With hairdressers in Scotland reopening on April 5 and England’s hairdressers getting ready to welcome customers back this Monday, April 12, Northern Ireland is still to confirm a definite date of reopening.

Economy Minister Diane Dodds is due to bring a paper to the Executive on April 15 to lift restrictions on hairdressers and other close contact services in Northern Ireland from April 26.

It a slower, more cautious approach from Northern Ireland’s decision makers and while a prospective date has been mentioned, one Fermanagh hairdresser believes that more notice should be given.

In England and Scotland, hairdressers and close contact services knew for weeks about the dates when they could get back to work.

Becky McClaughry, a hairdresser in Irvinestown, said she will be delighted whenever a concrete date is confirmed but no matter what, the pressure will be on to get salons and barber shops ready for reopening.

With Northern Ireland in lockdown since Christmas as the country tried to get to grips with another wave of Covid-19, Becky does admit that the fatigue of the lockdown has made her pessimistic towards any news of reopening.

“I feel we have been in lockdown that many times now that if we were given a date, I don’t know if I would believe it.”

And looking at her own situation and speaking to other hairdressers she believes it will take time for things to be put in place for a proper, safe reopening.

“I do really want a date to go back but if we are told to come back on April 26 and we are only told next week there’s going to be a real panic on people. We need to get our appointments organised, we need to get our premises organised.

“I would need a couple of weeks notice. I know talking to other girls we have a lot to organise and it’s not just a case of opening up and cutting hair again.

“I have my water and everything turned off. We all need stock and the majority haven’t been paying for colour stock because there’s no point paying for it until I go back.”

One thing Becky is adamant about is the safety of hairdressing salons. Due to being a close contact to someone who contracted Covid outside the salon, which resulted in Becky’s entire staff contracting the virus, not one of her customers tested positive.

“Myself and two staff members tested positive and not one of our clients took it. We had to give a list of four days worth of people for contact tracing probably 60-70 people. Not one of them tested positive because we were cleaning and wearing PPE.”

She knows her salon is a safe place for business and now she just wants to get back to work but she knows once a date is confirmed the pressure will be on to have everything ready to go.

“I will be delighted when we do get back to work but when the date is given, it is always going to be pressure no matter what. If we had a bit of warning of more than two weeks it would help but I don’t think that is going to be the case.”