Blackwater Open Farm remains closed as feed bills mount
THINGS are quiet at Blackwater Open Farm. While ordinarily, the place would be filled with the laughter and shouts of excited children, bar the odd noise from the animals, it’s been eerily quiet since the onset of Covid-19.
Like most businesses, the open farm, which welcomes all manner of children’s parties as well as hen parties and other events throughout the year, was forced to close up in early March, and the gates have remained close to the public ever since.
The brainchild of husband and wife team Michael Keating and Niamh Morris, Blackwater Open Farm opened to the public in May 2009, however, it’s likely that it’s 11th anniversary will be the quietest one yet.
‘We’ve lost all of our bookings,’ Michael said. ‘We had communions, confirmations, birthdays, hen parties, all booked in advance, but they’re all gone now unfortunately. We’ve no indication of how this whole thing will play out just yet, so I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.’
While most businesses are playing the waiting game, for Blackwater Open Farm, life doesn’t just stop because of a lack of customers coming through the doors.
‘Well we have to carry on as normal to a degree,’ Michael explained. ‘The animals all still need to be fed and we have food bills etc still coming. We had eight part-time staff here, but obviously we weren’t able to keep them on for the moment, so myself and Niamh are trying to keep everything going with a little bit of help from my parents.’
The farm is home to a whole host of different animals over 20 acres. Strolling around you’ ll see sheep, goats, deer, hen, alpacas, pigs, chicks and rabbits, all of which are a hit with the excited children Michael and Niamh regularly welcome through the doors.
‘There’s still a lot of work involved,’ Michael says. ‘You’d be talking three or four hours twice a day.’
Like a lot of businesses, Michael and Niamh are hoping they’ll be able to ride out the Covid-19 storm, however, there’s so much uncertainty that nobody can foretell how things will play out.
‘We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,’ said Michael. ‘We’ve got no indication as to what way things will work when we’re able to open again, or if we’ll even get to re-open any time soon.
‘Obviously if we can’t do the activities with the kids, like petting and bottle feeding, then we’re in trouble. As far as holding out, we’ll have to wait and see what the government come back with to support businesses. Will we have the VAT rate reduced again? Businesses are going to need something like that if they’re going to survive.
‘For now though, even if we had a date for when we can re-open it would be something to work towards.’
In the meantime, the husband and wife team will continue to maintain the farm and look after the animals in the hopes that they’ll have plenty of little visitors once again before the usually busy summer season concludes.