Local Notes: New charity shop is thriving in Ballyhaunis
Pictured at the official opening of the new St Vincent de Paul (SVP) shop on Bridge Street in Ballyhaunis last Tuesday were, from left: Jarlath Fahey (President, Ballyhaunis SVP), Brian Flesk (Treasurer, SVP Retail Committee), Olive Lyons (Treasurer, Ballyhaunis SVP), Lydia O'Connor (SVP National Retail Volunteer Co-ordinator), Teresa McLoughlin (Ballyhaunis SVP Shop Manager), Ray O'Connor (vice-President, SVP Retail Committee), Caroline McGrath (SVP Regional Retail Manager), Maureen Mitchell (SVP Regional President), Kieran Walsh (SVP President Regional Committee), Daniel Jordan (SVP operations and logistics manager), Mary Jessop (SVP Regional Trainer), Vincent O'Kane (SVP National Compliance Officer), Sally Higgins (Ballyhaunis SVP). Picture: Stephen Farragher
Ballyhaunis branch of St Vincent de Paul is set for a boost in funds with the opening of a new Vincent’s charity shop on Bridge Street in the town.
All funds from the store will go to the local branch, explained Daniel Jordan, order fulfilment manager in charge of stocking all 14 Vincent's shop in the West from an order fulfilment centre or logistics hub in Claremorris.
Sally Higgins, from the Ballyhaunis St Vincent De Paul, said her organisation is “delighted” to have the shop open because it offers a new source of income to aid those in need. Requests to the local branch from those in need have grown in recent years, she explained.
The Ballyhaunis outlet, opened in what was formerly the Claire Fontayne clothes shop, is the fourth such store in Mayo. Stock from the Claremorris distribution centre greeted a large crowd of eager shoppers who visited the tightly stocked store with items selling at €2 to €4.
The Ballyhaunis store was 13 months coming to life after talks commenced with the owner of the building, Amar Sattar.
“Before the opening, we do a lot of research, we look at the demographics, the workforce etc in the town and we consult the local chapter before then seeking approval from our regional and national chapters,” explained Daniel Jordan, himself a Ballyhaunis native.
Ballyhaunis has an equal mix of native Irish and foreign-born dwellers, he explained.
“Some of the international population buys clothes to send home to their native countries,” he added.
The new Ballyhaunis store, which stocks clothes and books only, offers plenty of bargains.
“A customer would pick up three or four items for ten euros,” Mr Jordan explained.
Like other Vincent’s outlets, the Ballyhaunis store also incorporates a social area where those in need can sit for a coffee.
“People are vulnerable," Mr Jordan remarked. "You come in, have a coffee and make friends.”
The store has one full-time staff member and 12 local volunteers.
“We are also looking for more for the two to six evening shift,” Mr Jordan said.
Some of the staff are from employment schemes like RSS, TUS and Community Employment. Of the 33 staff at the Claremorris facility, most are volunteers and ten of them are on schemes.
The Claremorris sorting centre takes in 70 tons of clothing a month, of which 70% is saleable with the rest going for recycling. Items are distributed to 14 stores in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. Un-saleable items are ultimately recycled for insulation, rags and other uses by a company based in Northern Ireland.
“There is no waste,” Mr Jordan stresses.
Not surprising perhaps given the cost-of-living crisis of recent years, sales are increasing across all stores. Last year, stores in the western region generated a combined €3 million in sales, with sales rising consistently in the period 2022 to 2024.
Three years in the job, Mr Jordan oversees a fleet of vans transversing the three counties with items to restock Vincent’s shops.
“I need to know what bag [of clothes] will sell well in which store,” he explained.
A store on Merchants Street, prime Galway city retail territory, is the highest-grossing store in the country and the location of choice for any higher-value clothing items donated. New €300 and €400 designer clothing with tags on them have been donated, Mr Jordan recalls.
While charity shops like Vincent’s are clearly in growth model there are threats too, not least fast fashion and the onslaught by Chinese-based e-commerce sites like Temu and Shein.
“Fast fashion is a killer, they are ruining it,” said Mr Jordan. “Because people are buying three sizes of one item and then donating two of them to the shops, but it’s usually of poor quality... It’s harder to sell, it’s very size-specific. That’s why we try to get good quality items and get more wear from them.”
Mr Jordan, however, does see a crackdown coming at EU level on fast fashion and on players like Temu whose packages enter western markets tariff-free due to the principle of world trade that allows for packages under a certain value to be delivered through the post without duties being applied.
In terms of sourcing goods, St Vincent de Paul discontinued its network of outdoor clothes banks as they drew some inferior quality items, Mr Jordan explained. Potential competition has arrived in the form of Vinted, an online second-hand clothes store that recently opened an Irish arm. The site may, of course, also become a source of custom for the Vincent’s shops. Either way, the Bridge Street shop in Ballyhaunis looks set to do well.
Works on the installation of an outflow pipe connecting the Western Brand poultry processing plant with the Dalgan River near Cloonbullig are nearing completion.
The pipeline was granted planning permission by Mayo County Council in 2024 and is licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under an Industrial Emissions License.
The EPA in a statement said: “The discharge of treated effluent from the Western Brand installation to the River Dalgan via the pipeline is controlled by the EPA Licence P0831-02. The EPA licence sets conditions and limits by which the licensee must abide by, and comply with, in order to ensure no adverse impacts on the receiving water and the environment.
"The EPA licence requires the licensee to monitor the discharge to the River Dalgan but it should also be noted that the EPA will continue to undertake periodic monitoring of the discharge.”
A statement from the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) stated: “Ballyhaunis has been identified as a Priority Area for Action in the 3rd cycle River Basin Management Plan and LAWPRO will be working in the area with the local authority during this current cycle to improve water quality.”
Funded by the state, LAWPRO “works on behalf of Ireland’s 31 local authorities to protect and restore good water quality in our rivers, lakes, estuaries, ground and coastal water through catchment science and local community engagement".
Officers from the Residential Tenancies Board visited a property in Ballyhaunis recently to inspect conditions.
The unregistered rental property was charging five tenants €90 each per week and an additional €20 for electricity, according to one of the tenants who spoke to this column. Workers in a local factory, the tenants were aggrieved by the electricity charge and the lack of a common seating area in the house, said the tenant who was also annoyed about the lack of receipts or a rental contract provided by the landlord.
A five-tenant occupancy would suggest a monthly rent take of more than €2,000, suggesting rental of individual rooms can be very lucrative.
Landlords are legally required to register with the Residential Tenancies Board as well as the Revenue Commissioners.
With ESB crews and hired contractors working hard for over two weeks to restore power after Storm Éowyn, there is much frustration in the Ballyhaunis area, in particular among those whose electricity supply was only restored a fortnight after the storm.
Marko Spajic in Grallaghgarden – a few miles outside Ballyhaunis on the Ballaghadereen Road - said the aftermath of the storm reveals weaknesses in infrastructure.
“We have a fallen line in our garden which is reported by me and my landlord and still nobody showed up to check that,” he told this column on February 6th. “I am not blaming the crew who is actually outside and working. They really had a huge amount of work and they are just following the company rules and regulations. I am blaming the Government and ESB in the first place and their directors who get massive salaries paid from our pockets and we get nothing for that. And now they want to increase electricity price after all.
"I am coming from, pardon my words, a shit country, Bosnia and Herzegovina. But in wartime in 1990-1995, I've been less days without the power. It is so bad infrastructure all around the country here.”
Abaigeal Warfield in Classaghroe, near Ballyhaunis, said the aftermath of the storm “definitely highlighted the lack of investment and care for people who live in the North West”.
“The community response has been fabulous, so much kindness. It's the national state response that has been lacking and inadequate for the scale of crisis people are facing. And the unhelpfulness, regrettably, of many elected officials was shocking. But I do think their efforts were hampered by the Dáil not meeting, especially those TDs in opposition. I was given more information and assistance by a TD's office in Roscommon. And they were genuinely surprised that I wasn't getting similar responses in Mayo.”
Aghamore-based Jackie Da Vita made YouTube videos in the aftermath of the storm showing the electricity cables lying on the road outside her house. In her videos, Jackie showed the extensive damage caused to her polytunnels by the falling of tall spruce and palm trees, blocking the public road. She also showed viewers how to survive nearly two weeks of electricity outage by purchasing a gas hub to cook food and boil water.
The RTÉ news website meanwhile quoted “Evita in Ballyhaunis” as saying life at home is becoming unbearable.
"Trees still down. Wires all ripped. Nobody is coming. It's been two weeks. I have been on to ESB about the trees growing through the wires at least twice in the past year. They never took the tops off them. Now the exact same trees have fallen down. I knew it was going to happen...”
Evita hadn't received any sort of support from the Government.
“Not as much as a bowl of hot or cold soup," she remarked.
A rapid charger for electric vehicles, installed over a year ago, will finally be activated this week, according to the company that operates it.
The 50kW Tritium rapid charger was installed in 2023 by EasyGo and Eir as part of a Mayo County Council programme to make the county more accessible to drivers of electric vehicles.
Rosemary Wynne, head of marketing at EasyGo, told the the charger in Ballyhaunis will be her company’s 20th rapid DC charger serving Mayo.
“We have looked into the matter; the charger is due to be commissioned this week to be live on our national network.
“Unfortunately, there is a lag time from when the charger was installed to when it is commissioned and live. This will be this week which is good news.”
Congratulations to Jeanette Leckey, c/o Murt Hunt, Lecarrow, who was the winner of €460 in the Ballyhaunis GAA 50/50 draw on February 2 on an envelope sold in Murphy's Gala, Devlis.
