The craft sector in Ireland employs thousands of people, many of them sole traders or small-scale employers, often providing employment in rural locations. While all of Ireland’s craft businesses may not be registered with the Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI), the council has some 2,620 registered professional enterprises listed as members, 70 per cent of which are sole traders and 80 per cent of which are located outside Dublin.

With his wife Sadie Chowen, Ralph Doyle is the co-owner The Burren Perfumery, an award-winning craft business that specialises in natural and organic perfumes, cosmetics and soaps – all made and sold onsite in Carron, Co Clare. Seven full-time members of staff at The Burren Perfumery have been retained under the Temporary Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme during lockdown and Doyle says that the government’s financial intervention helped stabilise the situation, allowing “everyone to make rational decisions”.

“We went quickly from a situation where our staff were comfortable having people around to a situation where Irish people were very aware of what was happening but we still had tourists visiting who wanted handshakes and hugs – it is very hard to manage that situation without appearing rude so we knew we would have to close,” he says.

Online sales of soaps and hand creams grew exponentially during the lockdown. “We had a lot of people buying gifts for others and themselves and a lot of older people asking for help with ordering online for the first time. Of the increase in online sales, there has been a disproportionate surge in Irish customers online – so I think there is a loyalty there,” he says.

Doyle says that theoretically, The Burren Perfumery could have opened their shop on Monday, June 8. However, they also run tearooms and gardens which are visited by between 70,000 and 80,000 visitors per year. “People come for the whole experience so we are going to open the tearooms on a limited basis during June hopefully,” he says.

“People visit both the cafe and shop with that making up some 70 per cent of overall turnover combined. Reopening is important for brand presence and our place is a little oasis in the Burren,” says Doyle. “On the one hand I think there is a lot of pent-up demand but, at the same time, people may be cautious about where they are willing to go. I don’t know whether we will break even or not but as long as we’re not haemorrhaging money we will be here.”

Doyle admits that there is a challenge for companies in terms of taking staff back on who are currently on the pandemic unemployment payment if there is no consumer demand. However, he remains optimistic. “Our feeling is that there will be a rapid and good-natured return to normality,” he says. “Irish people are very adaptable, and we look forward to negotiating the new landscape with our customers and staff safely but also optimistically.”

“It has never been more important to support local businesses and jobs.”

Marian O’Gorman

Some 72 per cent of the product the Kilkenny Group sells is made or designed in Ireland. With 17 stores and five restaurants across Ireland, Kilkenny CEO Marian O’Gorman says that the business has been badly hit by Covid-19 restrictions and any increased demand online cannot make up for the shortfall presented by Kilkenny shops and restaurants being closed since March 16. 

“We are in close contact with our 300-plus designers and makers, and similar to ourselves, they have been significantly impacted by the pandemic,” says O’Gorman. “As some of them don’t have an online presence they are delighted to be stocked on our website kilkennyshop.com.”

Kilkenny sites at Inch Beach in Kerry, Nassau Street in Dublin and in Kilkenny city have begun serving coffee and food to go. Smaller shops have now reopened, and the majority of Kilkenny sites will reopen from June 15. O’Gorman believes customers will opt for Irish-made goods when stores reopen, having seen a 360 per cent increase in demand for specifically Irish goods online during the lockdown.

“We plan to build on last year’s ‘Green Friday’ campaign with a new campaign which will launch as businesses emerge from lockdown. It has never been more important to support local businesses and jobs,” says O’Gorman. 

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In Sligo, Martina Hamilton is a jewellery designer, gallery curator and craft retailer at The Cat & The Moon where she sells a range of products including jewellery, soft furnishings, pottery and gifts such as candles. Just as customers trust the Kilkenny edit of craft, so too do Hamilton’s customers at The Cat & The Moon.

“There is a strong loyalty for brands within brands – if someone comes into my store they may buy something from the Martina Hamilton collection or they might buy something in-store from one of the other brands,” she says.

“There is a loyalty for buying local and anything with meaning has been popular online which works in favour for some makers better than others. People are still buying gifts for important occasions and there is a lot of sentiment around. Our online sales are three times busier than is usual for this time of year however those sales do not replace our in-store sales.”

Hamilton retained 13 staff members through the Temporary Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme. Hamilton and her husband have been working hard to reopen her shop in time for June 8 – changing the layout and installing plastic screens; she also has a sink in-store for those wishing to try on jewellery. Her shop and gallery is popular with local people as well as international tourists and those touring the area by car from north and south of the border.

“There is still uncertainty that will be there for some time. In comparison to the last financial crash, we have not overstretched ourselves and our region never really bounced back after the last recession the way other urban areas did. We are hoping for strong sales in the run-up to Christmas and have introduced click and collect and gift vouchers to our website,” she says.

Brian McGee, Market Development Director of DCCI, agrees that the pandemic has created an increased awareness of shopping local. He stresses that the key to capitalising on this is for craft businesses to have a strong digital presence – something that DCCI, the Local Enterprise Offices and the Irish Domain Registry help craft businesses with via their Optimise programme.

Claire Buckley, Managing Director of the Buck & Hound PR agency, agrees.

“The brands and craftspeople that have continued to thrive in lockdown all seem to have the same winning combination: a loyal customer base, robust e-commerce and engaged social media,” she says.

“They recognised immediately that they needed to play to their strengths and rapidly pivoted, putting simple logistics in place to ensure a professional online retail experience and prompt shipping, all supported by beautiful social content. It’s worth noting that it’s not too late for others to do the same even as restrictions ease.”

McGee says that one of the major challenges for Ireland’s craft sector is the hiatus in the export drive as a result of the pandemic. “There are no stores buying from a distance at the moment, there are no trade fairs on and it’s unclear how the autumn will go in relation to trade fairs and then that leads into next year. I think things will become clearer, but at the moment it’s a bit of an unknown how things will play out over the coming months,” he says.

“A lot of craft sales leave Ireland in a suitcase”

The second challenge is tourism – a sector upon which craft in Ireland heavily relies. Last year Ireland had over 11 million overseas visitors, this year the inbound numbers will be very low. “A lot of craft sales leave Ireland in a suitcase – our Design Ireland store in Dublin Airport is an example of that too,” says McGee. “The advantage is that the Irish consumer will be travelling within Ireland in August so there is an opportunity there for craft businesses.”

Another significant issue for craftspeople at the moment is the problem of cancelled orders where the stock has already been produced, and where stock is locked up in closed stores awaiting sale. However, there is an advantage in the fact that much Irish craft product is not rigidly seasonal. The current political and social situation in the United States may also prove problematic for Irish brands as it is not an atmosphere conducive to US buyers buying in stock from abroad.

“At Showcase in January there was a great response from excellent American buyers but it will be interesting to see how they will react now,” says McGee. “We are hopeful that the Irish consumer will respond to the work that’s being done by makers and designers to bring Irish craft to them,” says McGee. “A high proportion of craft is bought as gifts. People don’t stop buying gifts and I think people are now craving meaningful gifts more than ever. Many Irish craft brands have something that the consumer really wants to identify with and that is where the opportunity lies.”

Ann Chapman is a jewellery designer and the owner of Stonechat Jewellers, where she employs six other members of staff. Chapman has used the Temporary Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme to continue to employ all staff members during the lockdown.

Because Chapman’s Stonechat store is located in Dublin’s Westbury Mall, which has been designated a shopping centre, she will reopen on Monday, June 15.  Chapman welcomes the decision to bring forward shopping centre reopening, stating: “Before the announcement of a further easing of restrictions, a three-storey department store would have been able to open but a small ground-floor shopping centre could not – in my opinion, if you are following the protocol you should be allowed to open.”

While Stonechat’s online sales have been booming, these sales cannot make up for the loss of the bespoke custom that is the backbone of Chapman’s business. “Wedding rings alone are 15 per cent of turnover – people will still get engaged this year but not many will get married,” she says. “Bespoke consultations are a major part of our business so we are working out new ways to take bespoke orders. We will have all the right procedures in place, but I don’t think we can go back to doing an hour-long consultation with customers as we did in the past.”

In the weeks running up to lockdown, Chapman had expanded her premises – the builders downing tools just four hours before Leo Varadkar announced lockdown measures. She says you couldn’t make the timing up in terms of immediate return on investment, however the now 100 sq metre premises will allow her staff to work at a safe distance from each other.

“There is a lot of talk about how there is surplus money in the economy as many people have not lost their jobs and have not been spending during lockdown. The initial disparity between which stores could reopen and which couldn’t was very frustrating and a huge source of stress for many business owners,” says Chapman.

“I’m delighted we can now get back to our newly refurbished store on June 15.  One positive outcome from the pandemic is that the public will see how important it is to buy Irish and support small makers, both of which will hopefully play to our advantage.”