Unlicensed traders at Kerry horse fair hitting local businesses and ‘lessons must be learnt’

By Alastair Tibbs, The Kerryman

A Kerry councillor has slammed the “take-over” of unlicensed fast-food vans on the street at Castleisland’s horse fair day last month, resulting in local businesses losing out on revenue.

Councillor Charlie Farrelly said multiple food trucks parked on the main street during the historic festival, serving customers and taking away business from local food outlets.

The horse fair is an annual festival in Castleisland, linked to the town’s 13th Century origins, and was held on November 1 this year.

The fair attracts people from across the county and further afield, for the trading of horses, ponies and other goods, marking the busiest day of the year for the small town.

Cllr Farrelly alleged at the recent Castleisland Municipal District meeting that “six or seven” trucks without trading licences were present this year and said lessons needed to be learned.

“Our fast-food restaurants in town – these are the ones that are paying rent, these are the ones that are putting money into the council,” he said.

“These people come in, and they take over the town…next year lessons have to be learnt to guard our traders in town, our fast-food outlets, our restaurants.

“We have to sit down next year and work with the gardaí in plenty of time.”

Dennis Cronin, owner of Cronin’s Restaurant and Castlemeats BBQ and Catering on Main Street, was running street catering premises on fair day and said the influx of non-local food vans was “unfair”.

“If I went to Puck Fair, if I went to the Listowel Races, if I went to Killarney, if I went anywhere else, I’d be told to leave,” said Mr Cronin, “but here it seems they can just do what they want”.

“Other fairs have a structure in place and require catering companies to pay for entry. They’re required to set up in a trading area away from local businesses but in Castleisland they just come in and take over the town.

“Luckily, I had mobile vans which I put outside my restaurant two days prior to stop them parking in front of my restaurant and setting up their generators which would be on all day. I completely closed off my business but other businesses up the street, you couldn’t even see.”

While VAT for hospitality is set to be reduced next July, Mr Cronin highlighted that wages and food prices have gone up. The new pension scheme coming in January will also put more pressure on employers as they will likely have to contribute more to employee pots.

“With the hospitality trade, everything has gone up…so we need as much revenue as we can coming through the door,” he said.

“Then you have these guys coming in on one of the busiest days in Castleisland. We don’t need any of that.”

The owner of Chicken Club Castleisland, a restaurant on Main Street, confirmed the increase of food trucks compared with previous years and said his business had been much quieter.

They stocked extra food in anticipation of the event and described the presence of the trucks as “unfair” as they paid nothing to the authorities to be there.