Irish Examiner view: Shoes trip-up reveals lack of planning

A review of ‘non-essential’ retail would not take place until May, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said in the morning. By lunchtime, that had changed. Then the Taoiseach gave yet another version

Taoiseach Micheál Martin clarified that shoe shops would be open but by appointment only. New guidelines would follow shortly. Picture: Denis Minihane.

When is a shoe a flipflop? We might ask that question following the Government’s, shall we say, evolving policy on children's shoes over the course of a few hours yesterday. In the morning, children’s shoes were not essential items. By lunchtime, children’s shoe shops were to open and, an hour later, they were shut down again.

The upshot, however, was Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s welcome announcement in the Dáil yesterday afternoon that he was drawing up guidelines to allow shoe shops to open on an appointment basis so that children could be fitted for shoes. But how late it is.