Mr. Rob Murphy:

We would welcome a visit to Ballinrobe. We have a committee, Ballinrobe Beo, which is a trader alliance in the town working very hard with the council in trying to develop strategies to deal with this issue. Long-term parking has been mentioned and I should have stressed earlier that our call in the town is for one hour of free parking. We also want to work with the council in ways to regain the revenue lost in the first hour; maybe levies could be a great way of doing this but there could also be an increased charge in the second hour.

With our town's consumers, it is important to remember that the cost of parking is nothing for major city centres. There is a mentality around collecting dry-cleaning or meat for dinner. It should be a simple process with plenty of spaces, and one should be able to do this without fearing a ticket from a traffic warden. In that regard, the shop door used to be a great social meeting point for people, and there would almost be an issue with the number of people having a chat at the front of a shop. It was brilliant and it created a great vibe. However, that is completely gone as customers are panicked, running in and out. They think they get five or ten minutes leeway but they are not sure, so they do not enjoy the experience.

Ms Mary Portas mentioned in her report in the UK that one of the most important elements of town centres is what they bring to communities. It is about social fabric, and we have people coming from a 15-mile or 20-mile radius to Ballinrobe, as it is often their social outlet. Ireland has much focus on pubs as a social outlet and although they are brilliant, shopping is a social process for many. The act of meeting people and discussing stories is gone now as people run back to the car when they collect their dry-cleaning or meat. Ballinrobe has great potential as a town and there is a tremendous amount of goodwill there. We are all determined to keep fighting and we really believe our food store can survive. We provide convenience, service and long-serving staff who people love to see. As we are part of the Musgrave trading group, we provide good value and we can compete on price.

We are seeking a one-hour free parking slot. We are not saying to the council that we do not understand its problems and we want to see if we can offset the cost. We want to work with the council but there must also be a national policy, as Ms Buckley explained, which can deal with the issue developing in small towns.