Peter Murray, Buttercrane Centre Manager said, “Stores are responding as quickly as possible to the new date.
“And there is lots of work going on behind the scenes to bring staff back in store for training following furlough, deep cleaning and bringing in new displays and stock ready for reopening.
“We would anticipate that from Friday 30 April the majority of traders in Buttercrane will be open for business.
“But the situation is still quite fluid and we will update our social channels with full lists as soon as we have that information.”
He continued, “The centre’s large anchor tenants Primark, Dunnes Stores and Sports Direct/USC are all set to reopen on Friday 30 April.
Detective Inspector Handley said, “A multi-agency operation was involved in bringing the huge fire under control, which the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) declared a major incident.
“While the cause of the fire is under investigation, NIFRS believe the blaze may have been started deliberately.
“And we are now working to establish the circumstances.
“It is believed the fire may have started off the main walkway along the Bloody Bridge path, possibly late on Thursday night, 22 April 2021.
“We want to hear from anyone who was in the area, and who may have information which could help our investigation, to get in touch with us,” he continued.
The Sinn Féin MLA said, “This weekend sees the long-awaited reopening of the retail sector and slight relaxations for the hospitality industry.
“The arrival of Covid 19 on this island in March last year has had a devastating impact on so many of our local businesses.
“And the extent of this is something we could never have foreseen.”
She continued, “However, we have all become acutely aware of the importance of our local businesses, in providing employment and enriching our city, which plays a vital role in attracting people to come to visit, shop and stay in Newry.
“Over the last year, local businesses have also stepped up to the plate by supporting our healthcare staff and the wider community in ways that we should never forget, throughout this pandemic.
The Newry and Armagh MLA stated, “2020 saw 56 people lose their lives on the roads, the same number of people as the year before despite the lower levels of traffic throughout the year.
“At the Infrastructure committee today, I raised the need for an ambitious new strategy to set out a strong vision for radically improving road safety for the north.
“This means having a strategy that commits us to ambitious targets to reduce those killed or seriously injured on our roads and having the best measures in place to reach those targets.
“The Department is expected to publish a new road safety strategy to go out to consultation but has faced numerous delays.
The company provides cloud computing and managed IT services, as well as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, to SMEs in the private sector.
These areas include construction, service and facilities management, manufacturing, distribution, legal and not-for-profit.
The company is aiming to increase its presence in the GB and RoI construction sector with a new IT service platform.
Speaking about the investment, Iain O’Kane, Managing Director, Xperience IT, said, “Our goal is to drive business efficiency through best-in-class digital transformation solutions.
“From engaging with our customers, we’ve identified a gap in the market for a management information tool for the construction industry.