Clonakilty celebrates 20 years since it was declared Ireland's first official Fairtrade town

Friday, September 22 marked 20 years since Clonakilty was declared Ireland’s first official Fairtrade town.

While there are now over 50 Fairtrade towns in Ireland, the West Cork town was the first in the country to achieve this title two decades ago.

In order to achieve the Fairtrade status, all of Clonakilty’s supermarkets agreed to stock Fairtrade products, and many of the towns' businesses, hotels, cafes and organisations did the same.

A ten month effort 20 ago saw a steering committee petitioning the local council, giving talks in schools and churches, and canvassing local businesses to switch to Fairtrade products.

To celebrate this milestone birthday the local Fairtrade Committee, in conjunction with the Guitar Festival, hosted a celebratory event at The Green Dot Café, Pearse Street on Saturday, September 23 at 4pm.

There was music by The Sus Four, (thanks to the support of Cork County Council), speeches by key figures in the movement, an introduction to fairtrade chocolate-making by a local producer, a birthday cake and complimentary Fairtrade tea.

A Clonakilty Fairtrade town rep described the event as "a community celebration and a chance to reflect on the last 20 years, an opportunity to say thank you, and look to the future."

Saturday, September 23 also marked the 94th birthday of the chairperson of the Fairtrade committee at the time, Jennifer Sleeman, who tirelessly campaigned for the town to make changes.

Jennifer told The Irish Times in 2003: “This time last year there were no Fairtrade products available in Clonakilty. It seemed to me it was a very important thing to do...I did feel a great deal of support within the town as people heard of it.”