Listen now (11 min) | I visited a local shopkeeper this morning. It’s a a fruit and veg place called Justin’s in Blanchardstown village on the west side of Dublin. A fairly run down place on the mainstreet, been there for years. It’s a favourite with the minorities and some locals in the Blanchardstown area but today it was empty. The shop stocks a lot of obscure foods that can’t be purchased readily elsewhere. Local restaurants buy from them too. In this way they’ve carved a little niche in the face of stiff competition from big corporate food stores that are everywhere these days. But people like you and me have chosen the convenience of the supermarket in preference to the small local shopkeeper. In this pursuit of convenience you could say that we are the authors of our own demise. Blanchardstown village dates back to 1250 when the Blanchard Family were awarded their estate by the governing British. You can find out a little more about it on askaboutireland.ie. The surround --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sunday-letters/message