The government's phased roadmap for the restarting of Ireland's economy included a specific date - all going to plan - for the reopening of hairdressers.
July 20th is the date to circle in the calendar but that is too far off for many.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One's Today With Seán O'Rourke, Danielle Kennedy, the incoming president of the Irish Hairdressers Federation, said that offers for black market haircuts have "erupted" since the roadmap was unveiled on Friday.
"People just aren't prepared to wait that long to get their hair done," she said.
Roughly €150 to €200 for a haircut [is what people are offering] compared to €40 to €50 normal price, so three and four times the normal price to get it done. Cutting seems to be the bigger issue over the colour.
I've had a weekend of it. As soon as everybody realised it was going to be July 20th, half the country decided they weren't prepared to wait that long to get their hair done.
People wanted to book in, house calls, everything. There seems to be a perception that if people cut hair in the garden, that it's somewhat safer or that the risk element is gone.
It’s putting salon owners and stylists under an awful lot of pressure. Not every salon owner is prepared to be 'No, no, no' for months. There is a fear that the salon owners are going to crumble and will just try and look after their clients.
She added that the federation has developed guidelines which it hopes will allow businesses to open at phase three in late June rather than waiting for phase four in July.
"Salons are sterile environments," she said.
"They are well equipped to cope with this and we are happy to take that up a notch.
"Our federation are all salon owners. So we know what we suggest are things that will work and are practical for the industry."
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