COOKSTOWN
cooKStoWn a decade of development
In 2007, pIf ran a fEatUrE on pharmacY In cooKStoWn anD looKED at hoW SEVEn pharmacIES coUlD SUrVIVE In onE - albEIt VErY long - maIn StrEEt. tEn YEarS on, WE rEVISIt thE toWn to SEE hoW thIngS haVE changED…
I
n 2020, cookstown will be celebrating its 400th anniversary - and what an exciting 400 years they’ve been!
the town, which bills itself as the ‘retail capital of mid-Ulster’ is awash with signs proclaiming ‘Visit. Shop. Enjoy’, and currently boasts more than a hundred types of businesses. of the direct retailing businesses, some two thirds are independent, largely family-owned concerns, which give the town’s retailing a distinctive appearance.
once a centre of haven of industrial activity thanks to prosperous linen, hat-making and brick manufacturing industries, cookstown was forced to rebrand itself after its industries were badly affected by - among other things - the arrival of increased fabric imports from the far East.
With the town’s industry practically defunct, it switched its attention to attracting financial investment from shopping and tourism, and, in 2003, launched its ten-year town centre regeneration Strategy and action
18 - pharmacY In focUS
plan, which detailed a range of short, medium and long-range regeneration actions.
In 2007, a large retail and office development was built on the former market Yard and the former gunning and moore Weaving mill at broadfields was transformed into a retail park. two more major retail and residential developments have been built in the orritor Street/burn road area.
but it is cookstown’s main street - at 1.25 miles (about 2km) long and 135 ft (41m) wide, and one of the longest - and widest in Ireland - that is synonymous with the town. In 1994, the tree-lined boulevard was restored and a scheme of regeneration saw the creation of green space, flowerbeds and restored shop frontage.
and it is this main street that pif visited in 2007 to speak to the pharmacies which served the town’s population (at that time, according to the 2001 census) around 11,000. ten years on from our initial visit, the
pharmacy landscape has changed little - although plenty else in the town has.
Six pharmacies now serve the town and its outlying areas, which have seen major construction of new housing developments and consequent influx of new inhabitants over the last decade. five - falls pharmacy, allens pharmacy, gordons chemist and two boots chemists grace the main street, while a third boots is situated next to the health centre in burn road.
the two independents - family-owned falls pharmacy and allens pharmacy - are synonymous with the town, with both having been around for years - falls pharmacy for 54 years and allen’s for an amazing 63 years! niall falls is in no doubt as to why the independents continue to not only survive but thrive in the town.
‘there’s no doubt that cookstown and its catchment area have grown considerably over the last ten years,’ he told pif. ‘We’re seeing a major influx of new people - particularly
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