Shrewd businessman and a superb retailer

The death occurred last week of Tom Mulqueen, a long serving Fianna Fáil councillor and a hardworking businessman, who played a central role in introducing a modern shopping experience to Nenagh in the final decades of the last century.

Tom, or Tommy as he was known to many of us, began his long working life in the 1960s as a salesman for the tea company, Halpin’s Tea.

The Gortmore, Ballywilliam native, who came from a family of twelve children, quit that sales role after seven years to set up his own grocery business on the same site as his home in Connolly Street in 1971.

Tommy had a keen eye for the needs of customers and the latest shopping trends. It was an era when the days of small grocery shops were numbered, and he knew he had to expand to survive.

After four years operating his modest sized store, he decided to embark on a major expansion of the retail space on the site and transformed his Connolly Street shop into a 4,000 square foot modern supermarket.

Though he was a real hard worker who was involved in his business night and day, he didn’t do it all alone. He relied on the help of wife Kathleen (née Duggan), a Newport native, and all of his seven children who rowed in to grow the family business in its formative years.

Always with an eye on opportunities to expand, Tommy purchased a greenfield site at Annbrook on the Limerick Road in 1976. His dream was to one day open his own shopping centre.

NEW SHOPPING CENTRE

That dream became a reality in August 1983 when the comedian Brendan Grace cut the ribbon on  his 8,000 square feet retail complex on the site at Annbrook. A warehouse behind brought the total size of the development to 14,000 square feet.

Despite the huge undertaking and financial risks, Tommy managed, with the help of family and a dedicated staff, to continue to operate the original supermarket in Silver Street.

Both businesses thrived for many years, and the Mulqueens became a major competitor of the other leading Nenagh retailer Joey O’ Connor, who during the same era in the 1980s and 1990s, was reputed to be Ireland’s largest family run independent grocer and provision supplier.

Operating under the Super-Valu label, Mulqueen’s Annbrook Shopping Centre won several national hygiene awards and the business generated much-needed local employment over the decades. The two shops were on the crest of a wave as Tommy, always a man with a personal touch, built up a thriving business.

He was close to his customers, and they liked him. He was innovative and enticed shoppers into his stores with incentives such as raffles. The prizes varied from bus trips to microwave ovens - and even motor cars. Late night openings were also a big draw. His stores stayed open until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

END OF ERA

Ultimately, the era of low-cost retailing dawned with the arrival of new stores operated by the multiples. Customers ebbed away, enticed by the bargains that only the multi-national owners of new chain stores could offer.

After many years of successful trading, Tommy decided to sell his shopping centre in Annbrook to Dunnes Stores. He then re-concentrated his efforts on growing his original store in Connolly Street, which ultimately also succumbed to competition from the likes of Lidl and Aldi. But Tommy turned his focus elsewhere.

LOCAL POLITICS

Despite his huge commitment to retail, Tommy, a loyal member of Fianna Fáil and a dedicated backroom worker for the party’s TD Michael O’ Kennedy and the latter’s successor Maire Hoctor, decided to try his hand in local politics.

He first contested the Nenagh council elections in 1985 and was in contention all the way to the end of the contest, until eventually eliminated on the 12th and final count when pipped for a seat by his party colleague, John Gleeson.

That narrow defeat did not dissuade him. In fact, he was back on the Fianna Fáil ticket in the next local elections a full nine years later in 1994.

The electoral disappointment he suffered in 1985 turned to joy in 1994 when he was elected to Nenagh Urban Council for the first time - a seat he grimly held on to over the subsequent 15 years and three more local elections.

HARDWORING

Just like in his retailing career, Tommy proved to be a hardworking councillor. Though his verbal contributions at council meetings were always short and to the point, he worked diligently in the background for those who supported him - and those who did not.

Tommy was always forced to sweat it out in every single election he contested. In his first sussessful bid he had to wait until the eleventh and final count. In the next council election 1999 he got in on  the eighth and second last count. That was the year that Fianna Fáil recorded its best ever result in a Nenagh town election, managing to return a total of five candidates to the council.

Elected along with Tommy in that historic year for Fianna Fáil were his party colleagues, Maire Hoctor, Tony Sheary, the late Paddy Joe Cusack and Jimmy Moran.

In the next town election in June 2004 Tommy was elected on the twelfth and final count, while in the final contest in 2009 - just prior to the abolition of town councils by Fine Gael Local Government Minister Phil Hogan - the Nenagh businessman yet again sweated it out to the last court to retain his seat.

Tommy died peacefully on Tuesday, December 5, surrounded by his family in the care of the staff at Nenagh hospital. He was predeceased by his parents Tom and Ellen and his sisters Breda, Peggy and Mary. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, their six sons and daughter, Thomas, Matthew, Finbarr, Philip, Joseph, Colm and Kathryn.

He is also survived by his brothers and sisters Martin, Michael, John, Patsy, Senan, Gerard, Kitty and Nonie, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and many other relatives.

Tommy’s Requiem Mass was celebrated in Ballywilliam Church on Friday week last. Burial followed in Lisboney new cemetery.

May he rest in peace.