Local Faces: Jackie Moran Shiels
By Hayden Moore
ENTERING their 31st year in business, Jackie’s Florist continues to be a staple part of the community.
Over the years, flower buying and selling is a business that has remained largely personal and local – not becoming as commercialised as other trades.
Jackie Moran Sheils (Image: Aidan O'Neill)
Jackie’s Florist is no different, with the local family business there to shepherd the most intimate of life’s moments, events and occasions.
Jackie Moran Sheils, a Ballyfermot woman through-and-through, opened her own florist in 1990 after learning the ins-and-outs of the industry elsewhere.
“I just decided that I actually love working with flowers and it was time to make the step towards opening my own shop.
“I worked with flowers in another florist for five years before that. I was 25 when I opened the shop, I was ambitious and brave enough at the time to just go for it – to go out on my own.
“We’re very much a community driven and family-run florist.
“The community have always been there to support us and I’d like to thank them, we’re always there if they need anything.”
(Image: Aidan O’Neill)
Family and Jackie’s Florist come hand-in-hand, with the mother of three’s children having a helping hand in the business and husband Des doing his part too.
In the three decades since, Jackie’s has gone from strength to strength with them expanding their operation to Tallaght.
Since expanding to The Square Shopping Centre seven-years-ago, Jackie’s son Darren has operated the Tallaght side of the business.
The process of getting flowers from the ground to customers is way more exotic then one may have thought.
Jackie Moran Sheils (Images: Aidan O’Neill)
Through Interflora, a delivery network associated with almost 60,000 flower shops in more than 140 countries, Jackie’s source their flowers from Holland.
“Most of the flowers come through Interflora from Holland,” explains Jackie.
“They come over on the ferry, onto the back of a truck and then into shops.
“They are really finding it tough at the minute, they’ve found they have to throw out a lot of their flowers because of the downturn in sales.
“We’re carrying way less then we normally would carry, only buying what we need to fulfil people’s orders.”
Jackie Moran Sheils (Image: Aidan O’Neill)
On any given normal day where the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is not affecting the ordinary operation of the florists, customers could find upwards of 100 different types of flowers depending on the season.
But many businesses all across the world are struggling to maintain their normal operation, and Jackie’s is another local business doing their upmost best to support the community’s needs during this testing time.
“It’s tough. We’re really trying to look after our customers, who have been putting in orders online and over the telephone,” says Jackie.
Adding about what the future holds, she said: “We’re hoping to keep ticking over for at least another 30 years.”
Florists have always played a role in intimate parts of life, whether it be somebody buying flowers for their loved ones on Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, a birthday, wedding or funeral.
In the decades since its inception, Jackie’s Florist has been there to play that role in not only Ballyfermot or Tallaght, but worldwide, and are continuing to do so, even in a time of massive uncertainty.
Offering contactless delivery through the pandemic, you can #SupportLocal by visiting Jackies Florist or calling (01) 626 7666.
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