Trouble at the market

As is probably evident from previous blog entries, I go to the Temple Bar Farmers' Market most Saturdays to pick up food for the week-end and the early part of the following week. I have been going there for some years now, and know many of the stall-holders at this stage. They are generally a very helpful crew, offering advice on how to use their produce, how it was grown or produced, and answering any other questions that arise. I have picked up many a good tip from them over the years. I have also picked up on the difficulties faced by people selling goods at markets, from lack of facilities to a lot of regulation and red tape to weather uncertainty etc, and know that it isnt the easiest way to make money!

I was there last Saturday, and immediately realised that something was amiss. Two of the stallholders normally occupying prime spots at the market were missing. Intrigued and somewhat taken-aback, I started asking what the story was. Apparently- I was dismayed to learn - some stallholders were suspended due to late trading the previous Saturday. While there are always two sides to each story, it seems to me that to suspend traders - and essentially depriving them of their weekly income - due to selling produce a couple of minutes after 4.30 is an outrageous reaction to a minor transgression. I was talking to a few of the traders about it, and in chatting to Ed Hicks, I reminded him that he hadnt sent me on his thoughts on the rights etc of the stallholders - the subject of a previous conversation a while back. He sent it to me that afternoon, and some of his thoughts are highly relevant to the suspension of the two stallholders. Essentially Ed links the rights of stallholders to the equivalent in Michael Davitts Land League days, and I quote...

I mentioned Michael Davitt and the Land League along with the 3 F’s today to highlight what can go wrong, as has been the case to date with all, bar one, of Dublin’s “Markets”.

1) Fair Rent: Fundamentally the exercise of running “ markets” in Dublin has become one of rent rolling for the organisers. These rents are generally unfair, representing as they do a multiple of between three and four times the rents per M sq off the Grafton St area in Dublin 2. This is way out of line with Competition Authority recommendations to LA’s regarding rental of pitches*.

2) Fixity of Tenure: Most market traders have no specific rights, and are almost beholden to the organisers. There is little or no opportunity for redress in most cases. There have been numerous cases of summary dismissal, particularly in “ Private Markets”. Many of these “markets” have exclusivity arrangements whereby certain traders are given guarantees of no competition. This is most definitely a bad thing! They are neither open nor accessible, a fact well disguised from consumers…

3) Freedom to Sell: As above, traders have no rights when it comes to selling their business should they choose to do so. They do not have any title or rights to their presence at a market. This is patently unfair, as anybody who has developed a business, should be entitled to sell it. But more important than selling your pitch would be the sense of ownership and empowerment it would give to small people.

While obviously Ed is presenting the case from a market traders point of view, he makes a lot of sense in what he is saying. The various Agricultural and Food interests, alongside political leaders, are making great play of our developing farmers markets around the country as being a real alternative for people to get good healthy, locally grown produce. In order for that to be successful, then flexibility on the part of market organisers is key to the success. Equally important is to give market traders a level of certainty over how they bring their goods to market and develop their business - otherwise it'll all remain a niche market into the future (sorry!).

I'm sure that the actions of Temple Bar market organisers were not intended to be draconian (indeed they may well have had legitimate reasons for their actions from their perspective, which they declined to explain to me from my email enquiry to them); also I'm sure that other market organisers have various ways of forcing compliance among the traders at their markets... but nonetheless they are an example of how not to do business.