An Enniskillen optician, along with his staff members and patients, were left standing in the rain this morning (October 19) as road works blocked the entry to his shop without any prior warning.

Optician Donal McGovern, owner of D.McGovern Optician arrived at his premises on High Street, Enniskillen this morning at 8.50am to find that the pavement had been dug up and that no access to his shop had been provided.

Angered and frustrated by what he described as an "outrageous" situation, Mr. McGovern told The Impartial Reporter that he was given no prior warning that access would be restricted this morning, otherwise he would have changed appointments and made alternative arrangements.

"We could have phoned [our patients] and told them. We could have facilitated our customers," said Mr. McGovern.

Instead, when a patient arrived as planned at 9am, Mr. McGovern was forced to reschedule their appointment there and then due to lack of access to the premises. A second patient, who was scheduled for an appointment at 9.30am, was left sheltering from the rain in the doorway of another premises, along with the optician staff, in the hope that access would be provided imminently.

By 9.30am, temporary access was granted to the premises, but Mr. McGovern was unhappy due to the fact that his patients and staff were inconvenienced unnecessarily, with at least two appointments impacted by the disruption. 

It is understood that the works are part of the Enniskillen Public Realm project which are being undertaken by FP McCann.

The Impartial Reporter contacted FP McCann for a comment and are yet awaiting a response.