Moving forward!
Cootehill chamber president pushes 'shop local' message
It’s a Wednesday morning and there is a palpable buzz about Cootehill. The length and breadth of the historic east Cavan Market Town, flanked by the symmetry and proportion of its Georgian style buildings, there are signs of life returning to some form of normality as Covid restrictions ease.
“It’s been wonderful to see,” says Chamber of Commerce president, Lisa Pepper, when asked about the piecemeal reopening of local businesses.
She remembers a day at the height of the pandemic driving through town and seeing all but a few shops opened. It’s a grim memory but, thankfully, fast becoming a distant one.
“Everyone wants to move forward now, we want to be positive. Yes there are some businesses who haven’t and possibly won’t reopen after being shut for so long. Our hearts are with them. But there are signs of growth as well, with shops reopening. We’re seeing people come back and hopefully we as a town can work to maintain that.”
A recent survey showed that the population of some small towns in Cavan commute daily to Cootehill daily for work. More than 1,200 jobs are supported within the town’s concentration of uniquely skilled engineering firms, with an estimated several thousand more employed in other sectors such as food and agri-production.
Furthermore, based on the most recent census, there are some 78,000 people living within a 30-minute catchment of Cootehill, and more than 400,000 within a 60-minute drive (more than Cavan Town).
It’s no wonder Lisa, who owns the ‘Off The Rack’ women’s boutique, says that Cootehill is very much “open for business”, in all aspects, including encouraging inward investment.
“Our town has a lot going for it. There is a real sense of optimism out there and, as more places open, I feel it will bring more people into the town, and help more businesses to sustain. People have been isolating for so long at this stage, there is an energy now to try and start life again,” she says.
Lisa continues: “That life is getting back to what we consider normal is important for people, because it has affected people and their mental well-being being shut away, and the fear of everything that’s going on as well. You often forget about the people who don’t have anyone.
"I’ve had people, some older, just pop their head in through the door for nothing more than to welcome us back, and say ‘it’s great’ to see the lights on again.
"Some were saying it was their first day back out in months, and it was after they’d gotten their vaccine. It’s brings it all back to reality, that we are one community, and how much we need to be there for each other, in the bad times and the good.”