An Enniskillen hairdresser says he has seen an 'influx' of bookings from the Republic ahead of his salon reopening this week.
From Friday, hairdressers, barbers, beauty salons and other personal services in Northern Ireland will be able to reopen again after months of lockdown.
Such businesses remain closed in the Republic for now, with the Government confident they'll likely be allowed reopen at some stage in May.
In the meantime, some people from southern border counties have been looking to secure a booking in the North.
Daniel McRossen - the owner of Daniel Anthony's hairdressers in Enniskillen - told Lunchtime Live his salon would always have customers from nearby Cavan and Donegal, and in some cases from as far away as Sligo.
He explained: "In the last three-four weeks, we’ve had more of an influx.
“I would say maybe around 20% of our clientele would be from the south... quite a few of them are existing clients.
“There’s been maybe an extra 5% or so maybe in the last couple of weeks… new clientele looking to get in. It’s very hard to accommodate everybody.”
Ahead of reopening, Daniel said his salon already has "quite a waiting list... we're pretty much booked up until mid-May".
They're working to accommodate as many people as possible, even bringing in extra stylists to meet the demand.
The salon will have health & safety measures such as mask-wearing, hand sanitisation and temperature checks in place once they reopen.
However, Daniel added it would be a 'bit unfair' to question people about how far they'd travelled to attend their appointment.
Nail salons
Nail salons in the North are also set to reopen, and some are seeing such huge demand they're not able to take bookings from any new customers.
Orla from So Gel Nails in Derry told Andrea: “I’m looking forward to it, but it is a bit overwhelming too.
“I have only been able to manage my existing customers. That would be around 10% from the south - they’d be cross-border workers.
“We’re so close to the south… it wouldn’t even be four minutes from my salon before you’re over the border.
“I haven’t noticed anyone outside of that ringing from the North.”
That was echoed by Shirley from Temple Beauty in Belleek, another salon that's just a short hop from the border.
She said: "I’d have a good amount of people from Donegal and Leitrim anyway. There have been people making appointments - they’re all clients.
"At the moment, I haven't found anyone who isn't a client looking for an appointment.
"I can only accommodate my own clients, anyway, and I've been telling people that."
When it comes to concerns over COVID-19, Shirley said businesses such as hers will be relying on people to 'not be stupid' - trusting that they won't attend an appointment if they have symptoms.
