A longtime Sligo businessman who has just retired says it is now one of the most challenging times ever for small businesses.
Seamus Dolan, a butcher in John Street in Sligo for more than 40 years, says anyone now starting off in business is very courageous.
A former councillor and mayor of Sligo, he says falling revenue and increasing costs, particularly insurance and rates, are creating a very difficult climate for new businesses.
He recalls for Ocean FM how he first came to Sligo in 1962:
