We are nearly one month on from Armagh’s big All Ireland win. The hype of the match itself brought an incredible display of colour to our city centre – we had galleries galore for weeks!
And whilst many of the flags and well-wishing signs remain on display, these are not the only remnants of Armagh’s well-earned success.
One local business owner spoke to Armagh I of the short, and long term benefits, he believes the win has brought to the city centre.
Although Decky’s takeaway owner, Decky Sheridan elected to shut up shop for match day itself – he had plenty to say!
“The town was electric,” said Decky. “It was absolutely amazing and I’m actually glad I closed to let the staff experience it. I experienced it 22 years ago but I wasn’t old enough to enjoy the pubs then!”
Seeing the benefit to the high-street as a whole he commented: “It has definitely done a lot for the local businesses. The taxi ranks were busy, the bars were busy and credit to the bar staff who put the time and effort in over the whole week.
“Just the way the whole community got together and a lot of businesses put their hands in their pockets to get the town looking really well. It did nobody any harm at all.”
Decky wholeheartedly threw himself into the spirit of things in the weeks before the big final, making headlines by benevolently offering free breakfast baps to those travelling to the semi-final in Dublin or to the 13th celebrations in Scarva.
And plenty of hungry event-goers took him up on his offer. He added: “I was in at 6am that morning to do free breakfast rolls for the semi-final and the 13th in Scarva and it did so well we offered it again on the day of the final.”
But he was under no illusions! There was always the danger of the hype dying down and business drying up after what was most assuredly a wallet-lightening win for fans.
Said Decky: “Honestly, I was panicking because I thought maybe everybody had spent their money but it’s been consistently busy – probably been the busiest month of the year for me.
And he reckons Sam has played a big part in extending that hustle and bustle.
“I would say that’s because a lot of people who were not from Armagh City itself but from county Armagh came in,” explained Decky. “They wanted to get to see the cup because it’s going around various places like bars and football clubs.
“I have had people saying to me that they follow us on Facebook and they were coming in from Lurgan and said: “We didn’t know where you were but we are in Armagh now so we will come try it out”.
“Just the whole month has been good.”
