Call for community to support local businesses

The community needs to support local businesses through  the coronavirus crisis and as they emerge after the pandemic, local businessman Brendan Murphy has said.　
"I don’t think anyone could have predicted the recent turn of events that has left the country in lockdown and our streets empty for the first time ever. When we look back to December 2019 I like many others I’m sure were looking in fear at what was happening in China, but not for a moment did we think it would happen here or if it did would it have such an effect, but reality has hit and Covid-19 has proven to be as serious as we all feared," said Mr Murphy.
He went on: "I have been absolutely blown away with the level of community spirit and goodwill that we have in our dear town and, to be fair, across the country. Locally we have seen groups of volunteers pulling together to help the most vulnerable in our society, local representatives within the community raising funds for much needed PPE for healthcare workers, and our own local frontline staff working tirelessly in the eye of the storm to help the most vulnerable."
Mr Murphy said Covid-19 has also hit our economy and has left thousands out of work with businesses across the country having to close their doors. With experts predicting that this may continue for some time and social distancing becoming the new norm for the next 12 months at least, we may see some businesses unfortunately not being able to open their doors again or some not been able to open for some time.
"We are going to be faced with a new challenge as once restrictions are lifted the whole economic landscape will have changed in relation to how we operate our businesses due to social distancing measures which will no doubt be required to continue for some time, as well as consumer confidence which will also take a hit. We can expect spending to be more conservative after the crisis.
"I really believe that we can recover economically but it will require assistance from the Government but it will also require the community to support local business now more than ever, not only to keep our local businesses open but also to retain local jobs. We have been faced with one of the biggest crisis of our time but with the level of community spirit that we have all witnessed in the past number of weeks I am confident that we will get through this as I feel if anything it has made people more aware of the great community we have and the need to maintain and support it."