Businesses across the State are making last-minute preparations and asking employees to work from home in advance of the arrival of Storm Éowyn in the early hours of Friday morning.
Retailers are preparing to close for the duration of the status-red weather warnings, which Met Éireann has extended to all counties at various intervals from 2am on Friday, with the storm expected to bring widespread destructive winds.
Brown Thomas Arnotts will close all of its locations on Friday to protect staff and customers, a spokeswoman confirmed.
However, Jean McCabe, interim chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, said some retailers anticipate being able to reopen on Friday afternoon if and when the alerts are lifted.
“Once it is safe to reopen, [retail business owners] will be very mindful of employee safety, travelling to work and so forth,” she said. “But after midday [on Friday], after the storm has passed, I think you will see some stores start to open up.”
Retailers will also have to be “mindful that schools are closed” on Friday and those staff members who can be facilitated can work from home to take care of their “childcare needs”.
Waste collection operators, including City Bin and Thorntons Recycling, have cancelled bin collections on Friday and are putting in alternative arrangements.
Bank of Ireland, meanwhile, has said it will close branches in the Republic and Northern Ireland on Friday “for the safety of our customers and colleagues”.
AIB will also close all of its branches on the island. A spokesman said the bank is “closely monitoring weather advice and will reopen branches as soon as it is safe to do so”.
In the meantime, customers can bank as normal using AIB’s mobile and internet banking services, he said, and the bank’s phone lines will also be open, although a high volume of calls is expected.
PTSB was understood to be assessing the situation on Thursday morning and is expected to update customers later in the day.
Larger employers, including accountancy firms EY and KPMG, are also closing their offices across the island on Friday and asking staff to work from home.
A spokeswoman for EY said its Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway locations would all be closed but that disruption to its operations was expected to be minimal. “Ensuring that our people and our clients are safe is our top priority,” the spokeswoman said.
Tech giant Google is understood to be strongly recommending staff who can do so to work from home. It is keeping one office in Dublin open but closing its on-site gym and restaurant facilities.
A spokesman for the Hotels Federation of Ireland said its members are well placed to deal with the disruption.
“Hotels are generally well prepared to respond to scenarios such as this given the nature of their operations and would have plans in place tailored to their individual requirements,” he said.
“These would include, for example, plans for accommodating essential staff within the hotel itself and measures to assist individual guests affected by the storm.”
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