A SHOPKEEPER who was evicted from his premises and re-entered by picking the locks was preparing to stage a sit-in at his Donegal shop last night.
Alfie Greene is locked in a bitter dispute with management of Letterkenny Shopping Centre, Harcourt Developments, where he runs a footwear store.
Mr Greene is one of a number of traders who are protesting over Harcourt’s plans to increase rent at the centre by 47 per cent in its five-yearly rent review.
Traders are refusing to pay current rent arrears, claiming they are already paying some of the highest rents in Letterkenny. They have taken the steps because they feel it is the only way to get Harcourt to meet with them.
Desperate attempts to negotiate with Harcourt over the past few months have not been reciprocated. According to traders, sales at the centre have dropped by between 40 and 50 per cent.
Mr Greene, who has had a store in the centre for 22 years, arrived on Wednesday morning to find locks had been changed on the premises. More shops are expected to be shut in the increasingly bitter lockout dispute in the coming weeks.
A stand-off developed between centre management and Mr Greene yesterday morning, when he and staff picked the locks on the premises and let themselves in by scrambling under the shutter.
Attempts by the centre’s manager, Brian McCracken, a security man, and a Harcourt-appointed bouncer to stop him entering the premises were unsuccessful.
The three individuals are alleged to have stood in the doorway for some time afterwards, trying to prevent customers from entering the premises.
“The security people tried to stop me from coming in, but we got the shutters open before they realised what we were doing. They must have seen us on CCTV, they ran down like hell but we had the shutters nearly open by then and got in.
“They stayed there for a long time trying to prevent people from coming in,” said Mr Greene.
Fearing that locks will be changed if he leaves, Mr Greene was yesterday preparing to stage a sit-in at the premises overnight last night. “I’m relieved I’m back in obviously. My job is to sell shoes, that’s all I can do,” he said.
“All we want them to do is come and talk to us. It’s me this week, but it will be someone else next week.”