Staff at Tommy’s Wonderland, a toy shop in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, were shocked this week to learn that the shop was shutting its doors without any advance warning. The 17 full and part-time staff were not told anything of the impending closure, only hearing the news second hand from other traders in the Town Centre.

Explaining the closure, management have spoken about the high cost of doing business that is driving so many retailers to the wall across the country. Between rent, rates and service charges alone it was costing nearly €1m per annum to keep Tommy’s open.

Inflexible landlords and inappropriate hikes in some local authority rates are making it impossible for a lot of retail outlets to keep trading. There seems to be a sense of denial in some circles. Commercial landlords around the country are going to have to wake up and smell the coffee; they don’t seem to be living in the real world.

The government needs to act urgently to end upwards-only rent reviews for existing leases before more shops, which might otherwise be viable, decide to vote with their feet and close their doors. The addition of VAT to services provided by local authorities will be another hammer blow for hard-pressed retailers. Some retailers have even been hit with massive hikes in local authority rates at a time when consumer spending is already on the floor and their shops are making a loss.

Boarded up shop windows have come to blight the streets of Dublin city centre since the recession began to bite. It would be a sad indictment of government inaction if Blanchardstown Town Centre was allowed to go the same way. The Town Centre has added greatly to the area since it was built, not just for shopping, but as a social and cultural hub and as a massive employer for local people.

Tommy’s has been a fixture at the Blanchardstown Town Centre from Day 1. It was one of the biggest toy stores in the area and a local mecca for Christmas shopping.

There were 8,353 people on the dole in the Blanchardstown area at the end of January. 17 more jobs lost may not seem to add greatly to this statistic, but for the 17 families who have taken a hit to their income, but who still have to keeping paying bills and the mortgage, this week brings an enormous new and unexpected challenge.

One has to have sympathy first and foremost for the thousands of families across Dublin 15 who have found themselves in financial difficulty because of Fianna Fáil’s reckless economic mismanagement.