Great Dodd Almighty

You can tell by the big happy head on him that David Dodd is more than a little chuffed to win this year’s Top Of The Shops award.

A chance to celebrate all those wonderful people who help make our lives that little bit more wonderful around here, this year’s vote couldn’t have come at a more crucial time for Greystones businesses.

Here at GG HQ, we’re currently three weeks into compiling a full A-Z of all the shops, cafés, restaurants, pubs and beyond around here, listing when and how they’ll be open again as this lockdown lifts. And as each one opens, it’s crucial that we all give Jeff Bezos a day off from earning $1.6 gazillion a second, and go support our friends and neighbours by doing your shopping the old school way.

“It’s an incredibly important time for everyone in the town,” says Dodd. “People around here are always keen to help others, and that help is now badly needed by local businesses who have spent the last two months or more in suspended animation.”

Sponsoring this year’s Top Of The Shops, AIB Greystones’  branch manager Niamh O’Leary agrees. “There’s a strong sense of community in this town, and you can see that people are already going back into the shops that have managed to open, glad to be back to their old lives, and very glad to indulge in a little retail therapy whilst helping a good neighbour get back on their feet.”

“Because we were open right through these past two months, we witnessed that great community spirit every single day,” concludes David. “It was a tough time – very tough for some – but you got that growing sense of everyone pulling together to get through this. And this award reflects that. So, I have to thank everyone who voted for us, and a very big thanks to my staff – Mary, Declan, Tina, Michelle, Charlie, my daughter, Lydia, the delivery girl. It’s made us so much stronger as a team…”

With Killincarrig’s tiny Village Store coming a close second to David Dodd Pharmacy in this year’s vote, there are clearly plenty of people around here who know that, when it comes to local shops big or small, you have to use it or you might just lose it…