Small retailers permitted to re-open from end of week

SMALLER retailers in Omagh and towns throughout the north will be permitted to re-open for business from this Friday, following an announcement this afternoon by the Stormont Economy Minister, Diane Dodds.

The decision has been welcomed by Omagh Chamber of Commerce and Retail NI, the body which represents retailers here.

The announcement came as it was reported that there were no further deaths from COVID-19 in the north during the past 24 hours. Figures also show that the important r-rate of infection within the Fermanagh and Omagh District now stands at 0.

Chief executive of Retail NI, Glyn Roberts, said

“We strongly welcome this decision to reopen our retail sector this Friday – it is a major step forward for rebooting our economy as a whole. There is a long and hard road ahead for our local economy, but I have no doubt our retail sector will be at the cutting edge of this recovery”

“While we have made good progress on reopening the retail sector, we need to ensure that our high streets are safe and compliant with medical guidance in order to fully reassure consumers”

“Retail NI has written to the Executive to ask Ministers to establish a High Street and Retail Advisory Group to ensure the Executive can move forward with the safe reopening of our town and city centres alongside this retail reopening plan”

“This will no doubt involve the repurposing and reimaging of public spaces to accommodate queuing customers as well as significant changes to public transport”

“We also need a Northern Ireland Reopening High Streets Safety fund to assist Local Councils and traders to implement plans to reopen town and city centres”