Navan Town Centre chief says they'll be ready for Penneys reopening on 17th May

The manager of Navan Town Centre expects the 17th May when non-essential retail reopens to be "demanding" but manageable having dealt with two previous re-openings after lockdown.

Pat Mullaney was responding to images emerging from Belfast with massive queues outside Primark Stores as retail opened up across the North today.

Large lines outside Penneys which has a large branch in Navan are expected by Mullaney who believes they'll be able to manage all scenarios with plenty of staff on hand to assist with safe re-opening.

"I think it was in June of last year after the first lockdown where we had queues right down the mall and out the door for Penneys but we were able to cope with it quite well.

"Similar on 1st December when we had extended queues. And again, Penneys were very proactive in managing their queues as were all the shops and retailers. And we were able to accommodate any demands that we had so we vere very lucky.

Reacting to the Government news retail was returning and shutters on many of the businesses in the Town Centre would be finally thrown open, Mr Mullaney was understandably delighted.

"It's terrific news. I suppose the crucial thing and hope for all of us is that we will have this reopening and it will be the last one and we're not going to go back to the days of having to close again.

"I think Government are taking a fairly pragmatic and sensible approach. I think 17th May will be demanding, and we'll be ready for it. We'll have plenty of staff on duty to assist our customers to maintain a social distance as best as possible."