Cork's city manager, Joe Gavin, has intervened to ensure that the English Market, the oldest continuous trading centre in the city, will retain the unique nature of its open stalls, known to Corkonians for almost 200 years.
At issue was whether the stall design proposed by Marc O'Mahony, proprietor of the Organic Shop, meant the outlet would be an enclosed structure or an open one, in keeping with the philosophy of the market, an oasis of old world trading in a city of shopping malls and department stores.
Mr O'Mahony said his plans would not interfere with the symmetry of the market, which is owned by Cork Corporation. The Traders Association said the plans would and mounted a petition to have work on the new shop stopped and reversed.
"The market traders believe that City Hall is under obligation to maintain the character of the market as the municipal food market. The traders are determined to prevent any more dilution of this character by the influx of any more conventional retail and self-service units," a statement issued by the association said.
The question is, on whose authority were Mr O'Mahony's plans approved? He says his solicitors received approval for the new unit from Cork Corporation's own department with responsibility for the market, and that he regards the approval as legally binding.
However, the strength of opposition from the traders who lobbied local politicians and members of the corporation, soon left more senior City Hall officials in no doubt that the proposals would be widely opposed.
Last Friday, the city manager called in his architects to the discuss the matter, and afterwards he said that the unique nature of the open market would be protected by the corporation.
Mr Gavin said city management had regard for the market's characteristic open-stall style and would do all in its power to retain it.
"The attractiveness of the market is its openness and we agree with the concerns raised by the traders. We have talked to the architects. Anything enclosed will have to go, the openness of the stalls must be retained," he added.
Asked how permission had come to be given in the first place, Mr Gavin said he was more concerned with ensuring the status quo was retained in the market.
Mr O'Mahony claims his three-sided unit does not impinge on the ethos of the market, that there are openings on the three sides for customers to walk through, and that it even bears similarity to other units trading successfully there. He claims that the majority of traders were not against his proposals and that no more than six stall holders oppose him.
Not so, according to Ms Mary Rose-Daly, chairwoman of the Traders' Association, who says the majority of traders are against it. "I was here as a small girl and I am now here in middle age. The game would be up as far as I am concerned, if we were to lose the open stalls bit by bit. People come here for the enjoyment of shopping this way and for the chat and banter with the stall holders."
Today's English Market, the last municipal market in the Republic, is a colourful melange of stalls offering everything from traditional Cork dishes such as tripe and drisheen to exotic spices and species of fish that would have been unknown on the fish monger's stall just a few years ago. The market has moved with the times but has not lost its open trading style.