A way of life unfairly shelved

A documentary, to be aired this week, charts the journey of the Irish commercial traveller from the 1950s to the present day.

Directed by Anne Gately, Stocking the Shelves offers an insight into the development of the Irish grocery trade, from mobile shops to today’s more impersonal retail outlets, and mourns the loss of the local corner shop, a ‘‘vital area of social interaction’’.

Inspired by her father Tom Gately, who was involved ...