A brochure outlining a variety of events that are taking place over the festive season was launched by the Chamber this week by the Mayor at City Hall along with a local butcher, baker and candlestick maker.
The three tradesmen, Michael Kenna, Billy Keogh and Larry Kinsella represented the need to shop local over Christmas this year more than ever.
‘Christmas in Kilkenny’ with its colourful Santa cover is a comprehensive day by day guide of fun and festive activities for all the family between now and the middle of January 2010.
Launching the brochure, Mayor Malcolm Noonan welcomed the effort that the Chamber had taken to produce the publication which is a handy pocket book for families to refer to over the holidays.
He called on local people to support local products and events this Christmas and shop local.
Cathal Smyth of State Street who is sponsoring the brochure also spoke at the launch on Monday. He said that State Street was delighted to be involved in the production of the brochure and that involvement in community and charitable events was very important to the company.
State Street employs 380 people in Kilkenny and staff there deal with over $200bn a day.
“Our ethos is to be part of the local community - we don’t want to be just a big bank in the city. We have a full time charity officer to deal with charitable activities and already we have contributed €35k to local charities and we are very pleased to be involved in this Christmas brochure,” he said.
Chamber president Donal Higgins in his speech urged people to shop local and row in behind the Chamber campaign ‘Work Local - Shop Local.
He said that 11,000 people lost jobs in retail in Kilkenny between January and June last year and he added that some 1,700 are expected to lose their jobs in the sector this year.
“There are 2,700 people on the dole in Kilkenny and this brings with it a loss of €50 million to the local economy. I would ask that people get involved in our voucher campaign and offer the local vouchers that can only be spent in Kilkenny as Christmas bonuses or Christmas presents this year, as this will ultimately help to keep jobs and small enterprises in business.”
He added that shopping over the border will not benefit people in the long run.
“Short term gain will prolong long-term pain,” he pointed out.
