Co. Donegal RRR Project Visit

On Wednesday 26 January, Donegal County Council hosted its counterparts in the Retail in Rural Regions Project.  The packed itinerary involved a whistle stop tour of the County.  Luckily enough the weather was perfect and our visitors could appreciate the highland landscapes.
Highlights included a visit to the offices of the County Enterprise Board in Letterkenny and a talk from its Chief Executive, Michael Tunney.

The group then moved on to Falcarragh where they were welcomed at An tSean Bheairic by Manus Kelly, Chairperson of the Tourism and Traders Association.  Seamus McGee, Secretary, of the Barrack’s committee then provided more detail on how the local community played its part in developing the Barracks as a visitor attraction.

This was followed by a visit to Seamus McGee’s Service Station where Seamus  and his daughter Meabh provided the visitors with an insight into multi functional retailing in Co. Donegal.

Ionad Cois Locha at Dunlewey was the setting for the lunch stop and afterwards Seamus Gallagher took the group on a tour of the facility.

On leaving Dunlewey the group travelled onwards to the Twin Towns.  Once in Ballybofey the group visited John Griffin and Edel Neely at their shop, Ballybofey Florist.  Once again the group learned more about the challenges faced by retailers in Co. Donegal with John and Edel on hand to answer their questions.

The group overnighted at the Villa Rose Hotel in Ballybofey and were joined for dinner by the Mayor of Donegal County Council, Councillor Cora Harvey and Michael o’hEanaigh, Director of Service. 
The next morning, Thursday, the visitors were up and away early to Belfast and their homeward flights.

E-Business Training - January 2011

Our first training topic in 2011 will be E-Business.  Sessions will be delivered in both Falcarragh and the Twin Towns.  The Twin Towns session will take place on Friday 21 January and the session in Falcarragh will take place a week later on Friday 28 January.  E-Business is, and will continue to be a crucial area for all retail businesses.  If you are interested in attending either of these sessions please contact martin.mcandrew@donegalcoco.ie

Training Programme Update

The training session on Selling Skills presented by Paul McGuckin of LYIT held on Friday 19 November was well attended and well received by all participants.  The Training Programme will now take a break over the busy Christmas period and will be back in January 2011 with more training to be delivered locally in Falcarragh and the Twin Towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar.  Details of training will be posted here in due course.

Selling Skills Training Session

Next up this coming Friday, 19 November, is a session on Selling Skills.  A crucial area for any retail business operation, this topic will be delivered by Paul McGuckin of LYIT.  The session will take place in the CoLab at LYIT starting at 10am and will wrap up around 3.30pm. 
As ever there are no charges for eligible businesses, to reserve places call Martin McAndrew on 087 9636950 or e-mail martin.mcandrew@donegalcoco.ie

Successful Seminar for RRR Project

On Friday 5 November the first seminar of the RRR Project was held in the CoLab at LYIT. 
The topics were Effective Store Design and Merchandising. Paul McGuckin of LYIT was the presenter and the guest speaker was Claire McDonough of La Maison.
Pictured above are the participants at the seminar L -R Shauna Carlin, Cara Lindsay, Cliona Rushe, Amanda McGlinchey, Kevin Doherty & Ciaran Cassidy (all McElhinney's Stores, Ballybofey); Claire McDonough (La Maison - Guest Speaker); Manus Kelly (DNG Kelly, Falcarragh); Joe Ruddy (Special Days, Falcarragh); Catriona McCready (Flynn's Pharmacy, Falcarragh); Edel Neely (Ballybofey Florist) and Pail McGuckin (LYIT presenter)

RRR Training Programme for Co. Donegal

The RRR Training Programme for Co. Donegal is now under way.  A series of training, courses and workshops/seminars will run between now and Spring 2011.  Training outputs will be delivered in Letterkenny and some on a local basis in Falcarragh and the Twin Towns of Ballybofey & Stranorlar.

For full details click here. Further information can be obtained from martin.mcandrew@donegalcoco.ie

RRR Donegal

Welcome to Retail in Rural Regions Donegal!
Here we will keep you updated as we work with our rural retailers in Falcarragh and the Twin Towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar.