As the country continues it slow recovery out of lockdown, it will take time for the way of life to return to what it was before coronavirus reached these shores.

In Belleek, there are signs that life is slowly getting back to normal, but it is slow. And in a town which should be buzzing at this time of the year as tourists flock to village or are on their way west to Donegal, these next few weeks will be a good indicator of how well things really are recovering.

Teresa O’Loughlin, of think6 Marketing Solutions, felt that the lockdown really brought about a sense of community in the village with people and businesses helping each other out.

“Local businesses became a life saver for a lot of people and the local businesses really stepped up to the mark doing home deliveries, opening at certain times for certain people.

“There was a real community feel we were kind of all in it together.”

With tourism being a a benefit for Belleek, she hopes it will help the village get back on its feet.

“Belleek has always benefitted from the tourism industry in that quite a lot of through traffic to beaches caravan parks opening up and traffic coming down through the village and we are starting to see the benefits .”

Valerie Naylor, of the Forge Restaurant and Take Away is cautious in how well the village will recover.

“This time of the year should be busy but it’s not. You don’t know whether to expect a surge of people or not.

“I’m hoping it will be a busy time, fingers crossed.”

Valerie said that while the summer months may bring some hope, it will be different in the winter.

However, Kevin Gilmartin of Gilmartin’s Craft Shop, is buoyed by some new developments on the main street which will give the village a boost.

“We’re delighted with what is happening here. A man retired who ran Belleek Motor Supplies and a young man took over. And a new shop is opening up the street, drapery shop. And then there is a place idle here beside us and it is being done up. If that happens then there will be only one place vacant in the village.”

Gilmartin’s, which has been opened over 40 years, took to the internet to sell its wares, but with tourists coming back to the west of the county, he hopes there will be more people coming into the shop.

But Kevin still warns that people need to be careful and that the virus has not disappeared.

Cormac McCusker, of the Fiddlestone pub, reopened his doors on Friday, July 3 and it was a welcome sight to see people coming through them again.

Cormac who also has a guesthouse admits that while they expect things to get busier it has been a slow process.

“We are expecting it but we have a guesthouse here and the bookings haven’t come properly yet. It’s very slow at the minute.

“We are expecting a busy weekend but we just don’t know.”

He said that during lockdown the village was very quiet but there was a good sense of community spirit about the place.

And as Fermanagh reopens after a long three months, the people of Belleek will be hoping there village will make a strong recovery in the coming months.