The owners of the award-winning Killybegs Seafood Shack have said they feel they are not wanted in Killybegs.
The owners, Mairead and Gary Anderson, have been instructed to relocate from their pierside location within a week to make way for regeneration works.
The Andersons, also own Anderson’s Boathouse Restaurant, say they have been left deflated with no suitable place to go.
The Seafood Shack, hailed as one of Ireland’s best fish and chip hotspots, opened in 2017 and surged in popularity during the pandemic when outdoor dining was permitted. It has fed many famous faces such as Chef Neven Maguire and TikTok foodie Matthew Davies-Binge from the Food Review Club.
Mairead said they have been given no time to draw up relocation plans, while their current spot is crucial for operations.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go at the moment, the traders car park is just too far away from where I store extra stock etc and where we have our staff toilets,” Mairead told customers on social media today.
“Had I been given a bit more notice I could have gotten my own property sorted on the main street to pitch the shack for now but it’s currently not suitable, also we have to await fire plans to be drawn up, and okayed before we commence work, which we have to inform the county council about because it’s commercial.”
Disappointed by reported complaints about queues obstructing the pier footpath, she said: “No one is seeing the bigger picture at all about the shack, again, in my opinion.
“I was just trying to create something that would make people want to stop and ultimately shop in the town.”
Mairead adds that, after attempts to lease a property, she was disheartened by the lack of availability.
For now, the future of the shack appears to be up in the air.
“Anyone that is planning on coming to the shack over the summer just keep an eye on my page here,” Mairead said.
“Finding it hard today to want to stay in a town & area that clearly doesn’t want me there.. just how I feel.”
