The owner of a Dublin beauty salon that allegedly reopened its doors in spite of coronavirus restrictions has been arrested.

The owner of C and N Beauty Rooms in Balbriggan said she could no longer survive without earning a living.

She's alleged to have reopened the salon today.

Gardaí arrived shortly afterwards and arrested a woman who was inside the premises.

After a brief discussion, the owner was also arrested and taken into Garda custody.

Gardaí arrive at C and N Beauty Rooms in Balbriggan after it opened its doors during lockdown on Tuesday, 23-02-2021. Image: Kacey O’Riordan/Newstalk

Speaking to Newstalk yesterday, the owner said she was reopening, “purely for survival.”

“I have to do what I have to do to pay my bills and that is what is important to me,” she said.

“I have to put food on the table. I have to pay my rent. All my bills have to be paid.

“What is happening does not stop my bills from coming so I have to pay them. So yes, it is purely for survival I am doing this.”

A sign on the shop window said the reopening was “absolutely necessary” and insisted that the Constitution recognises the right to earn a living.

Gardaí said they were continuing to adopt the 'Four Es' approach to policing public health regulations - "engage, explain, encourage, and as a last resort, enforce."

Reporting from Kacey O'Riordan