FOOD truck operators in Glengarriff say they will fight to save their market despite a signed, legal agreement between the owner of the land and Cork County Council, which seeks to have them removed.
The traders were not in court when legal representatives for Cork County Council and Padraig Quill of Quills Retail Ltd handed in a signed agreement to Judge Treasa Kelly at a special sitting of Bantry District Court last Thursday.
The previous week, Padraig Quill had presented each of the food truck operators with a letter indicating that he was terminating a verbal agreement, which allowed them to trade in the car park surrounding his business premises in Glengarriff.
Speaking to The Southern Star before Thursday’s court sitting, Padraig Quill said he had ‘no choice’ but to take this course of action.
Under the terms of the newly signed agreement, Padraig Quill is obliged to remove the traders within a period of seven days, namely by close of business on Wednesday, March 26th.
Failing that the company agreed to take legal proceedings to have the structure removed within one month of the March 19th agreement.
And, if that course of action doesn’t work, the owner is obligated to prosecute the traders ‘with due haste and diligence.’
The traders, who depend on the food market for their livelihood, say they will resist the decision to have them moved. Aurelia Monprofit, the owner of ‘La Crêperie Gourmand’ said she will continue to trade in what she believes has become an established market.
‘We know we have a legal issue,’ she told The Southern Star, ‘but we don’t know how to fight it. All I can tell you is that we are going to fight it and stay for as long as we can.’
In the meantime, there is a groundswell of support for the traders. At the time of going to print, over 2,500 had signed the ‘Save the Market’ online petition in support of the traders.
Everyone who left a comment said visiting the market is one of the main reasons they go to Glengarriff.
Supporters say that the market is a tourism attraction, they love the al fresco dining, and that is the perfect backdrop to day trips to Garinish Island or walks on the newly improved pathways in the woods.
