Illegal Vending of Crepes in the city of Cork

Just popped into the office today for an hour or two to catch up on some things, basically I forgot to check source code into our SVN so could work from home, and saw this guy outside the GPO selling Crepes.

You'll also notice the token Echo guy that pisses me off every day but enough about him.

I was impressed to see the crepe guy here. It takes balls to vend on the street like that and as some of you know, Sam and myself dipped our hand into this with our hotdog cart on South Mall.

What is a real pity is this guy isnt going to last. Cork does not have any by-laws that allow street vending outside of Kyle Street and Cornmarket Street. You can not get a permit in a zone that fits in with your business idea.

Now, I know they re trying to stop an influx of vending and in some way protect existing shops (They have to pay rates etc) but come on, its 2007.

The city is dying as it is and if they wish to attract more people and a more continental feel to the city then they need to wake the fuck up and legislate and control street vending.

What really annoys me and the city counsil will do nothing about is:

• Buskers. There are too many and too many bad ones
• Chuggers - These are a fucking nuisance but we have a plan for them ;-)
• Romas - Fuck off out of the country if your not going to work but beg instead
• High Rent
• High Rates
• Lack of parking
• Clamping and towing

The list is endless but they are some on the top of my head. Its hard to start a business in Cork unless you have a franchise and alot of cash. We know this from experience.

Just had a look on Ebay and you can get a Commercial Crepe Machine for $349....maybe we should look into one for Sam & Dans