Footfall count suggested for Easter Market

A 'step-through' count of people attending the Easter Market in the Market Square next Saturday would help to determine the commercial value to the town from such events, the recent workshop on redevelopment of the Square heard, writes Brian Byrne.

Sharon Whelan, an urban designer with Kildare County Council, said a similar count on a day when there was nothing on would provide a baseline for the study, which could encourage nearby businesses to support the project.

Saying that the project group had already 'taken ownership of the square' by holding various events on it, she added that there were a lot of 'really interesting lanes and other areas' in the vicinity which could be linkied with the square.

Antoinette Buckley of the project committee noted anecdotal evidence that the Christmas Market had enhanced business in the run-up to the festive season. "It provided a showcase for local small businesses, which brought people back into the town to buy in the following weeks," she said. "We can use the square as a business in itself, to have events which bring in money that goes back into the commercial life of the town."

Urban designer James Hennessy said that it's not only big events that make the project worth while. "It's the small day to day things too, such as people thinking of going there if there was a musician regularly playing on a Saturday."