Tuam

P.M.P

I was wondering does anyone have any theories or ideas that could turn around Tuam dwindling economy?

Taxable

As someone who grew up 8 miles from Tuam, but has spent the last 6 years in China (and the previous 10 years before that in Russia, the Netherlands and the UK), I feel there are a lot of advantages of a place like Tuam...

If there was a local government / Co-op etc in the area which had any forward vision, they would look at the situation carefully... On the plus side, there is plenty of natural energy sources, good water supplies (from Luimneagh and from the skies), fertile land and rain... On the negative side, there are few industrial resources, and not a huge local market for any locally produced hard goods...

The solution has to be in food and agriculture... There is no reason that the west of Ireland cannot be fully self-sufficient in that way (except for some exotic fruits - and an off season between November and February)... Look at the people who are using greenhouses, follow their examples. Greenhouses / poly-tunnels are cheap now... Food processing lines are now cheap too (look at the liquidation sale websites)... Look at buying the parts and erecting it yourselves - it does not have to be expensive! Come to northern China, see what they do with a hell of a lot less (no rain, no decent soil, too hot in summer, too cold in winter)...

Tuam abu! I have no fears... the solution is in your heads and hands - people just need to realise it...

Taxable

Of course, this isn't going to help those who believed that the housing market was destined to be the driver of growth for years to come, and who are now sitting on massive debts...

...but it may help the younger generation who were saved from that stupidity by virtue of age...

Roll up the sleeves, get down to work - and enjoy it!! At the end of the day, you only get one life!!

Pay fair prices for what you need (2010 prices - not 2007 prices!)... Look up the economic concept of "sunk cost" if you need to... play hardball... leave those with debt to sink in it...

Those in debt now, work to get out of it... Price your work accordingly - not to what you could earn in 2007, but to the value you add in 2010. Keep going...

Mars Bar

The Zapatag really fell flat on it's face which is unfortunate. A bit more promotion again will do it no harm. One should be sent to every house in Tuam.

ScumLord

The train would be a massive boost to Tuam, if that opened it would become a transport hub as people from around north Galway that work in the city would use the train instead (considering price wouldn't be to high) the N17 is a horrible road to driv, it would put you off going to Galway.

It would give easier access to Tuam from Galway opening it up to more tourists and day trippers.

Theponylady

I lived in the Tuam area for several years. It has some major problems.

One BIG problem, is the number of kids on the street when the schools break for lunch. There are huge mobs of them, with no supervision whatsoever. Lots of food throwing, noise, pushing, foul language...I learned to completely avoid the town at lunch time, and when school lets out. The groups of kids are very intimidating. I eventually got to where I just didn't bother to go to town if I had a lot of shopping or something to do. I'd go to Castlebar, or shop in Galway city.

Also, if you had the bad luck to be in town when school lets out, you might as well stay in town for a while, because it could easily take 45 minutes to get your car out with all the traffic. Riding a bicycle not a good idea, as there are few places to lock them up, and they are likely to get damaged by the school kid mobs. There is no local transportation system of any sort.

Lack of public transportation is a big issue. For all practical purposes, there isn't any. If I wanted to go to Galway, I needed to drive my car. The buses don't run on a schedule that suits anyone. I decided to take a bus home from Galway once, and was shocked to find that the last bus of the day left Galway for Tuam at 8:15pm. Meaning if I wanted to do some shopping after work, then have a nice relaxing meal afterwards, I was going to have to rush. To get TO Galway in the morning, if you had a job that started at 9am, you had to be on the bus at 6 am, get to Galway at 6:45, and hang out for 2 hours. Because the next bus wouldn't get you to Galway until 9:15 or so, meaning you were going to be late for work. No train-there's a perfectly good set of railroad tracks sitting there unused. No evening bus service.

If I wanted to go shopping in Tuam, it was necessary to drive my car. The traffic is horrendous in Tuam, meaning what should be a 15 minute trip could be an hour or more. There is quite a lack of parking.

Other than the pool and the park (which seems to be closed or damaged quite often), there is nothing to do in Tuam if you aren't a drinker. The shops are fairly dismal-no surprise as no one in their right mind is going to put in a decent shop that people can't get to because of the horrible traffic and lack of public transportation, that is going to have to worry about consistent damage from mobs of school kids(along with having to wade through some intimidating bunches of them) and late night drunks.

Tuam COULD be a vibrant town. But it would take adding some major public transportation to allow people to get in and out of the town without becoming trapped in their cars. Perhaps some car parks just outside of the city centre, with a cheap or free trolly into the town. A cinema or bowling alley or something, to give people something to do where they don't need to leave town to do it, something that would keep people in town to where they'd eat there, and do a bit of shopping there.

The roads in and around Tuam are abysmal, full of holes, narrow, and if ONE car stops, it can cause a traffic jam for half an hour or more. NO big business in it's right mind is going to locate in this area, as it would be too expensive and slow to move materials, products and employees through the area, not to mention the lack of broadband services.

The school kids need to be controlled. Perhaps adding a cafeteria to the school, or allowing a chipper to open up at lunch time on school grounds, might help.

There is the one newer shopping mall on the outskirts of Tuam, where the sports store and spar are. It was very poorly planned though. You don't know what shops are in the mall if you see it from the road, meaning it's not going to pull in any passing business. You have to know they are there, and if you have no reason to go in and look, you don't know they are there. And you can't get into the mall if you are walking in from the road, unless you walk ALL the way around the buildings. There is also no parking at all for bigger vehicles, or cars pulling trailers, meaning if any farmers or construction workers, people with horses, etc want to come in for lunch, or do a bit of shopping on the way home, they simply can't.

The town tends to be dirty. there are few bins, and those that are there are often overflowing. I've often gone into town for lunch, and discovered rotten food, vomit, broken glass, plus all the rubbish left on the ground from the school kids who at lunch and had no where to dump their rubbish.

There is no attempt to attract tourists to the area. There is no attempt to promote the many historical areas and artifacts in the town and local area. The tourism office is open like one month out of the year. Just as well, there's no way for tourists to get to the town if they don't drive anyway, and no where decent within walking distance of the town to stay.

As it stands, the town of Tuam simply has nothing to offer anyone.

mossfort

Theponylady wrote: »

I lived in the Tuam area for several years. It has some major problems.

One BIG problem, is the number of kids on the street when the schools break for lunch. There are huge mobs of them, with no supervision whatsoever. Lots of food throwing, noise, pushing, foul language...I learned to completely avoid the town at lunch time, and when school lets out. The groups of kids are very intimidating. I eventually got to where I just didn't bother to go to town if I had a lot of shopping or something to do. I'd go to Castlebar, or shop in Galway city.

Also, if you had the bad luck to be in town when school lets out, you might as well stay in town for a while, because it could easily take 45 minutes to get your car out with all the traffic. Riding a bicycle not a good idea, as there are few places to lock them up, and they are likely to get damaged by the school kid mobs. There is no local transportation system of any sort.

Lack of public transportation is a big issue. For all practical purposes, there isn't any. If I wanted to go to Galway, I needed to drive my car. The buses don't run on a schedule that suits anyone. I decided to take a bus home from Galway once, and was shocked to find that the last bus of the day left Galway for Tuam at 8:15pm. Meaning if I wanted to do some shopping after work, then have a nice relaxing meal afterwards, I was going to have to rush. To get TO Galway in the morning, if you had a job that started at 9am, you had to be on the bus at 6 am, get to Galway at 6:45, and hang out for 2 hours. Because the next bus wouldn't get you to Galway until 9:15 or so, meaning you were going to be late for work. No train-there's a perfectly good set of railroad tracks sitting there unused. No evening bus service.

If I wanted to go shopping in Tuam, it was necessary to drive my car. The traffic is horrendous in Tuam, meaning what should be a 15 minute trip could be an hour or more. There is quite a lack of parking.

Other than the pool and the park (which seems to be closed or damaged quite often), there is nothing to do in Tuam if you aren't a drinker. The shops are fairly dismal-no surprise as no one in their right mind is going to put in a decent shop that people can't get to because of the horrible traffic and lack of public transportation, that is going to have to worry about consistent damage from mobs of school kids(along with having to wade through some intimidating bunches of them) and late night drunks.

Tuam COULD be a vibrant town. But it would take adding some major public transportation to allow people to get in and out of the town without becoming trapped in their cars. Perhaps some car parks just outside of the city centre, with a cheap or free trolly into the town. A cinema or bowling alley or something, to give people something to do where they don't need to leave town to do it, something that would keep people in town to where they'd eat there, and do a bit of shopping there.

The roads in and around Tuam are abysmal, full of holes, narrow, and if ONE car stops, it can cause a traffic jam for half an hour or more. NO big business in it's right mind is going to locate in this area, as it would be too expensive and slow to move materials, products and employees through the area, not to mention the lack of broadband services.

The school kids need to be controlled. Perhaps adding a cafeteria to the school, or allowing a chipper to open up at lunch time on school grounds, might help.

There is the one newer shopping mall on the outskirts of Tuam, where the sports store and spar are. It was very poorly planned though. You don't know what shops are in the mall if you see it from the road, meaning it's not going to pull in any passing business. You have to know they are there, and if you have no reason to go in and look, you don't know they are there. And you can't get into the mall if you are walking in from the road, unless you walk ALL the way around the buildings. There is also no parking at all for bigger vehicles, or cars pulling trailers, meaning if any farmers or construction workers, people with horses, etc want to come in for lunch, or do a bit of shopping on the way home, they simply can't.

The town tends to be dirty. there are few bins, and those that are there are often overflowing. I've often gone into town for lunch, and discovered rotten food, vomit, broken glass, plus all the rubbish left on the ground from the school kids who at lunch and had no where to dump their rubbish.

There is no attempt to attract tourists to the area. There is no attempt to promote the many historical areas and artifacts in the town and local area. The tourism office is open like one month out of the year. Just as well, there's no way for tourists to get to the town if they don't drive anyway, and no where decent within walking distance of the town to stay.

As it stands, the town of Tuam simply has nothing to offer anyone.

you dont like tuam.

Theponylady

mossfort wrote: »

you dont like tuam.

Sadly, you are right! When I first moved there, I remember walking around the town(no school kids around at the time), and thinking it could be a nice place to live. Some lovely buildings, a nice park, a new mall going up... I didn't realize at the time how little it had to offer, and how big the problems were. And because it was when things were going well with the economy, and it had been designated a hub town, I first assumed that the issues would get better. I assumed, wrongly, that broadband would come soon to the town, that the western rail corridor would open, that the roads would be upgraded, and it would no longer be necessary to drive through the center of town to get places. They got worse, rather than better.

The hospital closed, lots of promises from the HSE that never materialized, shops closing, inability to get around, gang problems...

You are right. I grew to not like Tuam. I still think it's a lovely area with potential. But it needs a LOT of help.

P.M.P

Theponylady wrote: »

I lived in the Tuam area for several years. It has some major problems.

One BIG problem, is the number of kids on the street when the schools break for lunch. There are huge mobs of them, with no supervision whatsoever. Lots of food throwing, noise, pushing, foul language...I learned to completely avoid the town at lunch time, and when school lets out. The groups of kids are very intimidating. I eventually got to where I just didn't bother to go to town if I had a lot of shopping or something to do. I'd go to Castlebar, or shop in Galway city.

Also, if you had the bad luck to be in town when school lets out, you might as well stay in town for a while, because it could easily take 45 minutes to get your car out with all the traffic. Riding a bicycle not a good idea, as there are few places to lock them up, and they are likely to get damaged by the school kid mobs. There is no local transportation system of any sort.

Lack of public transportation is a big issue. For all practical purposes, there isn't any. If I wanted to go to Galway, I needed to drive my car. The buses don't run on a schedule that suits anyone. I decided to take a bus home from Galway once, and was shocked to find that the last bus of the day left Galway for Tuam at 8:15pm. Meaning if I wanted to do some shopping after work, then have a nice relaxing meal afterwards, I was going to have to rush. To get TO Galway in the morning, if you had a job that started at 9am, you had to be on the bus at 6 am, get to Galway at 6:45, and hang out for 2 hours. Because the next bus wouldn't get you to Galway until 9:15 or so, meaning you were going to be late for work. No train-there's a perfectly good set of railroad tracks sitting there unused. No evening bus service.

If I wanted to go shopping in Tuam, it was necessary to drive my car. The traffic is horrendous in Tuam, meaning what should be a 15 minute trip could be an hour or more. There is quite a lack of parking.

Other than the pool and the park (which seems to be closed or damaged quite often), there is nothing to do in Tuam if you aren't a drinker. The shops are fairly dismal-no surprise as no one in their right mind is going to put in a decent shop that people can't get to because of the horrible traffic and lack of public transportation, that is going to have to worry about consistent damage from mobs of school kids(along with having to wade through some intimidating bunches of them) and late night drunks.

Tuam COULD be a vibrant town. But it would take adding some major public transportation to allow people to get in and out of the town without becoming trapped in their cars. Perhaps some car parks just outside of the city centre, with a cheap or free trolly into the town. A cinema or bowling alley or something, to give people something to do where they don't need to leave town to do it, something that would keep people in town to where they'd eat there, and do a bit of shopping there.

The roads in and around Tuam are abysmal, full of holes, narrow, and if ONE car stops, it can cause a traffic jam for half an hour or more. NO big business in it's right mind is going to locate in this area, as it would be too expensive and slow to move materials, products and employees through the area, not to mention the lack of broadband services.

The school kids need to be controlled. Perhaps adding a cafeteria to the school, or allowing a chipper to open up at lunch time on school grounds, might help.

There is the one newer shopping mall on the outskirts of Tuam, where the sports store and spar are. It was very poorly planned though. You don't know what shops are in the mall if you see it from the road, meaning it's not going to pull in any passing business. You have to know they are there, and if you have no reason to go in and look, you don't know they are there. And you can't get into the mall if you are walking in from the road, unless you walk ALL the way around the buildings. There is also no parking at all for bigger vehicles, or cars pulling trailers, meaning if any farmers or construction workers, people with horses, etc want to come in for lunch, or do a bit of shopping on the way home, they simply can't.

The town tends to be dirty. there are few bins, and those that are there are often overflowing. I've often gone into town for lunch, and discovered rotten food, vomit, broken glass, plus all the rubbish left on the ground from the school kids who at lunch and had no where to dump their rubbish.

There is no attempt to attract tourists to the area. There is no attempt to promote the many historical areas and artifacts in the town and local area. The tourism office is open like one month out of the year. Just as well, there's no way for tourists to get to the town if they don't drive anyway, and no where decent within walking distance of the town to stay.

As it stands, the town of Tuam simply has nothing to offer anyone.

You make reference to groups there and im a member of one of these groups. It's called the Parkmore Posse.
The town council has to take responsiblity for alot of this they're a joke can anyone say they're doing anything right???
All they do is appear in the herald every week and appear in court the next for some members of the council:pac:
Also while members of the public keep on appealing the constructive developments in the town tuam will always be a ****hole!

Theponylady

P.M.P wrote: »

You make reference to groups there and im a member of one of these groups. It's called the Parkmore Posse.
The town council has to take responsiblity for alot of this they're a joke can anyone say they're doing anything right???
All they do is appear in the herald every week and appear in court the next for some members of the council:pac:
Also while members of the public keep on appealing the constructive developments in the town tuam will always be a ****hole!

The town council needs to take responsibility for the fact that you are in a gang, is that what you are saying? The only person responsible for that is yourself, that's a choice you make on your own.

The gangs are part of what makes the town a "hole". Instead of choosing to help make things better, they make it so people don't want to come into the town because they don't feel safe, which hurts businesses, which causes them to close, and discourages any new businesses from coming in.

The council may not be the best at getting things done, but the gang problems make everything ten times worse.

ScumLord

Theponylady wrote: »

I lived in the Tuam area for several years. It has some major problems.

One BIG problem, is the number of kids on the street when the schools break for lunch. There are huge mobs of them, with no supervision whatsoever. Lots of food throwing, noise, pushing, foul language...I learned to completely avoid the town at lunch time, and when school lets out. The groups of kids are very intimidating. I eventually got to where I just didn't bother to go to town if I had a lot of shopping or something to do. I'd go to Castlebar, or shop in Galway city.

Also, if you had the bad luck to be in town when school lets out, you might as well stay in town for a while, because it could easily take 45 minutes to get your car out with all the traffic. Riding a bicycle not a good idea, as there are few places to lock them up, and they are likely to get damaged by the school kid mobs. There is no local transportation system of any sort.

Lack of public transportation is a big issue. For all practical purposes, there isn't any. If I wanted to go to Galway, I needed to drive my car. The buses don't run on a schedule that suits anyone. I decided to take a bus home from Galway once, and was shocked to find that the last bus of the day left Galway for Tuam at 8:15pm. Meaning if I wanted to do some shopping after work, then have a nice relaxing meal afterwards, I was going to have to rush. To get TO Galway in the morning, if you had a job that started at 9am, you had to be on the bus at 6 am, get to Galway at 6:45, and hang out for 2 hours. Because the next bus wouldn't get you to Galway until 9:15 or so, meaning you were going to be late for work. No train-there's a perfectly good set of railroad tracks sitting there unused. No evening bus service.

If I wanted to go shopping in Tuam, it was necessary to drive my car. The traffic is horrendous in Tuam, meaning what should be a 15 minute trip could be an hour or more. There is quite a lack of parking.

Other than the pool and the park (which seems to be closed or damaged quite often), there is nothing to do in Tuam if you aren't a drinker. The shops are fairly dismal-no surprise as no one in their right mind is going to put in a decent shop that people can't get to because of the horrible traffic and lack of public transportation, that is going to have to worry about consistent damage from mobs of school kids(along with having to wade through some intimidating bunches of them) and late night drunks.

Tuam COULD be a vibrant town. But it would take adding some major public transportation to allow people to get in and out of the town without becoming trapped in their cars. Perhaps some car parks just outside of the city centre, with a cheap or free trolly into the town. A cinema or bowling alley or something, to give people something to do where they don't need to leave town to do it, something that would keep people in town to where they'd eat there, and do a bit of shopping there.

The roads in and around Tuam are abysmal, full of holes, narrow, and if ONE car stops, it can cause a traffic jam for half an hour or more. NO big business in it's right mind is going to locate in this area, as it would be too expensive and slow to move materials, products and employees through the area, not to mention the lack of broadband services.

The school kids need to be controlled. Perhaps adding a cafeteria to the school, or allowing a chipper to open up at lunch time on school grounds, might help.

There is the one newer shopping mall on the outskirts of Tuam, where the sports store and spar are. It was very poorly planned though. You don't know what shops are in the mall if you see it from the road, meaning it's not going to pull in any passing business. You have to know they are there, and if you have no reason to go in and look, you don't know they are there. And you can't get into the mall if you are walking in from the road, unless you walk ALL the way around the buildings. There is also no parking at all for bigger vehicles, or cars pulling trailers, meaning if any farmers or construction workers, people with horses, etc want to come in for lunch, or do a bit of shopping on the way home, they simply can't.

The town tends to be dirty. there are few bins, and those that are there are often overflowing. I've often gone into town for lunch, and discovered rotten food, vomit, broken glass, plus all the rubbish left on the ground from the school kids who at lunch and had no where to dump their rubbish.

There is no attempt to attract tourists to the area. There is no attempt to promote the many historical areas and artifacts in the town and local area. The tourism office is open like one month out of the year. Just as well, there's no way for tourists to get to the town if they don't drive anyway, and no where decent within walking distance of the town to stay.

As it stands, the town of Tuam simply has nothing to offer anyone.

I'd agree with just about everything bar the teenagers, I'm always shocked that people bought into this tabloid paranoia, it makes some sense in the UK where this madness originated from but in the west of Ireland it's just laughable. I'm assuming your a grown woman and your afraid of children? It was bad enough saying children should be seen and not heard but now you want them locked away so they don't disturb your day? It is a pain in the hole getting around Tuam at certain times of the day those being when people are going to and from work/school. That's just a fact of life.

Theponylady

ScumLord wrote: »

I'd agree with just about everything bar the teenagers, I'm always shocked that people bought into this tabloid paranoia, it makes some sense in the UK where this madness originated from but in the west of Ireland it's just laughable. I'm assuming your a grown woman and your afraid of children? It was bad enough saying children should be seen and not heard but now you want them locked away so they don't disturb your day? It is a pain in the hole getting around Tuam at certain times of the day those being when people are going to and from work/school. That's just a fact of life.

Yes, I'm a grown woman. No, I don't want the kids locked up. I AM afraid of them when a large number of them are taller than I am, and much rougher. I've been hit by stuff they were throwing at each other a few times(they didn't mean to hit me-I was just in the way), and knocked down once by a group that decided they needed to roughhouse and knock each other into me as I was walking past, and I've had that almost happen several other times. These aren't small kids I'm talking about, it's the large groups of older kids that hang out on the street in front of Super Value and Supermacs and various other places in the town.

I work with kids every day. I like kids. Just not huge groups of them who are throwing stuff around and knocking people over. I recognize they are hanging out on the streets at lunch and after school because there is really no where else to go. This is my point. They need somewhere to go to hang out. The lunch issue could be avoided if they had somewhere on campus to eat. After school, different story. If they dont head straight home(and how many of US did that at the same age?), there's no where for them to hang out where they don't end up intimidating those of us who can't handle the roughhousing. There's no recreational areas to speak of in Tuam for the kids.

I also understand it's a major pain getting around when schools are letting out, and when people are coming home from work, and it's always going to be something of a problem. However, complete gridlock isn't acceptable. If there were ever a crisis situation, a fire in one of the buildings or an accident that blocked traffic, there isn't even any way for emergency vehicles to get in, the traffic is so bad. Public transportation, and a road around Tuam rather than through the middle of it, would be helpful.

Patsy fyre

I only recently started passing through tuam on a regular basis and yep the roads must be the worst in ireland. Disgraceful. I even made a video for the laugh to show my friends down south how bad they actually are!

Mars Bar

Theponylady wrote: »

Yes, I'm a grown woman. No, I don't want the kids locked up. I AM afraid of them when a large number of them are taller than I am, and much rougher. I've been hit by stuff they were throwing at each other a few times(they didn't mean to hit me-I was just in the way), and knocked down once by a group that decided they needed to roughhouse and knock each other into me as I was walking past, and I've had that almost happen several other times. These aren't small kids I'm talking about, it's the large groups of older kids that hang out on the street in front of Super Value and Supermacs and various other places in the town.

I work with kids every day. I like kids. Just not huge groups of them who are throwing stuff around and knocking people over. I recognize they are hanging out on the streets at lunch and after school because there is really no where else to go. This is my point. They need somewhere to go to hang out. The lunch issue could be avoided if they had somewhere on campus to eat. After school, different story. If they dont head straight home(and how many of US did that at the same age?), there's no where for them to hang out where they don't end up intimidating those of us who can't handle the roughhousing. There's no recreational areas to speak of in Tuam for the kids.

I also understand it's a major pain getting around when schools are letting out, and when people are coming home from work, and it's always going to be something of a problem. However, complete gridlock isn't acceptable. If there were ever a crisis situation, a fire in one of the buildings or an accident that blocked traffic, there isn't even any way for emergency vehicles to get in, the traffic is so bad. Public transportation, and a road around Tuam rather than through the middle of it, would be helpful.

There is canteens in the schools, but who wants to stay inside at lunch and talk to same sex friends all day? Girls go up to meet the boys and vice versa.

Tuam Fairy

Tuam needs a GMIT, a huge tescos and penneys/Dunnes and a cinema.

Mars Bar

needs a GMIT?

Tesco or Dunnes, yes. A cinema, definite yes!

Leeg17

mars bar wrote: »

needs a GMIT?

Tesco or Dunnes, yes. A cinema, definite yes!

Tesco or Dunnes, yes. But give it a few years because it will "damage shops in town", or so Joe O' Toole says.... Took Lidl a few years to get PP for Galway Road.

Delta_Raven1

Perhaps the old hospital could be renovated and used for a gmit branch?

ScumLord

mars bar wrote: »

needs a GMIT?

Tesco or Dunnes, yes. A cinema, definite yes!

Ye had a cinema didn't ye?

Tescos would mean the death of Tuam, turning it into a satellite for Galway with a supermarket. Tescos are making big contributions to everything that's wrong with the world today.

Mars Bar

ScumLord wrote: »

Ye had a cinema didn't ye?

Tescos would mean the death of Tuam, turning it into a satellite for Galway with a supermarket. Tescos are making big contributions to everything that's wrong with the world today.

Yes, we had 2. One at Fallon's Menswear (that's going back quite a bit though) and The Mall.

The Galway people will stay in Galway, surrounding areas of Tuam would come to Tuam Tesco rather than going to Galway.

We've been going to the Claremorris Tesco ourselves lately.

dec25532

ScumLord wrote: »

Ye had a cinema didn't ye?

Tescos would mean the death of Tuam, turning it into a satellite for Galway with a supermarket. Tescos are making big contributions to everything that's wrong with the world today.

Tuam is dying on its feet as it is and Tesco couldn't worsen the situation. The town is a retail blackspot and an example of this is the amount of boarded up shop units in the town centre. Tesco was refused on the grounds that it would damage tradein the town centre but this was a daft suggestion when there are shops barely surviving around the town. Tesco, Dunnes draw people in whether you like it or not and therefore other businesses benefit. Simple economics.

ScumLord

Of course Tescos would worsen the situation if shops find it hard to compete now they'd find it impossible against Tescos buying power. The more Tescos take over in Ireland the worse it'll be for all the farmers and suppliers too, they force the reduction of quality so it's bad for the welfare of every livestock animal in the country.

The problem with Tescos is their forcing the entire planet into unsustainable practices. They encourage bulk buying when we're running out of everything and destroying all kinds of habitats to supply these big chains, they reduce the quality of the products and as a side effect subject livestock to lives of torture.

More and more people are over weight so I don't buy the argument that we need cheap food, we need less of higher quality food. They are currently forcing out all competition but when the competition is gone they can charge what they like.

I wouldn't contribute to that model of business, they care nothing about the planet or people on it all that matters is money and they have enough of it to strong arm the system for the benefit of faceless shareholders alone.

The UK is quickly turning into low rent accommodation with one or two large shopping centres servicing thousands of people, chains have almost completely taken over and quality products and services are now only for the rich. That's what Tescos and the like do to communities.