LISTEN: Business owners react with anger at Stormont's handling of new restrictions

By Q Radio News

Business owners have reacted angrily to the lack of clarity from the Executive after it agreed on tougher lockdown restrictions. 

The measures will force all non-essential retail to close at the end of next week for two weeks - during what is normally the busiest time of the year. 

Chris Suitor from Suitor Brothers says no one objects to doing whatever is needed to save lives and support the NHS. 

However the Belfast tailor branded the the handling of the crisis as 'shambolic' as he called for financial support to made available immediately.  

''It's the way it's been handled,'' he said. 

''We have had no time to prepare for it, we didn't even get a sniff of it - we have just been told via social media that we have to close. 

''I feel so sorry for those whose goods are perishable.'' 

Cecelia McCarthy owns a coffee shop in Crossgar and has only just welcomed customers back inside. 

Many businesses, which were closed under a previous circuit break, reopened across Northern Ireland on Friday morning.

However they must close their doors again for two weeks from November 27 under the latest plan to stem the spread of coronavirus.

David Gough, owner of the Newton Brunch Bar in east Belfast, which previously welcomed international visitors to attempt their enormous Ulster Fry challenge, described the latest announcement as “devastating”.

He said the “constant changing of the rules” is “killing businesses”, and urged Stormont to ensure financial support is paid out.

First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill have not given media interviews since the announcement on Thursday night.

Justice Minister Naomi Long apologised for this during a radio interview on Friday morning, saying her understanding had been that the top ministers along with Health Minister Robin Swann would have been engaging with the media.

“We were all to make ourselves available to do interviews and so on today to try to explain what is obviously quite a devastating announcement yesterday for a lot of businesses, and I can only apologise because that does not appear to have happened, but I am certainly happy to do my best to explain what happened,” she told the BBC.

“We were in a situation where we were given advice that if we did not make decisions with respect to lockdown and more enhanced restrictions and quite a strong circuit-breaker, that we would end up having to bring in restrictions over Christmas and that we would have our hospitals in a pretty bad state.”

Chairman of the BMA’s Northern Ireland Council Dr Tom Black said the decision taken by the Stormont Executive on Thursday evening should have been taken five weeks ago.

However he welcomed that the Executive was “being led by the science again”, and had “made the right decision”.

“We need this lockdown if we are going to take the pressure off the hospitals. The hospitals are at breaking point,” he said.

“The decision that was made five weeks ago was the wrong decision, it was not severe enough at the time and it needed to be taken earlier.

“We should have brought in more severe measures five weeks ago if we were going to stop this happening now. It’s happened, we have a lot of hard work to do.”