Business booming again in Downpatrick
It's after dozens of shops were force to shut their doors due to devastating floods in 20203.
Last updated 13th Jan 2025
We're hearing business is starting to boom again in Downpatrick.
Dozens of businesses across the country were forced to close their doors following devastating flooding that hit Northern Ireland in Autumn 2023.
Counties Antrim, Down and Armagh were some of the worst hit.
Downpatrick town saw extreme damage, with dozens of shops on Market Street having to shut.
After over a year, Paul McCartan finally re-opened his shoe shop ‘McCartan Footwear’ on 22nd November.
He spoke to Downtown/CoolFM exclusively about what business has been like: "Nothing goes to plan... but we got open. It was all local builders. They worked night and day to get us open on the 22nd of November which gave us a full month on the run up to Christmas. Business was very steady; we've not been swamped but it was steady... and steady is good!"
He said it would not have happened without local builders: "The local lads were brilliant, and they worked overtime to get us open on the 22nd. If we hadn't of got open for Christmas, we probably wouldn't have got open again, so it was very important. There is still work to do. As far as anyone's concerned, we are open and fully operational... we're open but we're not fully operational! But we're getting there."
After a year of stress and anxiety, he said he’s feeling confident: "It's hard to believe that we were closed for 13 months, but we're here and, we're positive."
"The vast majority of our loyal customers stuck with us. People are genuinely glad to see us open again, and we picked up new customers!”
"The shop turned out well thank goodness. We couldn't have done it without government help and without the council's help so we're eternally grateful for them. Downpatrick is positive. We think it's on the up. There's more footfall in the street and there was definitely more footfall in December. So yes, we're going in the right direction."
"It's been positive, shops are opening. Local independents are opening in Downpatrick. It's very important for the town. It was very important we got our shop open. Look, yes, after all this stress, we're very well pleased."
You can hear more about this story in our bulletins at the top of the hour: https://hellorayo.co.uk/cool-fm/