Lockdown locks face the chop as salons to reopen

Residents of Tyrone can now stop pulling their hair out in frustration, as hairdressers, barbers, beauticians and other close contact services open their doors once again on Friday.

As part of the Executive’s major announcement on the easing of restrictions, people will now be able to get a haircut, have their nails done and much more

Hairdressers, barbers and beauticians have been subject to stringent restrictions since the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic, enduring a roller coaster series of openings and closures.

Laura Donnelly, owner of Glam Hairdressing & Makeup on Foundry Lane in Omagh, said she is already booked up until the end of May as clients rush to brush up their lockdown dos.

“It’s been hectic since the announcement, we are booked up now until the end of May. We are buzzing to be back and it’ll be a rush now to get everything ready for next Friday,” Laura said.

“We are so happy but we wish we would have been given a bit more notice.

“We have been closed for 17 weeks now so it will be hard to get our stock in and get the salon ready but we will get there.

“At the start of the first lockdown, I thought we might be closed for two or three weeks, and we didn’t get to open until July then. Then we closed for another five weeks and were supposed to reopen but we were told the day before that we couldn’t.”

As a business in the town centre of Omagh, Laura added that she is looking forward to seeing a bit more of activity around the town in the weeks to come.

She added, “There are be a number of businesses in and around us such as shops and cafes and we would all be quite friendly.

“We all just cannot wait to get back to get a bit more buzz and people around the town.”