A well-known Dublin salon owner has lifted the lid on when he thinks hairdressers will open again while also spilling the beans on 'black market barbers'.
Dylan Bradshaw is resigned to the fact that barbers and hairdressers will not reopen until mid-April at least.
But the popular hair stylist bemoaned the fact that back-street haircuts are booming - while struggling businesses in the cut-throat industry comply with rules designed to save lives.
Speaking after Leo Varadkar's shock announcement that hairdressers and beauticians would return "way later" than March 5, Bradshaw said the delay did not come as a surprise.
He told Newstalk: "I think as an industry we’ve proven ourselves a very health-conscious environment for people to come and get their hair done and their services provided.
"Give us the environment we can control, and we can take care of business and the client. It’s as simple as that."
He added that the industry is on its knees but while it
dyes
dies, other businesses are profiting by ignoring rules.
He said: "We’re talking about mid-April, if we’re lucky, to get reopen… we closed in late March last year, and we’ve been open four-and-a-half months over that period.
"We have outstanding bills, and we run a large operation ourselves.
“Let’s call it out honestly: the reason why the numbers blew up is because people were mixing socially… it wasn’t because hair salons and businesses didn’t take responsibility for what they were doing."
