Gardaí caution casual Mayo town traders

COMMUNITY NOTES: BALLYHAUNIS - WESTERN PEOPLE (APRIL 8 EDITION)

Casual trading is not permitted in Ballyhaunis, according to a Mayo County Council official.

“Under the Casual Trading Act, which dates from the early 1980s, for casual trading to take place there have to be casual trading bye- laws in place for the town under which licences to trade are then issued by the council,” explained Padraic Flanagan, the top council official for the Claremorris municipal district of which Ballyhaunis is part. “These licences are only for designated locations set out in the bye-laws. There are no casual trading bye-laws in place for Ballyhaunis that we know of, so casual trading cannot be carried out.”

A trader with a regular stall in Ballyhaunis square contacted this column recently to say he had been approached by the Gardaí who asked him if he had sought permission from Mayo County Council to erect his stall on the square.

“I have been setting up my stall there every Saturday for years,” said the trader, who sells clothes.

Mr Flanagan said there are some exceptions under the Casual Trading Act “if someone is selling their own produce, for example, vegetables, or if there are old market rights, etc”.