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The reopening of a village shop in South Tipperary has secured the employment of several locals, boosting the local area. Photo: iStock

A shop can be the lifeblood of any small village or town, a place where people can meet and chat and this was one of the motivating factors for Clogheen native, Colm Browne, when he recently re-opened a shop in the village.

In August of last year, the South Tipperary village was dealt yet another harsh blow, as the Spar shop closed down, following on from the loss of the bank. Locals were hoping that someone else would come in and re-open it at some point.

Colm had worked in the shop, as it was previously, between 1995 and 1999, working his way up from sales assistant to assistant manager. He runs the Esso garage situated in Cahir.

MEETING POINT

"When the shop closed, it was a massive loss to the community. It's my home town and I felt the community needed something. It's a focal point in the village and with the little sit down area, people can come in and relax," Colm told The Avondhu.

The shop has also boosted local employment, as Colm is currently employing ten people and he hopes to see this increase. When Colm was working in the shop first, he trained under Kay O'Gorman, whom he has now recruited. He said that it was very important for him to have Kay in the shop, as she knows everybody and is very familiar with the shop.

Colm added that it has been hard to get people back into the habit of coming into the shop, as it was closed for seven months, but that he is now seeing it getting busier every day.

"When a place loses the likes of the bank and there are threats to the Post Office, people will have nothing and a month ago, you couldn't buy a bread roll in Clogheen," Colm said, speaking of how important it is to retain these key elements in any community.

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