A modest but welcome return to normality on the High Street in Northern Ireland

That simple freedom, to travel to a retail outlet and spend as long as you like browsing items and maybe purchasing them, perhaps stopping for coffee or a meal too, will not return to Northern Ireland for quite a while, perhaps even months.

But most non essential shops are open from yesterday, or entitled to open, even though social distancing means that they will not operate in the way that they did before.

On pages 2 and 3 of today’s paper, we report from Belfast and Ballymena after the shop doors reopened.

In Northern Ireland’s capital city, it was a subdued day of trading, perhaps because of the weather or perhaps because people are out of the habit. Some shoppers told our reporter that they had been concerned about long queues.

The disaster in retail, and indeed the wider economy, which in the UK shrank a catastrophic and unprecedented 20% in the month of April, will take a long while to recover. Some shopping habits, such as some work habits, will be changed forever now that consumers have been forced to sample digital alternatives. But there is likely always to be an appetite for personal visits to physical stores.

Much more needs to be done in Northern Ireland. The hospitality sector faces ruin. People need haircuts. Normal church worship is badly missed. Schools and childcare are returning far too slowly.

But yesterday was a welcome step back to the way things used to be on the High Street.

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor