COUNTY WICKLOW:Wicklow is full of stunning views and natural amenties, but it's the community spirit and unknown gems that make the county really special, writes SANDRA O'CONNELL
PLANNERS ALWAYS get a bad rap but someone in Wicklow deserves a medal.
If you stand on Wicklow Head and look north, all you can see is pristine countryside from the Sally Gap to the Sugar Loaf. There is hardly a building in sight. That’s quite an achievement in an area neighbouring what was, until recently, the fastest growing conurbation in Europe.
It makes for a stunning view and one so like from another era that, as you catch sight of the Dublin train snaking down the coast in the distance, you almost expect it to be puffing steam.
Yet if you’re up here surveying the panorama, chances are you’re a local. Or possibly one of the too few tourists who realise that Wicklow Head’s iconic lighthouse is available for rent through Irish Landmark Trust.
Indeed, there is not just one lighthouse up here but three, with views that stretch from Howth Head to Arklow Bay and, on a clear day, Wales.
Back towards the town, past the colony of curious seals, are the ruins of a Norman castle overlooking both a hidden pebble beach perfect for paddling and a working fishing port.
Follow the coast north and you’re out along the Murrough, a 15km haven for walkers, runners and cyclists. It’s a terrific natural amenity but again, one of which outsiders are rarely aware.
It may be simply because the Garden County has so many highlights, from Powerscourt to Glendalough, that the treasures of its capital are overlooked.
“Wicklow town is Ireland’s best kept secret, but it has the potential to be another Kinsale,” says Roy Conway, president of the chamber of commerce.
“It has so much to offer – proximity to the sea, the mountains, the city – that it’s a wonderful place to work, live and play.”
The opening of the port relief road makes it a good location for business too.
“The new road plugs us right into the national network via the N11 and M50. Yet while people think Drogheda is just north of Dublin, they still think Wicklow is somewhere down by the equator.”
In recent months a huge effort has been made to put the town more clearly on the map. This includes the formation of a retail business association, a Local Heroes campaign and the launch of Wicklowtown.ie, a brand-building website.
The property market is showing signs of optimism too. “Q1 of this year was our best quarter in three years,” says Eugene Dooley of auctioneers Dooley Poynton.
Two of his most recent sales were holiday homes in Brittas Bay, which sold for 60 per cent less than their peak values, to cash buyers.
Things are starting to move again on the mortgage front too however. “The difference is that nowadays, if we sell a house for €120,000, the buyer will have a deposit of €40,000 and a mortgage of €80,000,” he says.
There are positive straws on the retail and commercial fronts too. “Landlords are more accommodating, giving rent-free periods and flexible terms. We are seeing people who may have lost jobs deciding it is a good opportunity to open a shop, without major commitment.”
Of the 168 retail premises in the town, he estimates 90 per cent are let. In some cases, units that are empty are taken over by Localzone.ie, founded by local business woman Sineád Quinn, which uses them to showcase local artisan producers.
In parts of the town demand for residential property exceeds supply. “At the €125,000 mark, we have more buyers than properties. Part of this is because of investors who bought these houses at the top of the market can’t or won’t sell them,” says Catherine O’Reilly of Sherry FitzGerald.
Sales to people moving from south Dublin have fallen off. “Most now are to people with roots in the town or who made the move to Gorey and Wexford in the boom and now can afford to move up,” she says.
Though buyer sentiment is fragile, she too believes the mood has improved: “Everything is a cycle and I think we are at the end of this one. Those businesses that have survived are starting to invest again and the town as a whole is benefiting from that.”
She points to Wicklow’s beautiful new hanging baskets, paid for by the business community, by way of example.
Her views are echoed in other parts of the county. “Family houses are selling again,” says Gordon Lennox, whose business Lennox Estates is about to be subsumed by Sherry FitzGerald, where he has been appointed a director.
“First-time buyers are leapfrogging the two-bed town house and going straight to the three-bed semi, as would have been the case 20 years ago.”
Up to 40 per cent of his buyers are cash buyers. “I’ve never seen so many. Some of it is mattress money but a lot is people who didn’t go mad in 2005 and 2006 are now actively encouraging adult offspring to buy, given that prices have halved. We are the busiest we’ve been in two years, both in viewings and sales agreed.”
It’s a similar story with John Doyle of Bray-based HJ Byrne. “Well-placed, well-priced, well-marketed middle of the road properties, on estates in good locations, are selling. At the top end of the market it’s not so good, but between €120,000 and €300,000, it’s happening and at least half are first-time buyers.”
Meanwhile, back in Wicklow town, where starter homes can be had from €80,000, both residents and businesses are getting ready for the next big community event, Sailfest, in June. If it’s anything like the first one two years ago, it will be a perfect opportunity for the town to showcase itself.
“Wicklow is a hidden gem,” says Eugene Dooley, who is originally from Athy. “It’s a quaint town that, because it’s at the end of a cul de sac, has remained a well-kept secret. It’s only when people move here they realise all that it’s got.”
'We had a stereotypical country upbringing'
WHEN FORMER rugby international Shane Byrne returned from Britain, where he spent much of his sporting career, the only place he wanted to live was Wicklow, and not just because the family business is based there.
Byrne (40) is from the scenic village of Aughrim, south Wicklow. It was, says the director of AWD, a waste-management company, an idyllic place to grow up.
"It was fantastic. We had a very stereotypical country upbringing where, as kids, you would be out playing all day. My mum says she never had to make us lunch. There would be a gang of around 20 of us and we would get fed at whoever's house we were closest to.
"It was so safe that all the front doors had keys in them. No one ever locked up."
What he enjoyed most was the village's community spirit.
"When it came to musical festivals like the Feis Ceoil or the Fleadh, the whole town would head off together in buses," he says.
"In summer when the sun shone, everyone would go swimming in the lake. In winter when it snowed, the whole town would be out on plastic bags sliding down hills. It's that same community spirit that saw it win the Tidy Towns competition and build a fishing lake for people with special needs."
Although the town grew rapidly in recent years, it has managed to retain that spirit.
"It became much more of a commuter town in the boom but is still a great place to grow up in, and still very safe."
Today he lives just 20 minutes away, by the sea, and is over and back to Aughrim all the time to see his family.
"My wife, who is from Monaghan, and I live just south of Arklow with our twin nine-year-old daughters. Initially we did try to buy a home in Aughrim but couldn't find what we wanted," he says.
"We also wanted to educate our children through Irish, so we wanted to be close to the Gaelscoil in Arklow. We love where we live, near the beach and the countryside. As parents we reckon Wicklow is just a great place to rear kids."
