How has the impact of Covid-19 affected you and your business?

It was catastrophic in the beginning. Every project I had on the go from March to December 2020 fell off a cliff. Tours that had been a year in planning with some of my clients disappeared over night, as venue after venue called to cancel. It was a bewildering and terrifying time.

What is the worst aspect of it all for you?

The feeling of loss of control, and also witnessing the disappointment and anguish of the musicians I work with; the sheer heartbreak of it all. And the un-knowing. I think if we'd known just how long it was going to last we would have felt utterly hopeless.

Did you have to let staff go?

I'm a one-woman operation, but I definitely let myself go! The hair! The weight! Yikes!

People with high rent or with large borrowings have been worst hit. How have you been?

Fortunately we paid off our mortgage a couple of years ago, I can't even imagine the stress for people who do have large repayments. Of course we still had lots of bills coming in and there have been worrying times for sure. Those days when it's difficult to console each other., or find anything hopeful to say to buoy each other up. My husband works in the tourism industry, so between us we both had particularly disastrous jobs in terms of Covid and its effects. It's been really tough at times.

Some people have been finding it hard to survive. Is that something you’ve encountered?

I found it really difficult in the beginning. Lockdown was excruciating for me as I love to be near the sea and I live right in the middle of county Limerick. I missed being able to drive to the coast. Surviving financially was worrying at times because neither of us knew when or where the next job was going to come from.

Music is a people business – how has the loss of contact with staff, colleagues or with others in the business affected you?

It's definitely been lonely. I'm absolutely craving live music and real interaction with the people I work with. Though of course we've been in touch, Zoom is just not the same. But I was also blown away by the amount of live output that so many musicians posted and have continued to post on line. I found the spirit and optimism of so many of them really moving to witness; their absolute need to keep creating and performing during the most difficult of times. Honestly - where would we be without music and musicians? Warriors, lots of them. Can't adequately express my gratitude and admiration for them.

Were you in a position to try anything new or different?

Yes, out of a sheer sense of hopelessness and missing the sea, we moved to west Cork for six months from September 2020 to March 2021. We rented out our house in Limerick so that we could live by the sea. I've also started some writing for a west Cork newspaper, The Southern Star; I approached them when I moved there to offer some music-related content and they've consistently given me work ever since. I interviewed John Spillane about his gorgeous new album 100 Snow White Horses for last week's edition and loved that. I'm also now working on TV production & research with Red Shoe Productions, based in Waterford and loving that.

Mental health has been a huge issue for a lot of people involved in music. How has your experience been in that regard?

I really worried about our son who was just 15 at the time of the first lockdown. He really missed his buddies and I was really conscious of trying to keep him buoyed up. Moving to be near the sea was an absolute life-saver for mine and my husband's mental well-being. We swam every day in the freezing Atlantic and that was a great way to start every day and to keep the anxiety levels down.

How important is it to you, to get back to work?

It's hugely important. I've been lucky since Christmas to have had some steady work projects, due to the remarkable resilience and creativity of musicians who've managed to record albums during lockdown and have gone on to hire me to do PR. But I'm really anxious to get back to being able to plan ahead and to re-plan the music tours which were cancelled in March 2020. In particular, one I'd been working on with Belfast cellist and composer Neil Martin and his West Ocean String Quartet. Neil is a joy and an endless laugh to work with. I need that back in my life!

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future?

I'm optimistic, I think. It's been a very traumatic time for so many of us though, hasn't it? I wonder what the historians will write about this time. It will make a hell of a read.

Ellie Byrne is owner of EB Promotions which provides artist management, album promotion and PR services.

Read more of our 'Music Industry in Ireland: Where To Next?'  special feature here.