SME boss warns short-term gain could lead to long-term pain

Retailers that have been thus far deemed ‘unessential’ are likely to push for a reopening earlier than the anticipated December 1 end of Level 5 restrictions – but this short term gain could lead to long term pain.

That’s according to the Galway man at the helm of Ibec who warned that an cycle of going in and out of lockdown would be more damaging to businesses forced to close, even though the current restrictions had been devastating for a number of sectors.

Danny McCoy, CEO of Ibec, said that while the introduction of Level 5 was having a negative effect on a number of businesses, there was still a high level of economic activity – he estimated that 85 to 90 per cent of businesses were still operational.

Mr McCoy, who is originally from Tuam, said while it was understandable that businesses that had been forced to shut up shop would be anxious to get back as soon as possible, it may not be in their long-term best interests.

“At the moment, we are supressing the virus and aiming to be back at Level 3 in a number of weeks, back to a stage where they can reopen – but if that was after a three week lockdown, we would have been heading for a surge in Christmas week,” said Mr McCoy.

It was that reason that a six-week lockdown had been introduced, but that would still result in a surge after Christmas.

He proposed that a better option might be to pursue an elimination strategy, bringing the reproduction rate down to around 0.2.

Read the full interview in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or download our digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie