BIKE IN BUSINESS
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a face mask, he said he thought the Government had handled the pandemic “very well”.
Anne Dunne was in line at Harvey Norman waiting to purchase an ipad to reconnect with children.
From Raheny, Dublin, she works as a special needs assistant and was critical of the Government’s handling of the crisis, claiming they had forgotten about vulnerable children.
Meanwhile, golfers were like “cattle taking to grass for the first time in Spring” at Concra Wood – an 18-hole course in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan. General manager Darren
Mcquillan told the Irish Mirror he witnessed a few “rusty shots” from both young and old.
He added: “People were very eager to get their feet back on the grass and delighted to get out but were cagey and wary all the same.”
Despite the sport changing for the foreseeable future, the sheet at the volunteer run course is packed and around 130 golfers got back on to the fairways yesterday.
But Darren said there is no revenue coming in and the club “isn’t out of the water yet”.
He added: “We’ve a restaurant and bar but they are closed and that would be vital to our business going forward.
“A few years ago we had to buy it back from the banks, we were in trouble and all of the locals chipped in and we got enough money to save the club.
“We remain concerned and we weren’t sure it’d even reopen after the lockdown.”
The club has introduced strict measures to ensure hygiene and social distancing is obeyed.
And Darren revealed: “People were keen to chat again and kept their distance in the car park, everyone was in good form.”
BIKES, barbecues, shrubs and bulbs flew off the shelves across Ireland yesterday as the economy finally kicked back into gear after two months in lockdown.
And for golfers and tennis players, it was a case of game on as noncontact sport returned.
Retailers compared the sales rush to Christmas Eve as an army of shoppers made a beeline to garden centres, bike shops and DIY stores, while construction sites roared back to life.
Women’s mountain bikes were sold-out at Richies store in Swords, North Dublin, as early morning queues formed for repairs.
Just under three hours after opening boss Richie Mcnamara, who has been in business for 25 years, described it as “chaotic”.
The 49-year-old told the Irish Mirror: “We have no ladies mountain bikes left, it has been bedlam and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing. It’s been the busiest I’ve been for 25 years.
“We’re even getting calls from people working in hospitals who want to purchase a bike instead of using public transport. We’ve been sending them pictures of what we’ve left in store.
“We’ve been getting phone calls non-stop about repairs but this is the first time in nine weeks we’ve physically opened the doors.
“There’s a fear of us clearing out soon, 90% of our bikes come in from China but they have only reopened internally.
“It’ll take 10 to 12 weeks when they do start operating outside of their own country again.
“We have between 50 and 80 bikes landing on Friday from Italy.
“We’ve ordered about €60,000 worth of bikes and we’re not even sure we’re going to get them. We’ve been put in a queuing system, something that has never happened before.”
In Cahir, Co Tipperary, Mary Skelly opened the doors of Kilcoran Country Garden Centre after weeks of stress and uncertainty.
The 62-year-old has been running the family business for 25 years and took the tough decision to close the doors earlier than instructed.
She said: “It was so challenging for us as a small family-run business.
“We had to shut down just before it came into our busy season. We weren’t able to quickly get everything in place like the perspex, the big businesses could do that quickly.
“We had to protect the staff and I was really nervous, I was more worried anything would happen to them or if any of us picked up Covid-19.
“We were very stressed thinking about reopening and getting ready to do it, we were under fierce pressure.”
Mary revealed she couldn’t believe there were vehicles waiting in the car park yesterday morning when she arrived to open up again.
She added: “We’re all so relieved now people have come back to us. I employ four full-time staff and we were worried about opening back up.
“We’ve had lots of ups and yes my turnover is going to be down but I was more worried about the fact that me or any of the staff could get it.”
Mary has had to invest in PPE but the open space allows for customers to move around and keep their distance.
She said: “It’s been fantastic. I just can’t believe it. I’ll go to bed a happy woman tonight.
“Customers are literally buying everything between bedding and shrubs, they’ve had all this time to dig up their gardens.
“They were so appreciative to be able to get back in, it was like a new lease of life.” Queuing at Airside Retail Park in Swords didn’t upset customers who were standing in line to buy a variety of items.
Tommy Lyons and son Tommy Jnr waited their turn to purchase a barbecue to use this week as the weather is expected to improve. Harry
Mulligan, who had been cocooning for weeks, was planning on splashing the cash on some new garden furniture.
Having retired from the ESB a few years ago, the 72-year-old from Dublin’s Castleknock said life in lockdown hadn’t bothered him because he is a “TV man”. Protecting himself with