Extending Sunday trading hours ‘is an excuse for bigger shops’

Winnie Mellet, President of Ballymoney Chamber of Commerce is against the proposal.

“We should be trying to safeguard our independent shops. I think it is an excuse for the bigger shops,” she said.

“The smaller, independent grocery shops currently have a bit of time before supermarkets open up (on a Sunday), where it gives them some extra business.”

Winnie also doesn’t believe it would lead to increased footfall for the town or encourage her to open her clothes shop on Sunday afternoons.

“I definitely wouldn’t open on a Sunday. I wouldn’t ask my staff to work on a Sunday.

“A good few of my staff have small families and it’s the only time they get to spend with them.”

She said while Ballymoney’s high street does attract people who are visiting the north coast, she doesn’t consider it a tourist town.

“Ballymoney was always known as a rural town. We would have classed ourselves as the gateway to the Causeway.”