Hairdressers to campaign to stay open if restrictions reintroduced

The Irish Hairdressers Federation (IHF) plans to campaign for hairdressers to remain open if tighter restrictions are reintroduced again in January.

According to IHF president Danielle Kennedy, the organisation will lobby to have its industry excluded from any New Year’s lockdown.

“I think hair salons have proven what a safe industry they are, as 90% of them have been wearing masks since before it was required of them,” she told The Irish Times. “We have proven what a safe environment we operate in. We’re appointment-based so we’re really good at controlling numbers.“If we go into Level 4 we would be pushing for salons to remain open. We will be campaigning for that over the next while and lobbying for it.”

Kennedy also said that following the reopening of salons on 1 December, the majority of them are booked out for the month, with appointments made in advance of the Government go-ahead to move out of Level 5 restrictions.

“December is always our busiest month of the year anyway, but this year we’re down capacity as well so I suppose it will be the case that not everyone will get looked after over the next couple of weeks, so they’ll just have to bear with their salons for possibly a little bit longer.

“Most are doing longer opening hours; generally at Christmas most stylists work extra days. It’s going to be a very busy few weeks but I think we feel much more prepared going into it this time. We’ve been down this road before, we’re prepared for the busy few weeks, we’re very familiar with the health and safety protocol and know how to operate in that very safe manner, very comfortably.”