The government has announces that the Kilkenny Design Shops in Dublin and Kilkenny are to be put up for sale.
Minister for Industry and Commerce Albert Reynolds has announced that the shops will be sold as going concerns after an examination of the shops by a firm of financial consultants.
The Kilkenny shops have been a showcase for Irish quality craft and design for nearly a quarter of a century.
In 1974, the Kilkenny shops and workshop came under the control of the Department of Industry and Commerce. Cork Potter Stephen Pearse has already shown an interest in buying the shops, which have been in financial difficulty for some time. The Kilkenny shop which opened in London just over eighteen months ago is believed to have incurred losses of between three-quarters and one million pounds. It is these losses at the London shop which have brought about the present financial crisis for the company.
Kilkenny Design employs around ninety people. While the shops are to be sold on, the government has specified that the design function of Kilkenny Craft Centre in Kilkenny City is to continue.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 26 May 1988. The reporter is Charlie Bird.
