Barrett Bike Hire gets new home in Pullough!

After losing out in the tender process to continue the bike hire service at Lough Boora, local businessman Pat Barrett has moved his business eight kilometres down the road to the village of Pullough from where Barrett Bike Hire will now operate.

In a unique collaboration with Pullough Community Shop, the new bike hire business was launched in bright sunshine on Sunday afternoon last and described as “a win win for everyone” by Martin Buckley, Chair of Pullough Residents Development Association.

As the local community came out in force to welcome the new business venture in their midst, well-known country music star John Molloy was on hand to provide lively musical accompaniment which lent a carnival-like atmosphere to the afternoon’s proceedings.

Martin Buckley said he began working “behind the scenes” to try to entice Barrett Bike Hire to set up in Pullough as soon as he heard that the popular company had lost the contract to continue in Lough Boora.

“We already have the community shop, we are located right on the greenway and we are only eight kilometres from Lough Boora,” he points out “so you could say we had an ideal location, plus we recently expanded the church car park to accommodate more cars, and I felt that could be the base for the bike hire service.”

Martin Buckley approached all the relevant stakeholders to try to get agreement before he went to Pat Barrett and his son, Paddy. “We had a couple of meetings and everything was talked through and we came to an agreement that suited everybody, so the only thing left to do at that stage was to launch the new service, which we did on Sunday last.”

Barrett Bike Hire will begin operating from its new location in Pullough tomorrow (Saturday) and will operate right throughout the Bank Holiday weekend, The service will continue every weekend, but can also be booked during the week by groups by prior appointment.

The issue of storage for the fleet of bikes owned by Barrrett Bike Hire was dealt with when a local farmer, John Devery, came on board and has provided a temporary secure storage unit on his lands.

“The whole community has got behind this new business and there is a huge amount of goodwill out there for Pat Barrett, so we are looking forward to a very successful collaboration in the future,” says Martin Buckley, who originally set up the Pullough Community Shop.

“The opening of the greenway has injected great life and colour back into this area” he says “and the addition of Barrett Bike Hire will further enhance what we have to offer to locals and visitors alike, so we are delighted to have become the new home for what was, and is, a very successful business.”

Bikes can be booked at Barrett Bike Hire by ringing 086 0257438.