Una Mullally: Time for a radical outdoor plan so business can survive

Last week, the most urgent argument made by politicians, particularly Leo Varadkar, regarding avoiding a Level-5 lockdown was the business case.

That tens – and probably hundreds – of thousands of people could lose their jobs overnight (some for the second or third time this year), and that a lot of hospitality and retail would be dealing with potentially a final blow, was an overwhelming scenario.

Those cone heads in the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) would never have to deal with being on the pandemic unemployment payment, captain of industry Varadkar declared. Neither would he for that matter, but hey. The Government is probably also realising that dismantling of supports needed to survive lockdowns was very premature, and has made us collectively less resilient.

The business case is a massive one – maybe not one that can be prioritised over public health, but we are talking about people’s livelihoods here. Supporting businesses is something that politicians love talking about.

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Let's make a radical outdoor plan so that restaurants, cafes and pubs can survive

It’s the “squeezed middle” stereotype in economic terms, and something that feels tangible, unlike our better-than-performing gross domestic product GDP – a useless metric orientated around the fortunes of global capital and multinationals – even if ultimately few politicians actually have any experience or practical knowledge of running a business.

Few of them ever venture so far into the economic woods as to take the risk or have the creativity to start a business themselves, but they get the ego part of the entrepreneurial spirit, the misinterpreted quality of backing oneself.

So let’s actually support local businesses then. Where’s the plan to do that? With politicians placing Irish business to the fore, recognising at least rhetorically that it needs to be protected as a priority, what happens next? Presumably, in this spirit, the Government is preparing a massive national campaign to create an unprecedented all-Ireland effort to support local businesses.

Representative bodies, such as the Restaurants Association of Ireland, are unfortunately running out of road in terms of how often they can reiterate how dire things are. With every repetition of that sentiment, its impact is diluted. We need a Christmas plan that works.

Outdoor seating

We need to look at one of the positive and proactive principles of effecting change and get those who can facilitate the conditions for change to act: what’s working well, and where, and how can we do more of that?

We know, for example, that giving over path space, road space and car-parking spaces to cafes, pubs that serve food and restaurants is incredibly helpful.

We need to do more of that, and we need to do it in vast swathes. It is not enough, for example, to have a handful of streets with some outdoor seating and umbrellas. This nonsense that Ireland is somehow uniquely unable to accommodate outdoor dining because it rains a bit and there is some wind and a chill is ridiculous.

Do not buy books from Amazon. Buy them from a local, independent bookshop instead

We have exceptionally mild winters compared to so many of our European neighbours. Let’s make a radical outdoor plan so that restaurants, cafes and pubs can survive.

We need to focus the public’s mind on how they spend and use that spending to help local businesses. I’m not talking about consumerism for consumerism’s sake, but buying and spending that is intentional, directional, useful and considered. What we need to get our heads around is that it’s not about encouraging people to spend more, it’s about encouraging people to spend strategically.

You don’t have to spend a lot, you just have to spend in specific places: local, independent businesses that directly benefit the Irish economy and therefore the people in Ireland.

Many retail and hospitality businesses make a huge percentage of their money in the five weeks running up to Christmas. The huge revenue stream of Christmas parties – large corporate ones,  medium-sized office ones, small business ones, and friend and family ones – is gone.

Irish goods

We need a large and impactful national campaign that directs people to local businesses. If Government really cares about places surviving, it needs to get on top of this now. A hashtag won’t be enough. I’ve yet to see any Government messaging related to this cut through properly, so perhaps it will be left up to us as individuals and communities.

So what can you do? If you are in a position to choose where you shop, then do it. Talk to friends and colleagues and family members about what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and why. Even making one simple rule and sticking to it makes a huge difference if it’s done en masse. The obvious one is not buying books (or anything else for that matter) on the local-choking toxic soup that is Amazon. Buy them from a local, independent bookshop instead, or an Irish company.

Look at the chain of impact of your consumption, and how consciously gravitating towards particular goods may not only benefit a specific local retailer, but also the supplier or maker. When you buy an Irish record by an Irish or Irish-based artist from an Irish shop, you’re not just putting money in the record store till, you’re supporting an artist, their ecosystem and an industry.

The same goes for anything that’s produced here, from literary magazines to books, visual art to jewellery to furniture, clothing to crafts, home furnishings and homeware to instruments and fashion.

Outdoor markets, outdoor dining, smart queuing systems and an overwhelming focus on local needs to kick in now, and we need to avoid what would be a disastrous late-November or December lockdown, or those shutters will be coming down, and staying down.