Small traders need help to pick up pieces

AT THE end of a difficult week for many – especially small businesses that cannot easily absorb losses when customers are told to stay at home and not venture out at all – we can reflect on what in very many ways was a job well done.

Met Éireann and the National Emergency Coordination Group gave fair warning of what was to come from the so-called Beast from the East and Storm Emma, offering plenty of time for us to stock up on food and fuel before the bad weather hit. As always, there were those who, from the comfort of their armchairs and with no scientific knowledge to speak of, dismissed the nationwide Status Red warning as hysterical fear-mongering. Instead, we endured the coldest March day ever recorded, widespread air and ground transport disruption and, in many areas, levels of snow not seen since 1982.

It is always better to be safe than sorry and the agencies charged with upholding our safety, and the Government, performed well. So too did RTÉ, with its national network of correspondents feeding into extended news bulletins on both radio and television.

It is a testament to all that the message not only got out but was heeded. Cities and towns across the country were deserted and the Storm Ophelia confusion about what exactly a Status Red meant prompted many businesses to establish clear protocols that were implemented this time, with many staff told to work from home.

As always, those who had to venture out were inspirational – the medical staff who stayed in hotels close to hospitals to ensure uninterrupted patient care, the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces, the emergency crews of the ESB and Irish Water, the Coastguard Service, the fire and ambulance services, and many others.

We saw ordinary citizens help each other when cars broke down or skidded, others who cleared paths in their estates, and many who ensured that their elderly neighbours were fed and had enough fuel to get by.

And we also saw pleasure as children too young to remember even the more recent snows of 2010 and 2011 got to build snowmen, have snowball fights and slide down hills on real or makeshift toboggans. Every cloud has a silver lining.

We may be in recovery mode but the danger is not over, especially from flooding and frosts that will glaze the roads and demand caution from drivers for a few days to come. Others will need more practical help. Small businesses that depend on cash flow will have been badly hit by the virtual curfew this week and it won’t be easy to make up for lost trade. If you can shop local this week, it would be in the spirit of meitheal to do so.

The Government has a role here too. Help is offered after other natural phenomena and, in this case, the small and medium enterprises that are the lifeblood of our economy deserve even a small tax break on a percentage basis to alleviate some of their losses. We proved this week what we can do when we pull together. That spirit, on a far bigger scale, would be worth more to the economy than any National Development Plan.