Widening gulf and ‘uneasy tolerance’ is killing business in a town that ‘has it all’

It is a slow mid-week morning for traders on Rathkeale’s main street.

Joe Williams, the only butcher in the town, is one of them. He’s doing specials on minced meat, but there aren’t many takers today. He’s sitting out the back having a cup of tea with a neighbour.

“There used to be four butchers in this town,” he says. “Now, I’m hanging on by my finger- nails. The population has drifted away. The young people have gone. It’s busy at Christmas time, but that’s it.”

There’s no shortage of deserted streetscapes or run-down main streets around the country. Rathkeale’s decline though set in long before the economic downturn.

Nowadays, there are at least 30 empty shops on the street, many of them converted into residential homes or else simply closed down and seemingly abandoned.

Some outlets are more resilient than others. The Rathkeale Hotel is renovated and does a good trade, while the Deel Bakery and Bloomers cafe and deli are among a handful of shops that have a regular stream of customers. But there is no escaping the fact that this is a town under strain.

On the face it, Rathkeale has it all. Statistically, it is one of the safest communities in the State. Its schools are among the best resourced anywhere. Its sporting facilities are unparalleled compared to any other small town. There’s a resilient community spirit with dozens of voluntary organisations.

And yet the town has been dying. The population fell by 20 per cent over a 15-year period until 2009.

In contrast, neighbouring Newcastle West grew by more than 50 per cent over the same period. Many housing estate areas have also suffered, with dozens of properties bought up and either boarded up or unoccupied for long periods of time.

Part of the reason for the town’s decline, according to two official reports, has been a widening gulf between the settled and Traveller communities in the town.

Rathkeale has been long considered by many Traveller families as their spiritual home. At Christmas time, the population of the town swells dramatically – up to three times its normal size – as Travellers return from Britain, Europe or beyond for several weeks at a time.

Yet, Travellers are almost absent from the civic life of the town. There is an “uneasy tolerance” and almost “total disengagement” between both communities, according to the reports.

It is a practically segregated town with clear Traveller and settled residential areas, aside from the Main Street. There’s growing evidence of a “flight” of settled people from the community. Some politicians have gone so far as to warn that all the conditions are there for a “social time-bomb”.

Poor planning
Traders in the town acknowledge it has suffered over recent years and that there is a problem with poor planning and abandoned properties. However they take issue with a perception that there are deep divisions between the Travellers and the settled community.

Butcher Joe Williams says: “There’s no tension. Maybe at Christmas time there can be issues with so many people around, but it’s all exaggerated. I do business with lots of Travellers. They say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.”