Retailers around the country are preparing to reopen their shops again on Tuesday, after one of the toughest trading years in history.
New campaigns to promote local trade have been launched in three midlands counties, where over 5,000 jobs are reliant on the retail sector.
The shutters have been down for months but the business people in Navan and other towns in the north-east have been preparing for reopening.
CEO of County Meath Chamber Paula McConn says a new prepaid chip and pin card offer for shopping in the county is on the way in 2021 and the chamber is appealing to people to shop local when the shops reopen on Tuesday.
During the closure period, students in the Community College in Roscommon Town used their time to produce a new digital art exhibition, focussing on messages and images that would inspire people to shop in their own local community.
They then marched from the school to every shop in the town to present their work for display in the shop windows and the stores, a boost badly needed for trade there according to Caitlin McConn secretary of the Roscommon Chamber.
Ms McConn says the theme of the "walking" exhibition was shopping local together and it was heartening to see the young students coming out and backing the shop owners.
Art teacher Serena Slevin-Joyce says the campaign was the natural response from the students and the school to what has happened.
Normally, she says, the school would be asking the local business community to help sponsor the cost of hosting their annual exhibitions so this time, after the year they experienced in trade because of Covid-19, it was only right for the school and the students to give something back through the exhibition.
Although the local retail trade may be reopening in three days time, some shops will remain closed, permanent victims of the Covid 19 economic crisis, but in Athlone, even the empty shop units are being used to portray a more positive message, that better days are ahead.
Community worker Gerard Tiernan is behind a campaign to give a better vibe to the town, even in locations where there are empty shop units.
He said: "We decided we would have special images and messages painted on the windows of these empty shops," Mr Tiernan said, "so that we could try and still strike a chord with people who were passing by and spread a positive message about the future."
The result is a collection of beautiful seasonal images, each placed beside a message of goodwill and hope for the season that's now on the way.
Mr Tiernan said: "We hope it gives a really clear message that there is always hope."
