THE Kilrush.ie website has been revamped and relaunched by the Kilrush Town Team, a volunteer led group of local people, who have been working to promote the West Clare town as a place to live and work.
Chairman of the Town Team Charlie Glynn has a local business, Glynn Technical Diamonds and he said the site is for both locals and visitors.
“We’ve been working on it for a while and we’re trying to use it as a landing page for various businesses in the town. If Covid has shown us anything it’s that an online presence is important.
“It was important from a Town Team perspective to be able to showcase businesses and act as directory.
“You can look at it from a tourism perspective too, to draw tourists into the town. Also it’s a one stop shop for people in the town, a directory of services. It’s not fully 100% there yet, it’s a work in progress at the moment.”
Kilrush has around 160 businesses, employing a locally based workforce of more than 700 people.
The redesigned website highlights the range of activities and educational options available in Kilrush, while it also focuses on the range of businesses, which are located in the historic market town.
Kilrush.ie incorporates a directory, which allows local businesses the opportunity to promote their business, along with providing links to their products and services.
The town would have been in decline throughout the recession, but Charlie feels the pendulum is swinging in the other direction now.
“I think so. It is on the up. More people are moving back here. Take my sister and her husband for example, they were living in Dublin and moved back to the family home in Kilrush. There are a couple of examples like that.”
He is hopeful that generating some population and business growth can help keep local voluntary groups vibrant.
“They are the spine of many villages and communities, development committees and groups. If we can bring back a different skill set to work remotely, well, hopefully then some of the community groups can reap the benefits of that.”
Kilrush Town Team has also appointed Trigger Communications to develop a new branding and marketing strategy for Kilrush town. Part of its focus has been on creating a Kilrush Town logo featuring the tagline ‘Time For You’.
The logo captures the natural assets of the town as well as unique selling points.
The Town Team are also engaging with a marketing and PR specialist to build on and position the town brand into the future.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.