Edel Coffey: The local shop fosters a sense of belonging that we don’t notice until it’s gone

There’s been a lot of change in my local area recently. McCambridges, a lovely old coffee shop and fancy food emporium on Galway’s Shop Street, was recently sold to the Musgrave group after nearly 100 years as a family business. Likewise, across town, my local family-owned grocery store has been sold to a big corporation.

So what, you might think. Coffee shops and supermarkets come and go, they’re two-a-penny, but I’ve been noticing the ways ...