'The unknown is the hardest part'

A local business owner has spoken about the difficulties of running a business one year on since the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Martin Ward, owner of Na Fianna Martial Arts and Fitness Centre which has been closed since March last, says that overall the year has been very challenging. Martin froze all memberships at the start of the first lockdown, did not receive an income for 16 weeks and used his savings to cover the costs of the damage caused by the pandemic.

“At the time I didn’t think it was going to be so long,” he explains. “But I knew that it was a difficult time for everybody.

“Unfortunately, my rent wasn’t frozen and I still had to pay bills for the centre. I have a management system that sends emails to members and keeps records, and a swipe-in system that I pay a monthly subscription to, and all my payments go through the bank, so when the pandemic hit I couldn’t freeze everything going out.”

While Martin says his centre will open again, there are similar clubs and businesses across the country that have decided to close.

“There’s not many clubs that have kept going for the whole year. I continued my programme as normal, which was difficult and required self-discipline. That will pay-off when things open up again, but there’s a few clubs that won’t be opening back up which is sad to see. I like to see all other martial arts clubs doing well, but some have said they’re not opening back up and have sold their equipment.

There are also difficulties with planning for the future.

“I love what I do and I don’t care if I have to teach martial arts on the football pitch, I will. But if we knew what was going to happen we could all plan better and have structures in place to reopen.

“Back in December, people were closing up for Christmas and government announcements were made with no time to plan for anything. I had memberships set at the time, and even if I had a few more days I could have changed my plans.

“If the government knows we’re going to be allowed to do outdoor fitness next month, say, then they need to tell us now. Telling us a few days before we can do it will just leave business owners and gyms and martial arts clubs across the country panicking to get things ready. The unknown is the hardest part, and that’s not fair.”

The effects of the pandemic have also shown themselves on the club’s members.

“Children need that social connection and there’s really only so much you can do sitting at a screen. They are on their screens at home for school, talking to their friends and they’re doing their activities online.

“Even in the last couple of months parents have rang me about how their children have changed. I’ve had to give private lessons to teenagers to get their motivation back or to reduce their aggression. Teenage years are hard as it is, but it’s harder now for them to focus and see past lockdown at the moment.”

Martin is hoping for outdoor fitness to be permitted next month.

“Hopefully we can open our doors for the summer then, and our schedule and class sizes can get back to as normal as possible,” he finished.