“The cold hard facts” are there are only an estimated 28 cobblers left in the country, says Michael Rossiter who has been repairing shoes for 50 years.
The 59-year-old, who runs Rossiter Shoe Repairs and Pedorthics in Kilkenny, is the only cobbler in the city and county.
He learned his work skills from his late father Matthew, who had a shop in Tullow, Co Carlow, but Rossiter never thought he would end up being the only cobbler in Kilkenny.
Nor did he think that other cobblers would leave the business in the neighbouring counties of Carlow, Tipperary and Waterford.
“I started learning about repairing shoes from the age of eight in my father’s shop and it turned out to become my passion in life,” Rossiter says.
Of the remaining 28 cobblers in the country, 10 are in Dublin, leaving many counties without one.
“It’s very disappointing that the government powers do not seem interested in the very important role cobblers play in everyday life,” he says.
There is no mention of cobbler on the CAO form for postsecondary courses.
“We are not even given the status of being called a trade. There isn’t even an apprenticeship course that people can enrol in,” he says.
His two sons have shown no interest in entering the business.
“And why would they as they wouldn’t be qualified in a recognised trade?” he says.
He believes cobblers should be treated as thatchers and dry stone wall creators are on the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity that aims to protect cultural and heritage roles.
“We are a dying skillset and I’ve had to diversify into pedorthics, mending bags and other items to be able to survive,” he says.
He says that people who buy cheap shoes lasting just two or three months then discover these are more expensive to fix, so it is cheaper to buy a new pair instead.
“There’s so much talk about a circular economy, but there is none in this business. It’s more like a shrinking economy for us if the Government doesn’t wake up and see how our skills are going to waste,” he says.
“Cobblers are an integral part of daily life. We are busier than ever because so many with our skills have retired or died, so we don’t have time to train anyone who may be interested in becoming a cobbler and that’s where the Government needs to step in.”
A man brought in a stuffed crocodile to us a few weeks ago with a broken paw and we managed to sow it up
Diversification has been key to survival for Mark Jackman (41), who runs Isaac Jackman’s shoe repairs in Donnybrook, Dublin.
“We have people coming to us asking for the most unusual things to be repaired. A man brought in a [stuffed] crocodile to us a few weeks ago with a broken paw. The taxidermy animal had been in the family for years and years so we managed to sew him up,” Jackman says.
“A couple of weeks ago he brought him in again as the other paw broke when they were putting him into a glass case so we fixed that up too. You never know what is going to come through our door.”
He learned his trade from his father Trevor, who once ran a shop in Stillorgan, Co Dublin. Trevor, in turn, learned his skills from his father Seán, who once ran 22 cobblers shops in Dublin under the name of C & D shoes.
Now all of that has changed. His uncle Isaac owns the shop in Charlemont Street, Dublin, and Donnybrook, with a couple of depots still operating where people would bring shoes to a launderette and then the cobblers pick them up.
“We even have a bag belonging to a lady with three pairs of designer shoes in it which are Manolo Blahniks and Gucci worth thousands of euros sitting here for a couple of years, which have never been collected,” he says.
“By law we are not allowed to dispose of them or give them away. We follow the letter of the law and it would be nice to get something back or help from the Government to acknowledge our work and how important it is.”
Jackman works with Arturas ‘Archie’ Sakele, originally from Latvia and who has travelled the world with his skills which are revered in other countries.
“I needed help from Archie as we are so busy, but that’s because we have had to diversify like so many others to keep this business alive,” Jackman says.
“In schools there are no efforts to introduce cobbling as an apprenticeship due to lack of Government involvement.
“There are so many intricacies to our skills such as benchwork, finishing and counter work. All of this could be lost if Government and state bodies don’t sit up and take action.”
I had a 20-something-year-old guy walk in here asking me what I did as he never heard of a cobbler
Jackman’s beliefs are backed by his uncle Isaac, who laments how previous governments have paid only lip service instead of taking action to save their industry.
“We have no representative body to fight our corner, not like in the UK and other countries. I’ve tried to highlight what is happening to us,” he says, adding that he has met politicians to push their case.
He recalls there once was “an old Fás scheme” to help develop cobbling apprenticeships, but that fell by the wayside.
“Enterprise Ireland has not initiated any other such courses. I even had a 20-something-year-old guy walk in here to the shop on Charlemont Street asking me what I did as he never heard of a cobbler. It was like I was from outer space,” Isaac Jackman says.
“The industry has struggled since Brexit as most of our materials came from the UK, but now I have to source them from Italy and they only want to take big orders worth €10,000.
“Because cobblers are closing down we are now servicing many counties around the country.”
He says cobblers are the “very origin” of the “circular economy”. He believes there “doesn’t seem to be any interest in sticking to the EU’s guidance on the right to repair by Irish legislation” – the EU law that compels manufacturers to offer to repair their goods for free or at a reasonable price.
“This is not just a crisis; we are basically dead in the water,” he says.
Another cobbler, Ross O’Rourke (34), who works for Noel Bennetts Shoe Repairs in Paul Street, Cork city, is busy getting 30 pairs of shoes ready for a performance in the Cork Opera House.
I had a woman from Clare in here the other day as she couldn’t find anywhere to mend her shoes where she lives
“We are seen as a knick-knacky trade, but we need to able to get a qualification in it and there is none. We really need backing from the Government,” he says.
“In the last two to three years four cobblers shops have closed. To prove that, I had a woman from Clare in here the other day as she couldn’t find anywhere to mend her shoes where she lives. I love what I do and I’m not ever going to leave it, but we are a trade that really needs recognition.”
In a statement the Department of Higher Education said it viewed apprenticeships as demand-led educational and training programmes aimed at developing the skills of an apprentice in order to meet the workforce needs of industry.
“New apprenticeship programmes are developed by the industry sector in question with a consortium of partners including the education provider, and proposals for such programmes is through a 10-step process led by the National Apprenticeship Office.”
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