Cutting it fine on the Border line

MOVE Barber set ups in the North to serve her customers

An entrepreneurial Ballyconnell-based barber has temporarily moved her business a kilometre out the road to County Fermanagh to cater for her customers.

Sharon Drumm of 'The Barber Shop' made the bold move to take advantage of less stringent Covid regulations in the North, which saw barbers and hairdressers reopen last Friday. No opening date for such personal service businesses has been confirmed for the Republic as of yet.

Sharon's customers have responded with enthusiasm. When the Celt called last Saturday, Sharon and her colleague Kate Dermody were in the process of completing two haircuts for Ballyconnell lads.

While the doors remained firmly locked on her premises in Ballyconnell town, Sharon's clippers were humming around the head of Cian Donohoe just a stone's throw across the Border.

Sharon has temporarily relocated her business to a bright, spacious room, adjacent to the expansive Mountain Road Garage premises along the Ballyconnell to Derrylin Road.

"I set up here on last Friday, the day that the North was allowed to open again. It has been very busy since. I am getting customers from North and South – most of the customers are from Ballyconnell," revealed Sharon.

"We have been off now for some four months – the last time we cut hair was Christmas Eve. It’s just that you can’t cut hair in the South and then you can come 100 yards down the road and get hair cut," she said.

Cian said he was "delighted" to get his hair cut as he hadn't it done since before Christmas. He agreed with a smile that his friends would not know him when he returned to Ballyconnell with his new hair cut.

The other customer, Thomas, was another satisfied customer.

"If we hadn’t opened up here, you would have nothing to go back to. They [customers] would have gone up the North. There are two barber shops in Derrylin, so it is only six mile down the road," said Sharon of her decision to relocate.