Few will look back at January 2021 fondly. Case numbers ballooned following the Christmas period and the country faced a further tightening of restrictions.
As level 5 continues, there's no doubt the last number of weeks have been challenging for everyone. In Kinsale, postman Paul McCarthy sees the impact. "People are really down with it now, maybe it's the weather.
If it were later in the year, people may feel they could get out in it but certainly the mood is down this time around". In Waterford, Peter and Christine Power, who are self-employed can only hope restrictions don't last too much longer. "It's a sad situation for everyone", Christine said, "as you can see there's no one in town, it's desperate.