Bonds between business and customers in Tipperary strengthened during Covid

Martin O’Connor met up with four local business people to hear their stories about trading during lockdowns and after reopening

While the county of Tipperary – like every other county – has suffered much over the past nearly two years, there is evidence to suggest also that there have been some benefits for our communities.
While health, financial, family and personal challenges have been huge and many have also lost loved ones in extremely harrowing situations, it appears that the pandemic has also greatly stimulated community togetherness, loyalty, pride and indeed optimism for the future. It has highlighted and reminded us of the basic human decency and care that has always been around us and encouraged us to mind and nurture it going forward.
Small businesses in our towns and villages have always been an essential local heartbeat, often for generations, irrevocably linked to and inseparable from the communities they serve.
I went out within striking distance from my home in Dundrum, Tipperary, to speak to local businesses on their community experiences, observations and reflections during the pandemic.
What were their realisations? Is there now an increased awareness of their role in society? Could they see positives coming out of a very tough experience?
Daverns clothing store in Cashel has been a local landmark for nearly 100 years. Founded by Mary Davern in 1926, it is a business hugely proud of its heritage; for generations it has clothed people not just from the local area but from around Ireland and indeed, around the world.
Mary’s grandson and owner of the business, Raymie Davern, said: “While we were closed for large periods of time we still had to be there for those in real need. I understood totally why we had to close - as did many of my other business colleagues - but it only heightened the ethos of ‘ok this is here, we are closed but right now who can help who?’. One such group of customers were those arranging and preparing for the funerals of loved ones. And this was something they had to do with the restrictions adding to what was already a very difficult time.
“We saw people at their most vulnerable, we were taking care of them at such a stressful and very ‘unnatural’ time. Many hadn’t got to see relatives before they died and were now faced with funerals with only a few people in attendance.
“In such situations when we come together, you can’t fail to really see the strength of the community you live in and in turn for those existing bonds to be strengthened further. I really feel it prepares us well for the future and other things that life and nature may bring our way.
“There has been great sadness for many and a huge challenge for all, but it has taught a lot of people to really appreciate what they have in their community and to commit to it
“The young workers in my business and others in town were also exemplary. There has been some pillorying of the younger generation, but all the young workers were so keen to return to work when possible when for some they may have been financially better off in receipt of Government subsidies. That sticks in my mind also and bodes well for the future.”
While Raymie was able to open some of the time, one business that was at the frontline and operating with extended opening hours of 8am-8pm everyday throughout the entire pandemic was O’Brien’s Pharmacy in Cahir. A business in a highly pressurised situation which was dealing with 500 customers a day and thousands of people relied on the business for essential support, service and during the pandemic, a massive increase in the need for public health advice.
Dermot O’Brien says: “At first people didn’t really know much and there was a great deal of fear – even the new language could be alarming to many; ‘cocooning’, ‘social distancing’, ‘quarantine’ etc were all new to people. But as advice began to be issued by the Government on a regular basis we immediately became a key point of information for thousands, so we quickly had to learn ourselves.
“It does make you realise the huge responsibility you have and that awareness also brings you even closer to your community. We were involved in the vaccine programme for care homes. To be involved in that, to see that the most vulnerable were being helped, we knew things were starting to change for the better.
“It was a great source of happiness to all of us here.”
Dermot also gives great credit to his colleagues, GPs and the Government for just how quickly they could change the old way of doing things in order to relieve pressure on the system and the patients
He says: “Previous regulations didn’t allow for the electronic transfer of prescriptions from a GP to a pharmacy but in such a difficult time with Covid ever present, those same regulations were changed virtually overnight. It has completely revolutionised the system, reduced errors and with computer and video communications now allowed, has made the local GP far more accessible to their patients.
“Because of this accessibility, because of the advice we offered, a recent poll shows that pharmacists have become the most trusted profession, along then with nurses and doctors. We have become even more embedded than ever in our local community.
“ Our delivery people were far more than deliverers of medications, they were often the customers’ only human contact in very stressful times. I am very proud of all my staff who put the customer and the shop first, ceased all social contacts and followed all the guidelines; their dedication to their community was tangible
“Working so closely with our community in very troubled times has not only increased this embedding but has inspired a mutual loyalty that will remain.”
At the other end of the scale from Dermot’s business were pubs which were closed for the majority of the pandemic. Pubs in Ireland are a community hub and to have this suddenly taken away, while necessary at times, had a significant impact on both the businesses and their customers.
Billy Foley’s Bar in Cashel is a well-established town pub founded by the late Billy Foley in 1974. Prior to this it had also been a pub for over 200 years.
A popular meeting place for the people of Cashel, particularly for sporting events and family occasions, the pub went from a thriving, bustling “home from home” to being fully closed in a matter of hours.
Seamus Foley, Billy’s son and owner of the business, said: “It was an incredibly difficult time for us along with every other pub in the country. Outside of any financial considerations – and while the Government gave great support – we lost our reason to be. We are completely immersed in the community and our role is to offer a safe, clean and enjoyable environment for friends and families to meet and socialise in. We lost that overnight and it really was quite destabilising.
“But it also taught me a lot about not only myself and my role here but my community, my town.
“Myself and my family were inundated with support from people expressing their concern and saying they are there for us if anything is needed. Not financial, but expressions of concern, care and loyalty. I could not walk down the street, even on a quick errand, without being stopped by many people who wanted to chat, see how myself and my family were, and remind me that they were not only going to be there when things returned to normal, but asked about anything they could do in the now.
“Many times these were people who wouldn’t even be regular customers.
“It gave me great pride in my business and my family and our reputations – it gave me great pride in the people of Cashel and for me to be part of such a tight community.
“I will never forget that. It gives me great optimism for the future.”
Like pharmacies, our local supermarkets and convenience stores were another group of businesses to remain open throughout the pandemic.
The critical role that smaller, local shops play in our communities – obvious but understated in normal times – not only came to the fore but often, and literally, came to the rescue.
Butler’s Centra in Dundrum was such a store.
Operating in the small but busy village, its owner, DJ Butler became very much a focal point of local efforts, particularly in the early days of the pandemic when such a new way of life was not only so unusual but also incredibly frightening for many.
The Dundrum shopkeeper said: “As a shop that has remained open every day during Covid-19, myself and my staff have seen and experienced many new things and many challenges…I wouldn’t know where to start to tell all the examples.
“However, my main observation regarding the community is that I witnessed a spread of support into a more regional and genuine culture of care.”
Ireland is a sporting nation and Tipperary, like all counties, has huge rivalry between neighbouring towns, villages and parishes – particularly in GAA. It has always been a rivalry that is intense and one that goes back many many generations. They are passionate rivalries.
But, according to DJ, as soon as it became clear that this situation was serious and people - particularly the elderly and the vulnerable - were isolated and scared - local GAA clubs contacted him, they made plans and sprang into action.
DJ says: “Our local club, Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams along with the fiercest of rivals such as Clonoulty/Rossmore and Eire Og Annacarty were simply fantastic – almost becoming a ‘superclub’ in order to not just support and protect their own immediate families and community but to offer that help to areas way outside of what would be considered local for them.
“They worked tirelessly to help get essential provisions safely and quickly to where they were needed.
“And at the beginning of the pandemic, this was a daunting task. This was all new, people were terrified, lonely and not knowing what was going to happen next. People were fearful of even someone coming to the door. People had to be reassured and the ordering, packing and the delivery process and use of reliable PPE had to be 100% spot on. They had to feel secure, comforted; we weren’t just delivering provisions, we were delivering hope.
“I have nothing but huge respect for all of the clubs and their people. That’s a big memory for me and it is something I believe that has created an additional bond in the region. But we’ll keep the sports rivalry!”
Michelle Aylward as CEO of the County Tipperary Chamber, along with her colleagues, got to see at first hand the challenges that local businesses faced as well as how support spread around the county.

Michelle says: “The Chamber is a community and right from the start the approach from us and members alike was ‘how can we help each other and if I can’t help then who do I know who can? We’ll rally together and we’ll come through this together. ”
She cites the example of small stores that traditionally would not have had an online sales or distribution capability.
“One of our members designed and implemented a training programme for any other member who would have been deemed non essential, could not open their doors, but did not have the systems or processes to offer online retail services.
“This training was offered for free and as a result many many companies were able to remain trading and to distribute not just in Tipperary but countrywide and indeed further.
“In addition many of our members could enter our Skillnet training programme which allowed companies availing of the EWSS to use the time to upskill their employees for when the time came to return to full employment. This was not only great for businesses and their long term development but also for the well being and health of the employees.
“It’s a great example of showing what cooperation under pressure can achieve. The Government were phenomenal in their support which gave us and business members, the opportunity to achieve great results through training
“People’s well-being became more important than ever and our courses also allowed member companies to increase their ability to mind their staff in difficult situations.
“It was - and is - all about everybody coming together. It’s the only way we could do it.”
The past two years have been traumatic, emotional and challenging for everyone in Ireland and there is no escaping the tragedies and despair that has unfolded.
That can never be forgotten nor should it. I know that every St Brigid’s day my thoughts will be with those who suffered as well as those who were saved.

It may be a long road back for many small businesses but I believe there is room for us all - amidst the pain - to look back with great pride on our behaviours and achievements and for communities to look forward to the future with a sense of optimism.
I believe that many in Tipperary and across the whole of Ireland may have just added an extra layer of strength - a new strand of DNA - to the bonds of loyalty and care that have been created by our ancestors over many centuries and are ingrained in Irish culture and character.

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