Sligo Town is the biggest shopping centre in the North West and is growing apace. The Town has a daytime population of 45,000 and has become more cosmopolitan, benefiting from the influence brought by Irish people returning home from abroad, foreigners relocating to Ireland, the increasing accessibility of Europe, and the growing global market.
Inevitably for some there are nostalgic memories of old Sligo Town.
Like all towns in this country it was distinctive for its shop fronts and special Irish look. Happily there are still many original shop facades to be seen, and hopefully they will gradually make a comeback, as they are uniquely Irish, part of the country’s heritage and something which all visitors find most appealing about the Town.
But growth is good for Sligo, and it is up to businesses and residents to ensure that Sligo’s intrinsic character is not swallowed up and lost whit the influx of new traders. Very much in Sligo’s favour is the fact that the Town has a good mix of commerce, industry, professional people, students and the local community, which means that it is vibrant, thriving and well balanced. It is also an ideal location, being close to the sea, on the mouth of the picturesque Garavogue River, yet within immediate reach of beautiful inland Sligo. With all this to offer, the Town is an attractive prospect for all comers and come they will, with the new retail parks at Carraroe, just to the south, and Cleeveragh on the eastern edge of Town, and three new major shopping malls planned to be built and running by next year in the centre itself.
But even without these new developments, there is plenty on offer.
You can buy anything you want in Sligo. There are clothes of every description from Irish and other Designer labels to high street fashion, books, jewellery, art and craft by local and other Irish artisans, sport goods and everything else besides. There are general and specialist food shops, garden centres, flower shops and a huge range of cafes, restaurants and pubs where you can relax between bouts of shopping! There are Internet cafes where you can keep in touch, IT specialists and all the other services a busy town supplies.
Sligo has one way system in the central part of Town, and operates disc parking. Discs are available everywhere and are valid anywhere in Town. Free parking is currently available in the Connaughton Road car park. By the end of the year –when the new relief road will be open- it is planned that the Town Centre will be completely pedestrianised, making it more attractive and easier for shoppers – and also easing the traffic congestion. Hopefully there will also be some equivalent to the wonderful and extensive covered/street markets which are found all over Europe and which many visitors coming from abroad expect to find, but sadly at the moment there is no equivalent in Sligo.
If city life is what you are trying to escape, the smaller towns around the county will provide a quaint and endearing side of country shopping without any stressful hustle and bustle. Tubbercurry and Ballymote serve quite large areas, while Enniscrone, Colloney, Riverstown, Grange and Dromahair (actually in Co.Leitrim) are well supplied with small shops, and even the tiniest villages can usually supply local needs. Opening hours vary. In Sligo town 9.30am-6pm is fairly standard and some shops may be open on Sunday afternoon. In local areas times will vary, and in rural villages shops may stay open later in the evening.
