Covid-19 forced closure says crèche owner

The huge economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced a local childcare provider to close its doors after almost a quarter of century in business.

There were emotional scenes at Little Rascals in Rochfortbridge last Friday when some of the 108 children who were on its books and their parents came to say goodbye to owner Orla Morgan and her staff.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Orla announced that the business started by her mother, Mary Gallagher, 22 years ago and whose premises was built by her father, Sean, would not be reopening on Monday.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner on Friday afternoon, Orla said that it had been an “awfully emotional day” for her, the staff and the families who came to say goodbye and thank you.

“The devastation was unreal here this morning with them all coming. They are all distraught, more so for the staff that I have here.

“There were 12 of us here. We were like a family. We were like glue. It was great.

“Everyone is pure devastated. We had such a relationship with all the families we had here.

“No one is negative towards us in the sense the we left them and high and dry with no childcare. They are devastated at the loss for this community,” she said.

Little Rascals, which cared for children aged between six months and 12 years, has had waiting lists for the last four years and was fully booked for the next two years.

High overheads, the costs associated with ever increasing regulations and what Orla says was a lack of adequate state support meant that the three months without an income during lockdown left her with the difficult decision to close the business set up by her parents.

The closure has left more than 80 families in the Rochfortbridge area with the task of finding a new childcare provider. With many providers across the country having to reduce numbers in line with public health guidelines, many of those parents will struggle to find childcare in the weeks and months ahead.

“I tried my best to help out as many parents as I could. I know from talking to parents this morning that there is a good percentage that have nowhere to go. They even tried as far away as Mullingar but there is nowhere for the kids to go now.”

Since the announcement on social media last week, tributes have poured in for Orla and her staff.

Given the importance of the childcare sector to the reopening of the wider economy, Orla says more should have been done to ensure businesses like her were in a position to get going again.

“It has a huge knock-on effect even in relation to taxpayers. No parent can work if their children aren’t minded, then workplaces are affected and they could end up closing.

“It’s just unreal. I never thought I’d be in this position and it’s just devastating.

“I am just disgusted that there has been nothing done for childcare. It’s not only the 82 families – the whole community has been affected.

“Plus there’s 12 of us, with our own mortgages and kids. It’s just unbelievable,” Orla said.