Shops across Kilkenny and Carlow are set to have extended opening hours if Level 5 restrictions are lifted

Local shops are planning to extend their trading hours if they reopen next month.

Level 5 restrictions are due to expire in early December, which would give shoppers just over three weeks to prepare for Christmas.

Marion Acreman is the manager of MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre in Kilkenny, where all non-essential retailers are currently closed.

She says many of their stores are expecting a surge in customers once they’re allowed to reopen, and some have already agreed to longer opening hours as a result;

“We are going to meet what we perceive to be an increased demand during December, so we’ll be open every weekday from 9am until 9pm and we’ll be open Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 8pm to give customers as much opportunity as they need to shop safely” she told KCLR News. “We anticipate that the vast majority of our stores will trade to these hours. We can’t compel them, but we will certainly be encouraging them. Feedback from all of the larger stores is that they will trade these hours.”