09/09/2017
Guys we have some very sad news, despite trying to come up with a positive solution, The Sunflower Cafe at Sonairte has been forced to shut its doors for good.
We have spent over three great years building a business from the ground up, using local businesses & suppliers, and providing work for local people. We have gladly donated to local teams & charities. Clearly that is not what the Board was looking for and despite our very best efforts to contact and engage with the board to negotiate a way forward, they have proven as ever elusive and would not engage.
We had thought that the thousands of euros we have personally spent to improve Sonairte, and create free of charge family friendly fun days would mean something in the long run. We had thought that the charity events we organised at our own expense where all the proceeds went directly to Sonairte would be recognised. We thought we were helping to contribute to building up something for the local community. We were obviously & clearly mistaken on all three counts.
This is however about our customers, the families & people who have had fun at the Sunflower Cafe over its short life. The Mums & Dads who stood in the rain painting fairy doors, or drank 'mud' tea at the teddy bears picnic, or spent half an hour looking for that last piece of Lego, or had to endure the scary Halloween trail carrying a pumpkin in the muck 😃
Thank you to the girls who volunteered their time to help organise our events, the many parents who gave up their afternoons to help with repairs or help with a tidy up of our little garden, the local tradesmen who consistently gave their time free of charge to help out with jobs big and small. Thank you to all our groups who supported us during the winter months, your company was welcomed on those cold wet days. Thank you to the local businesses who donated prizes / toys & goodies as gifts for the kids at events. You are all what made the Cafe what it was, and we will be forever grateful.
We would also like to offer our sincere thanks to both Luc & Brigitta who have shown us true hospitality throughout our time at Sonairte. We thank everyone who showed their support & voiced their opinions on social media over the last couple of weeks. Many of you also offered financial assistance to Sonairte, and we are sorry but not surprised that your offers fell on deaf ears.
So in closing, we at the Sunflower Cafe would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you to the people & customers of Laytown, Bettystown, Jullianstown, Mornington and indeed not just the local people, but customers from further afield who traveled consistently week in week out for a visit to the Sunflower Cafe. You guys are what made a tiny little business successful, and we will truly miss you all.
Like all the good people who have left Sonairte before us, we leave with our heads held high and our honesty, professionalism & integrity intact. We suspect the same can't be said for everyone left at Sonairte.
Finally !! but by no means any less important !!
Thank you to the Board of Sonairte, for proving, yet again that after all those expert years under your belts, ( including your four closures ), you still have not lost that hard learned & endearing skill of turning something that was fundamentally good into bad. It is not surprising that the majority of the board have in fact remained unchanged in all those years. It is arguable that perhaps it is the board who need a change rather than Sonairte itself !! but that argument is for another day.
Your combined track record remains intact !
Shame on you all
Bridget & The Sunflower Cafe Crew 🌻
