlum11

Canadel wrote:

You say that as if it's a bad thing!

Depends which way you look at it. My point is Kenny has not delivered for Mayo. P Flynn aside.

Canadel

yorlum11 wrote: »

Depends which way you look at it. My point is Kenny has not delivered for Mayo. P Flynn aside.

It's not his job as Taoiseach to deliver for Mayo any more than the other 25 counties. Objectively speaking.

yorlum11

Canadel wrote:

It's not his job as Taoiseach to deliver for Mayo any more than the other 25 counties. Objectively speaking.

It's pretty obvious to everyone his worth to Mayo. You're a Kenny man, fair play. Now back to the theme of the thread.

Westernyelp

New music shop in Castlebar is up and running. It's instruments etc rather than cd's and stuff. Best of luck to them. Think they have a place in Kiltimagh too.

yop

Westernyelp wrote: »

New music shop in Castlebar is up and running. It's instruments etc rather than cd's and stuff. Best of luck to them. Think they have a place in Kiltimagh too.

Fair play, I know them, didn't realize they were opening up in Cba. Best of luck to them.

nuac

Canadel wrote: »

It's not his job as Taoiseach to deliver for Mayo any more than the other 25 counties. Objectively speaking.

FG canvassers in Mayo in GE2007 and GE2011 pushed hard for votes for Enda and FG on the grounds that a Mayo Taoiseach would be great for the county.

FG got the votes in Mayo, but there is disappointment at the lack of delivery.

The final insult was to describe those who pointed that out as "whingers"

Canadel

yorlum11 wrote: »

It's pretty obvious to everyone his worth to Mayo. You're a Kenny man, fair play. Now back to the theme of the thread.

His worth to the country is all that matters. I'm my own man, and I'm a Labour voter. Not much good in Mayo. I gave Kenny and Ring my number 6 and 7 preferences respectively in the recent election.

nuac wrote: »

FG canvassers in Mayo in GE2007 and GE2011 pushed hard for votes for Enda and FG on the grounds that a Mayo Taoiseach would be great for the county.

FG got the votes in Mayo, but there is disappointment at the lack of delivery.

The final insult was to describe those who pointed that out as "whingers"

Then calling them deceitful or even liars is a valid criticism. Criticising Kenny for not delivering more to Mayo than other counties is regressive, conservative thinking. I'd be disgusted if Kenny disproportionately favoured Mayo over other counties simply because he's from Mayo.

irishgeo

Steel girders now up in the new IDA factory.

godskitchen

irishgeo wrote: »

Steel girders now up in the new IDA factory.

With no Tennant, as far as I know?

yop

irishgeo wrote: »

Steel girders now up in the new IDA factory.

Where is that?