Sir, – As nice as it would be to ignore the realities of Covid-19 for another week, surely the Government’s hesitance to introduce more restrictions until after Christmas can only serve to further worsen the situation we’re facing?
Tightening restrictions this side of Christmas would be in the interest of public health, potentially preventing a harsh January lockdown and the further loss of livelihood it would bring about.
The Government might want to brush up on their adages and remember the benefit of a stitch in time. – Yours, etc,
SIMON CANTWELL,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – The earlier than planned lockdown from December 28th has been vehemently opposed by the Restaurants Association of Ireland, whose President has referred to it as a devastating slap in the face (irishtimes.com, December 18th). While this will undoubtedly be very tough on these businesses, a look at how customer-facing businesses, such as restaurants, fared during the first lockdown and re-opening supplies some much-needed perspective.
Between February and Oct ober of this year, the restaurant sector did experience a drop of 24 per cent in actual sales, compared to what they would have been if no pandemic had occurred. The drop was particularly severe in April and May, where they were down a huge 45 per cent. Yet after this there was a modest up-turn, which lasted until the second lockdown in October. Clearly the lack of international tourists (9.3 million in 2018) had a huge impact, that was only partly compensated for by domestic tourists. Overall, the drop in restaurant sales would have been far greater than 24 per cent only for the introduction by some of take-away services.
By my estimation, restaurants were most certainly not the most negatively affected. In fact, seven sectors performed even worse during the 1st lockdown and re-opening. These were Hotels (down a massive 72 per cent); Bars (down 59 per cent); Transport and Storage (down 37 per cent); Other Business Services – which includes real estate, gambling, sports activities and repair of computers etc (down 36 per cent); Books and Newsagents (down 32 per cent); Clothing and Footwear (down 30 per cent) and Fuel (down 25 per cent). These estimates are based on my analysis of CSO data on Retail Sales and Market Services which was published last week. – Yours, etc,
EOIN O’LEARY,
Emeritus Professor of
Economics,
Department of Economics,
Cork University
Business School,
University College Cork.
Sir, – While it was understandable that our Government wanted to lessen the restrictions for people at this Christmas time, it was a mixed message to tell people on the one hand to wear a face covering when visiting shops, places of worship and health care facilities, while on the other hand, telling everyone that they could meet for a meal in a restaurant or pub, where no face coverings were required. – Yours, etc,
FRANK BROWNE,
Templeogue, Dublin 16.
Sir, – From yesterday, the country became open, with people being able to travel freely between counties, visit family and friends’ houses. Thousands will arrive from abroad and many people will spend time in so called gastro pubs. All this and yet my local small friendly country pub remains closed.
When it did reopen in late September for a few weeks, it was totally compliant with all the regulations. Customers, sometimes as many as 20 people enjoying themselves. So I ask the powers that be to reconsider reopening the local for the locals. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD NISBET,
Co Wexford.