One of Ireland’s leading retailer of books for the mind and soul has announced the closure of all its stores for the next six weeks, but says they will continue to trade online.
Veritas made the decision to shut its doors around the country until April 20 due to the threat posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) in a statement posted on its Twitter page on March 18.
“As part of the effort to protect against the spread of COVID-19,” says Veritas director Aidan Chester in the statement, “Veritas will temporarily close all stores from today [Wednesday, March 18] until the 20th April 2020.
“We are taking this step because it is the right thing to do and is in the best interests of our staff and customers.”
The statement mentions that customers can still order goods online at www.veritas.ie, for “as long as it safe” for staff to carry out the requests, and contact them by phone.
Owned by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Veritas publishes over 40 books each year in the areas of theology, scripture, prayer, spirituality, parenting, counselling, children’s issues, social commentary and liturgical resources.
The organisation, whose primary function is to serve the needs of the Irish Church, also publishes religious education texts for primary and post-primary schools, which are used throughout Ireland.
In addition, they specialise in retail with stores nationwide in Dublin, Cork, Derry, Ennis, Letterkenny and Newry.
The origins of Veritas dates back to 1899 with the founding of the Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, set up to publish and distribute a range of religious material to the Irish public.
In 1928, Veritas branched out into retail and opened its first store on Lower Abbey Street in Co. Dublin.
The retail store merged with the Catholic Truth Society in 1969 to become the Catholic Communications Institute of Ireland, later renamed Veritas Communications.
That same year, Veritas Publications came into existence with its first title being ‘Patrick in His Own Words‘ by Bishop Joseph Duffy.