Tullamore cafe closes down

Hot on the heels of the closure of Better Buys on Patrick Street in Tullamore comes the news of a second business closure on the same street, with the premises which was previously occupied by popular local cafe, Quigleys, currently lying idle.

The cafe, which is part of the Quigley's Bakery chain which has in business in Ireland since 1890 and currently operates a dozen branches around the country, closed its doors two weeks ago.

A third business which is also located on Patrick Street announced its closure - albeit on a temporary basis – last month. Carina's Baby and Children's Boutique has moved its business online while major structural works are being carried out on the building it currently trades from.

In a Facebook post Carina's said the “bad news” of its temporary closure had come sooner than they had anticipated. The popular shop closed its doors on February 20 last and has moved online “for the moment”.

According to Quigleys website, the company currently operates in 12 locations, six in Leinster including Dublin's Nutgove Shopping Centre to Kilkenny, Carlow, Newbridge and Athlone, and six in Munster, including three branches in Tipperary, two in Limerick and one in Cork.

Speaking in the wake of recent business closures in Tullamore, Offaly Fianna Fail TD Tony McCormack said that, while the Programme for Government contains a number of measures to support the smal business sector, these measures are “not enough on their own” and he adds that “we must go further to ensure SME's have that support they desperately need”.