Businesses benefit from racing crowds

RACE week brought more than its traditional lift to the South Galway economy with a number of businesses in Gort experiencing a higher volume of trade than last year.
The Galway Races Summer Festival draws crowds from across the country and traffic from the Mid and South-West regions travelling through the town traditionally provides a boost to business.
According to a number of the town’s most prominent businesses, trade was up on last year. For O’Grady’s Bar and Restaurant in The Square, race week is always busy but this year was exceptionally so.
“It is one of the biggest weeks in the year for us. It is two and a half times what a normal week is in the summer time. Business was up on last year. It was really a mix of locals and passing traffic. We would get a big crowd from Clare, North Tipperary and Limerick and all the usual faces from down through the years would have been here again last week. We did the figures there and we were up 10% on last year. Last year, there was some bad weather on a couple of days but it wasn’t that bad this year. I mean, it wasn’t sunny but people generally were very confident of good weather,” said proprietor Sean Mullins.
“There is no drinking and driving and anyone in a car usually heads back to their own local. People who travel by car don’t really drink anymore but those that travel by bus more than make up for them. We get a lot of repeat business from pubs in Clare. A bus from The Coopers Pub in Birdhill has been coming here for years now. Buses from Clarecastle, Sixmilebridge, Ennis and Kilrush all stop off and they are never in a rush home when they have a driver, so they are inclined to have a drink after having dinner. They have usually had a few at the races and are carrying on the party that they began in Ballybrit,” he said.
According to Sean, the signs were there early. “We noticed towards the end of the previous week that figures started to creep up. Races begin for us on the Saturday beforehand, with people coming into the area to stay. When we opened on Monday morning we knew what was ahead of us. It was flat out all week right up to Tuesday of this week,” he commented.
The Lady Gregory Hotel also experienced an increase in trade on the same time last year, with the restaurant doing particularly well.
“Race week is very important for businesses in Gort. It was pretty good this year. We filled rooms easier during the week and there was a lot of passing traffic. Business in the restaurant was up too. It was one of our best weeks. We would be pretty happy with the trade overall,” said owner Michael O’Grady.
It wasn’t just pubs and restaurants that benefitted from the increased numbers travelling through the town. Coughlan’s Centra on Georges Street in Gort also reported a rise in business.
“Race week is always a good week, you get a nice spin off from it with the passing traffic. We were up about 5% on last year as well, which is reflective of the increase in the numbers attending the races. The weather was ok too and that gets people on the move,” remarked shop owner John Coughlan.
However, while this year saw a jump in trade, next year’s business is uncertain.
“The bypass will have an effect, especially since there is only one entrance to the town. It would be a worry definitely. I have been talking to other businesses and we are all in the same boat, we don’t know what effect it will have. There are positives to the bypass, don’t get me wrong, like less congestion and traffic. When you think about it, probably 80% or more of the people going through don’t stop anyway,” Mr Coughlan stated.
The Gort to Crusheen bypass is expected to open late this year or early in 2011. The only entrance to Gort from the bypass is located at Ballinger’s Corner on the northern end of the town. This will mean that traffic will have to leave the bypass and drive into the town to access businesses. They will then have to turn around and follow the same road back if they want to rejoin the bypass, not allowing them to make any progress on their journey. Having only one exit has caused some controversy among local business people.
“I really don’t know how we will be next year with the bypass. It will be a change and we are at the wrong end of the town to get business from it. The bypass will be at the other end of the town, people coming from the south will have passed us by, they’ll have passed the whole town by before they get to the exit,” said Michael O’Grady from The Lady Gregory.
Sean Mullins is hopeful that even with the opening of the Gort to Crusheen bypass that people passing will still call into the town to do business.
“It is hard to know what will happen. We don’t know what the bypass is going to do but we have built up a loyal base of customers, particularly in Clare, and we are hoping to hold onto them but it is fairly uncharted waters. We will have to wait to see. We don’t expect to see the sky fall in but we don’t expect to get busier either,” Mr Mullins concluded.