The part Kenny show on news talk with Marter private network during current restrictions. Don't ignore your health concerns. Our expert team is ready to help. Well, our reporters have been out and about you may have heard a beauty salon in Balbriggan has opened its doors this morning despite level five restrictions. S.A.M. Beauty is completely booked out for today and tomorrow. And our reporter Casey Jordan met with the owner, Christine McTiernan.

Good morning, Casey. Good morning, Pat.

Now, just describe the salon to me. Where is it? Is it easily accessible? Is it on the main street or where is it? And how busy was it?

Yes, I've seen DBE or Scient and Beauty Rooms is our Dobens Street at Balbriggan, which is pretty much the main street. It's very visible, has a big shop front, lovely, kind of well painted, you know, very accessible. And I suppose this morning they opened their doors. And if you were to walk by, you might notice two new signs that are in the window that weren't there yesterday. One says marks to people in the salon.

And the other is a statement which outlines that they've reopened, but they have a right to earn a living and that they're pushing the guard on notice that they are exercising their rights, which they say the guards have sworn to to uphold. And Christine McTiernan is the owner and she read out the statement this morning as she opened up her salon.

I find it absolutely necessary for me to open my business, both for our benefit, for the common good. I accept and acknowledge the Constitution, recognises all my rights, including the right to earn a living, providing for my family. I need to earn a living to pay for my bills in order to provide our mental and physical health and well-being.

I'm sure a lot of people running small businesses would try to echo those sentiments, as expressed there by Christine MacTiernan. What else does she have to say?

Well, you know, her attitude is, is that she simply can't go on much longer. She's been in the town for six years and she says that she kind of really struggling at the moment. And she kept mentioning how her bills are just piling up. And, you know, I asked her she spoke to me briefly after she read this statement and I asked her what she how she feels about maybe other salons that are closed that don't approve of what she's doing.

And and I suppose what she had to say and we can hear we can hear her explanation now is that she simply needs to do this for herself and for her family.

I take a stand on my behalf. This is for me. I have to do what I have to do to pay my bills. And that's what's important to me. I have to put food on the table. I have to pay my rent. I have all my bills have to be paid. You know, this is what's happening. Doesn't stop my bills coming, so I have to pay them. So I guess it is purely for survival. I'm doing this.

So, Casey, any sign of the Garthe because this was well flagged that this was going to happen? Yeah.

And, you know, I spoke to Christine on Sunday before travelling here, and she told me that while she has huge support visible on her social media, where she announced she was going to reopen, she also had got comments from people saying that they've already reported her to the guard. So really, I was expecting to see the guard here first thing. But, you know, I've seen clients go in to get my nails done and I've seen no guard.

I'm just out of out of the shops all along at the moment as we speak. So perhaps they have arrived in the last couple of minutes. But, you know, she's been open the gates of an hour now and the guards haven't called in.

Yeah, it's an interesting dilemma faced by the guard. They don't want to offer the photo ops of the heavy hand. But equally for the government, if one shop does it, why wouldn't everybody do it as some of the techs coming in fair play to that woman as she's opened up her business? More people need to do this. The government can't keep putting us in lockdown. Businesses are dying. People can't go on like this anymore. We're all going crazy.

Businesses may be dying, but people are dying to must remember that. So that's the balance that has to be struck. Tech's coming in from people working in ICU and they are really annoyed to hear about this shop opening because they feel it's a betrayal of their efforts in ICU.

If anyone opened like that salon, if everyone opened like that salon and Balbriggan covid will rise again. So people are maybe slightly sympathetic to Christine's dilemma, but not approving of her action. That seems to be the thing.

Casey, thank you very much for joining us.