Fairyhouse Market suspended until Phase 4

There will be no Fairyhouse Sunday Market over the next few weeks as the organisers wait until at least until at least Phase 4 of the government roadmap is initiated.

The market has taken place twice since lockdown, but the organisers have taken the decision to cancel the next few markets.

A spokesperson said the recent markets were held under HSE guidelines.

“We worked with the traders and the general public in trying to ensure all guidelines were met. We had regular visits from the gardai and everything was fine”.

He explained that they had a queuing system in place which made the market appear busier than it actually was.

“If somebody sent a drone up, they would have seen that there was social distancing, but the queues made it look as if it was packed.

“We had organised queues, signs and tape to keep people from getting too close as well as hand santisers everywhere.

“People believed the market was packed and there were complaints about the traffic. We don't want to annoy the local people, so we took the decision to stop the markets for the time being.

“It s a very popular market. It has been tough as we were closed for 15 weeks until we reopened but it became apparent that continuing to meet all government guidelines specifically regarding social distancing and the limited number of people who could attend an outdoor event was becoming difficult and we decided to suspend it.

“We regret having to make this decision but it is the correct decision in the light of the public health scenario,” he said.