A long-standing shop owner in Ballymena, County Antrim, has announced his retirement and the sale of his business. Eugene Diamond, 67, who has owned Diamond Newsagent for 46 years, is stepping down due to ill health. He said the decision was a difficult one to make. “If it wasn’t for the illness, I wouldn’t be retiring.”

Over the decades, Diamond has seen many changes in Ballymena. “When I took over my shop I was in the middle of houses and now it’s a massive shopping centre. Where the shopping centre is, there was a cattle market that was open every day. Times have really changed; the only original thing still standing is my shop.”

Diamond traded during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which he described as a “grim time”.

He added: “Daily you opened up a parcel of newspapers to hear of people dying but the ceasefire makes me emotional because it brought about peace for people.

“My shop was a cross-community shop. I was a main street shop, we just had everybody come through the door.”

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Diamond described the introduction of the National Lottery in 1994 as a “big game changer” and highlighted the money his shop had raised for charity.

“The achievement of my shop raising £1m for good causes through lottery sales in my shop was a significant moment for me, we made that difference in 2019.”

He also cited the closure of the News of the World newspaper in 2011 as a “terrible blow”.

“It was like turning the tap off, the News of the World was the biggest selling Sunday newspaper. There were people who would have come out to get the News of the World and bought all their papers.

“That just didn’t happen after that. There were people who never bought another Sunday newspaper. It had its faults but it drove newspaper sales. It was just colossal.”

Looking ahead, Diamond doesn’t have any plans for his retirement because until March of this year he “wouldn’t have even thought” about stepping down.

“I love the business, I’ll miss the people and the daily craic,” he added.

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