Community shop helped revitalise Offaly village

WHEN Bracken's shop in Pullough closed after decades in operation in 2015 the village and surrounding areas were left without a vital local amenity.

For two years people had to travel to nearby Ferbane or other urban centres to buy essentials.

The situation was brought home to local man, Martin Buckley one rainy evening in 2017 when he returned home after refereeing a match looking forward to watching a big soccer game on TV.

But his plans for a sporting night in were dashed when his wife said they were out of milk and he had to travel into Ferbane to make the vital purchase.

4km of old water mains to be replaced in Pullough

By the time he returned he has missed much of the game but an idea had germinated in his mind. He googled the concept “community shop” and discovered there were seven in different villages across Ireland as well as over 400 in the UK.

Martin, through his involvement with community alert and by direct contact with people in the area, organised a public meeting and the rest is history.

With a team of dedicated volunteers Pullough Community Shop opened in 2017 and became the catalyst which revived the local community and spawned a number of other local groups.

The shop is open seven days a week for over 50 hours and is manned by a key team of just eight volunteers headed by committee chairman, Paddy Reilly.

It provides a full range of groceries, sweets, chocolates, ice creams together with tea and coffee and other refreshments.
It is now at the very heart of the community and boasts a dedicated youth space where kids activities take place. Other local groups have also availed of its facilities including Active Age.

The committee is very grateful to various local and national statutory groups which have provided invaluable financial assistance through grants since the community shop opened.

One such grant enabled the committee to purchase a community van which is vital for collecting and delivering groceries.

The van proved a Godsend during the Covid pandemic as customers could phone in their orders to the community shop and they would be delivered straight to their door in line with Covid restrictions.

The community shop played a key role in revitalising the canal side village which is now enjoying a new lease of life thanks to the Greenway and a host of very active local groups including the Tidy Towns committee.

Pullough Community Shop is a model for other villages in Offaly and across the country losing vital services such as shops, post offices and public houses.

The shop is the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Unsung Hero of Offaly award which was presented at the Offaly Person of the Year awards ceremony on Saturday night last.

The award, organised by a sub-committee of the Offaly Association (Dublin), was presented by the Association's Chairperson, Jennnifer Guinan to Alicea Buckley and Paddy Reilly of the Community Shop committee.