Coronavirus: Businesses urge decision on restrictions

As the clock ticks towards midnight on Friday - which was promised to herald the end of the existing Covid-19 shutdown for Northern Ireland's hospitality sector - there is widespread confusion about what happens next.

Stormont ministers have spent days debating whether to extend four weeks of forced closures but have yet to decide what to do.

Business owners have no idea whether they can pull up the shutters on their premises Saturday.

And with fresh stock to order and staff to be called in, some traders say it's far too late for them to bother reopening this weekend.

They want the executive to make a decision either way.

Many businesspeople say they will respect whatever answer they get, but are not happy the "constant uncertainty" is making a difficult time worse.

Bill Wolsey, who founded the Beannchor Group which runs high-profile hotels and bars in Belfast, said the process was "an absolute shambles".

Some of his city centre venues posted on Facebook that they would open on Friday if politicians failed to reach an agreement about the restrictions.

There had been confusion about whether restrictions would end on Thursday or Friday at midnight.

However since his statement the BBC has learned that ministers have received revised legal advice that the deadline for the current restrictions on hospitality and close contact businesses is midnight on Friday.

"It appears [politicians] just went into the lockdown and nobody gave any thought to... how we can open," Mr Wolsey told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"So here we are, as happens in Stormont regularly, at the eleventh hour with no decision made.

"What I feel about the politicians is the exact way I feel about track and trace - not fit for purpose.

"They are clowning around [and] can't come to any decision when you consider the amount of people who depend on a decision."

Peter McCleery, who runs a restaurant in Comber, County Down, said the sector needs a clear message from Stormont.

"We don't need an eleventh hour decision as not only do we have staff, we have suppliers who are all waiting with bated breath as well," he said.

"Not trading is difficult but if it's for a greater good we could possibly survive - I'm sure there are businesses out there who will not."

Londonderry café owner Declan Moore was also critical of the executive, saying: "I don't see why they're dithering - it's bizarre.

"It really seems like there's a bit of a political football getting kicked around."

Belfast restauranteur Martin Murphy said he and others in his trade have been "left in limbo".

"There's no way we could open on Friday - regardless of what the executive decides it's still off the table for us," he said.

"We are still paying our staff, we are still paying our bills and it's become a real sense of frustration now.

"We are starting to wonder when we come out the other side of this."

Belfast hairdresser Lynette Murray said she still did not understand why her business was forced to close.

"I would have assumed there would have been some sort of risk assessment but everyone was put in the same category - it's really unfair," she said.

"We are in the position where we don't have the luxury of getting paid if we don't go to work."

She said she applied for grants but has yet to receive any money.

Paddy Burns, a barber from Derry, said he had clients ringing to book an appointment but he could not give them an answer.

"Even if they say we will close us for another fortnight, we would've accepted that," he added.

"I have got to the end of my tether and am dealing with a lot of anxiety."

The Department for the Economy estimated that the past four weeks of restrictions had cost the Northern Ireland economy £400m.