After spending several hours in an empty office today due to cuts and lay-offs in local media, I want to talk about the importance of supporting your local newspaper during this difficult time of #coronavirus in Ireland, so prepare for a thread! #journalismmatters #buyapaper

Over the past week, we've had people tell us they thought we had shut up shop but that's not the case at all. While we have lost some of our team, we did go to print this week. We are still functioning and we are still here so please don't forget about us.

Over the past few weeks the @Longford_Leader has had an incredible surge of traffic to its website as people try to keep up to date on the escalating public health emergency that is #COVID19, proving just how valuable local journalism is.

Since this all began, we've kept you up to date on how many cases there are, what amazing resources are available to you in the county while you're self-isolating. We've brought you live gigs, community spirit, photographs, laughter.

We are on the other end of the phone, email, Facebook messages, day and night, answering your questions, sharing your stories and interacting with you during this difficult time in our nation's history. We're always there for you. So please be there for us too.

What can you do to support your local news team? Quite simply: #BuyAPaper. Visit our website. Share the stories we work so hard to bring you. Spread the word. If you're a business in a position to purchase a small advertisement, consider it. Share our story to others online..

Yes the paper is smaller than usual; that's because sports, entertainment & other events are on hold for the moment and advertising is taking a hit. But that has left space for some amazing human interest stories and features about the power of community, so it's still worth it..

The team at the Longford Leader has been pared back to just four people now and, while we will all rise to the challenge, we will need your help to keep things going so that our colleagues can come back and we can continue to be the only local newspaper in Longford.

On a more personal note, some of our colleagues will not be coming back at all and I'm absolutely devastated to have lost my best friend in the office @KevForde1 this week. A truly talented journalist and one of the best people I know, he's going to leave a void nobody can fill..

If you have a story, photograph or just words of encouragement (trust me we'll need it) please get in touch. Email us. Call our office. Tweet us or message us on Facebook. Visit our website at http://www.longfordleader.ie , which is updated at least every hour with the latest news.

These are difficult times for everybody but if we can help each other out, support each other and be there for each other as much as possible, we can - and will - bounce back. Stay safe.