Athy's Tuesday market needs a new home

NOW that work on Athy’s plaza is finished, Kildare County Council are preparing to make bye-laws in relation to the control, regulation, supervision and designation of casual trading in the town.

For more than 500 years a market has been held in Athy every Tuesday by virtue of a charter granted by King Henry VIII in 1515.

The place for holding the market was determined by the Earl of Kildare, while the village Provost was required to regulate the market. We look upon the former Market Square, now Emily Square, as the site of the market, but in fact the Earl’s initial choice was somewhere in the vicinity of Woodstock Castle where the medieval village of Athy was located in the 16th century.

It was only in the latter years of the 17th century that the village of Athy moved to the eastern side of the River Barrow following continuous attacks by the Irish on the Woodstock settlement. White’s Castle was built to protect the River Barrow crossing and the new market square was developed, possibly at the same time as the Market House was built.

The Tuesday market transferred across the river, and we can presume that the then Earl of Kildare approved the move. The power of the Provost to regulate the market passed to his successor, the Town Sovereign, and subsequently to the mayor of Athy Borough Council, then to the chairman of Athy Town Commissioners, the chairman of Athy Urban District Council and more recently the mayor of Athy Municipal Council.

The Casual Trading Act 1995 gives extensive powers to a county council to provide for the control and regulation of casual trading. It also provides for the extinguishment of ancient market rights if certain conditions are met by the County Council. 

The county council can extinguish the market right, but only if alternative facilities are provided for the traders in the vicinity of the existing market right.

The council must also provide in the new marketplace sufficient accommodation for all the stall holders who were previously catered for under the market right.

Only then can the council enact bye-laws which the stall holders must comply with.

The major question which Kildare County Council must answer is whether the return of the market to the newly designated plaza is appropriate. 

The map which accompanied the public notice issued by Kildare County Council in relation to the market bye-laws showed eleven pitches in the plaza and eight pitches on Barrow Quay. 

These numbers were considerably less than those used by the traders before work on the plaza started. 

The Casual Trading Act only allows the market right to be extinguished by the council if the alternative market site is in the same vicinity, and after facilities offered reasonably correspond in all respects to the previous market size.

The alternative site, cited in the council’s draft bye-laws, using the back Square and the Barrow Quay would not meet the requirements of the Casual Trading Act.

However, land to the south side of the Courthouse, formerly the grounds of ‘The Abbey’, would be a suitable site for the Tuesday market.

This site, if acquired by the council, would allow the market to continue every Tuesday, and the site could also be used for car parking every other day.

That latter point is important, bearing in mind the loss of car parking due to the development of the plaza. Additional parking will also be required when the Shackleton Museum opens. 

Kildare County Council should move to acquire this plot of ground, whether by compulsory purchase order or otherwise, as it is uniquely located in the centre of the town.

The market, at present, is not a very attractive one. I’m reminded of what the authorities in Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex did to make the weekly market more attractive by providing stalls and awnings for the traders, which the council set up the evening before each market.

I understand that the traders pay a small fee for renting the council’s equipment and the colourful scene provided a pleasant backdrop to the market.

I appeal to Kildare County Council not to endanger the town’s plaza and allow it to be a pleasant meeting point for locals and visitors alike seven days a week.

The alternative site, which I have suggested for the market, meets all the requirements of the Casual Trading Act. 

It would be foolish for the council not to seize the opportunity to protect the town’s market, even if it continues not with its market right but as an ordinary market.

Personally, I am in favour of the continuation of the Tuesday market in Athy in a casual trading area selected by the council nearer to Emily Square, even if the present market right is extinguished. 

This would allow the council to regulate the new designated casual trading area. The passing of casual trading bye-laws will be an opportunity for Kildare County Council to make the market much more attractive, not least by providing standard colourful stalls and awnings for the traders to use. 

What I do not want to happen is to witness the death of the Tuesday market. Now is the time for senior council officials and the public representatives to show vision and courage.