Cllrs to examine French Market idea for Navan

Navan Town Council is to look at having a French Market at Kennedy Plaza on a weekly basis following the success of the market at the recent Shamrock Festival. At last week's council meeting, members paid tribute to the Navan Shamrock Festival committee for all their hard work during the eight-day event and agreed to host a civic reception to honour the committee before the June meeting of the council. Cllr Shane Cassells congratulated the committee for the way it had incorporated the Smarter Travel theme into the parade and he also suggested that the council look at holding the French market on a weekly basis. He said the market had brought people into the town in the evenings, outside normal business hours, and had attracted an additional 2,000 people into the town on the Sunday morning. "It is a different type of trade from what we have at the moment and is pursuant to aiding trade in the town by bringing people in," he said. Cllr Peader Toibin also supported the idea and said that, once the council made sure that it worked to complement the existing trade and existing businesses, then it would be good for the town. Cllr Jim Holloway said: "The market was absolutely wonderful. The activity it generated around Kennedy Place was suggestive of the kind of thing we should bring here on a weekly basis." Cllr Francis Deane also complimented the festival and said it was great to see thousands of people around the town. Regarding the idea of a weekly market, he said he would like to consult with the traders first and wouldn't like to do any damage to local businesspeople. Cllr Phil Brennan said it was the first year he had been involved in the festival and he commended all the volunteers. Navan Shamrock Festival chairperson, Cllr Padraig Fitzsimons, thanked the council on behalf of the committee for its €5,000 contribution and said the festival would not have been possible without the council's support. He also thanked the stewards, Gardai and the workers who cleaned up the next day. "We had a full eight-day programme of activities that involved every element of the community. I also thank the businesspeople for their support. It takes €18,000 to run the festival and, even at that, it is on a shoestring and we appreciate all the help from local businesses." He said he thought the French market was very successful though he had a couple of complaints from traders. Cllr Fitzsimons said the council had been trying to get something going at Kennedy Place for a number of years with very little help from other bodies. He pointed out that it is a quality market and not just stalls. He said it would bring people into the town and, if it was on a Sunday, it would not be upsetting parking fees or the paid parking scheme.