“It has been awful. It just feels as if everything has been robbed from me.” Mary doesn’t want to use her real name. Like many others she feels exposed and alone.
She is among the thousands of people in Northern Ireland in the margins of the economy, struggling to cope from the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.
While hundreds of millions have been paid out to shore up the economy, a sizeable minority have received nothing.
Mary set up her new personal training business in Co Tyrone in late 2019. After years battling mental health problems, she found a new lease of life by being self-employed, using her skills and experience to help other people battling with their own mental health.
But it all ground to a halt in March when the gym she operated from closed.
“Covid-19 took away my work and it took away the progress my clients have been making.”
Her rural location meant switching to online training wasn’t an option, so she signed on for universal credit. Mary did manage to secure some night work in a supermarket, but the long night hours were a struggle for her mental health and she lasted just five weeks.
She said the implications for those five weeks left her unable to claim universal credit for June and July.
“I just feel like a piece of dirt,” she said.
The personal trainer wants to invest in new equipment and set up a mobile fitness operation, but she simply doesn’t have the funds.
READ MORE: Diane Dodds urged to move on scheme for businesses excluded from Covid-19 support
Jude Cree set up Mindful Massage in Holywood in 2018. She made a loss in her first tax year in setting up the premises and managed a profit in year two.
It left her outside the remit of the UK Treasury’s self-employed income support scheme.
As a teenager Jude suffered a series of brain haemorrhages. It left her unable to attend university.
“Fighting adversity is nothing new,” she said. But she believes if her business had been located in Scotland or Wales, she would have received hardship funds to support her through four difficult months.
“I believe we deserve better in NI. People who backed themselves, followed their vision and pay their taxes have been shabbily treated.”
Chef Brian Donaldson estimates that the pandemic lockdown has cost him in the region of £15,000 in lost income.
While he has become a leading proponent of the UK-wide Excluded campaign in Northern Ireland, he said many others are afraid to speak up.
He estimates as many as 10,000 people have been left behind in the north, most of them voiceless.
“There are people who are scared about the future of their businesses. People don’t want to go out and make enemies.
“There are so many different people."
Whitehead-based John Mulholland is the sole director of business consultancy PDQ Solutions.
He said while the bounce back loan scheme is an option for some sole directors, many are reluctant to increase their debt pile.
“Then you’re into savings and the pension pot. It’s not just the here and now, it’s an impact that will be felt into the future.”
The consultant said he is frustrated not just by the situation, but the struggle in securing answers from senior politicians.
“I have seen more and more frustration from people who are labelling themselves as Excluded NI in the past week.”
Brian Donaldson and the Excluded campaign sought a face-to-face meeting with Economy Minister Diane Dodds to outline their concerns.
That request was turned down in a letter sent by Ms Dodds’ private secretary on Thursday.
Asked if she will meet with the group, a spokesperson for Ms Dodds’ department said yesterday: “In recent weeks, the Minister has met with and listened to a number of people who have not been eligible for the DfE-led support schemes.”
Mr Mulholland added: “To not answer questions and the disrespect, to my mind is the most annoying aspect of it. It hugely frustrates me.”
