Áine Ryan
LIDL arrived in Westport early for Christmas and not only for the shoppers of the area. Last week the giant discount multinational distributed hampers to all the residents of the nearby Crescent housing estate who earlier this year were discommoded by an oil spill at the site of the new development.
A Lidl spokeswoman told The Mayo News yesterday: “We wanted to make a small gesture to them for their patience and support over the past few months.”
Speaking about the shop’s opening weekend, John Fadden, the new manager, said: “It was fantastic to see such a great turnout from the locals in Westport for the store opening. It has been much anticipated and it is great to see so much support over our first few days of trading. Myself and the rest of the Westport team, many of whom are local to the area, are delighted to have the store open on time for Christmas and we look forward to building great relationships with our new customers over the coming months.”
On another note, Fianna Fáil Cllr Margaret Adams once again highlighted the problem of traffic congestion near the exit on the Newport Road for the Lidl store.
She told The Mayo News yesterday that she will continue to monitor the gridlock problem caused by parked school buses early in the morning and at mid-afternoon.
“Of course, this problem was there long before the added traffic to and from Lidl. For some reason buses are parking across from the Holy Trinity Church at school opening and closing hours. This is not at all a suitable or safe place, with traffic going into the garage and lining up at the traffic lights. It is also a difficult and dangerous place for all the commuters to try and overtake,” Cllr Adams said.