It is time to reopen garden centres in Northern Ireland

If gradually one specific restriction after another is lifted, then a general laxity emerges in the public and people might be less likely to adhere to lockdown overall.

Already there is much more traffic on the roads and a generally more relaxed atmosphere. It has been apparent locally and across the UK. Often, for example, a heart warming story about someone celebrating a major birthday or special event is televised with people standing around.

Are all of them neighbours? And if some of them are friends and relatives, but not neighbours, and if they have travelled to the event, then on what basis is this essential? Why can we not all make such journeys to loved ones and then stand at a distance?

These are difficult decisions with which governments around the world are grappling.

But however difficult they are, they must continue to be examined and reviewed and, where possible, relaxed. Boris Johnson’s government for example is encouraging people to go to work but talking about increasing fines for breaches of ongoing rules. This is an attempt to ensure that relaxation in one sphere of life does not mean ignoring the law in another.

The argument for opening cemeteries was compelling, and was ultimately granted, and the case for opening churches for small groups or individual visits is too, as Canon Ian Ellis explains opposite.

Garden centres should also now reopen as DIY stores have been able to do. They are not a luxury: they are a social benefit, connecting people with nature and providing simple joy.

Yet peak season is already half over for these centres.

When they open, they will have to observe social distancing and controlled movement. But like churches and cemeteries, garden centres are not known for attracting young people who engage in anti social or unruly behaviour.