CHANGES TO LOCAL COUNCIL SERVICES
Northern Ireland’s councils have announced a series of measures and changes to services during lockdown.
Fermanagh and Omagh
Birth registrations have been suspended for three weeks. An appointment-only death registration service will continue until further notice and can be made via the registrar.
Civil ceremonies and partnerships scheduled up until May 31 have been postponed. Staff will contact each couple to make new arrangements.
No members of the public should visit recycling centres or civil amenity sites with non-essential waste but if visited, maintain social distancing regulations.
Waste collection services continue, but will be kept under review. The handles of wheelie bins be wiped before being left out. Bulky waste collections suspended.
Causeway Coast and Glens
All weddings and civil partnerships in registration offices and approved venues have been postponed until further notice.
Birth registration services suspended for the next three weeks, but registration of deaths is continuing. Only one person should attend each appointment at a time.
New parents should register their child with their GP.
Black, blue and brown bin collections continue as normal, however, there may be some disruption to service in the near future.
Homeowners have been asked to clean the handles of bins and all bulky waste collections have been suspended. Household recycling centres are closed.
Mid Ulster
Births and deaths registrations are being offered in Cookstown and Dungannon only.
Recycling centres are closed and bulky waste collections have been suspended.
The council said it will not be able to facilitate weddings or civil partnership ceremonies in civic buildings until the end of April.
Bin collections and burial services continue as well as planning and building control applications.
Newry, Mourne and Down
Residents have been asked to leave bins out to be collected at the earlier time at 6.30am or the evening prior to collection.
Bulky waste is still being collected for those who have booked but no further bookings are being accepted.
Birth registration services have been suspended for three weeks and parents have been advised to register their baby through a GP.
No weddings or civil partnerships are to take place and no bookings are being accepted at council offices.
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon
All recycling facilities have been closed but bin collections are continuing.
All death registrations have been suspended until March 30. Those with urgent queries are asked to contact the registrar.
All weddings have been suspended as have birth registrations until mid-april, with parents asked to register births at their GP.
Derry City and Strabane
Bulky waste collection has been suspended but bin collection continues.
Registration of births, deaths and marriages continues, with some restrictions. Deaths can be registered at the office, the birth of children can be registered with a GP and marriage ceremonies are suspended.
Mid and East Antrim
Any recycling bins containing used tissues will be left behind by bin collectors. Bin handles should be disinfected before and after being collected and those self-isolating should not leave out bins. Household recycling centres are closed and bulky household items will not be collected until further notice.
The council will not be conducting weddings with immediate effect but will continue to undertake death and birth registrations, although parents are asked to wait until the baby is five-weeks-old.
Antrim and Newtownabbey
Bin collections are unaffected. Bulky waste requests, unless already booked, will not be facilitated.
Recycling centres are closed. All registration services remain open for births and deaths but the council has asked that only one parent attends. In event of a joint birth with unmarried parents, it is advised to contact the office.
Civil marriages have been postponed and no new marriages will be arranged until further notice.
The council has requested that burials are attended by no more than two people in addition to one member of the clergy and that no service is held at the graveside. Other than burials, cemeteries have also been closed.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City
Bin collections continue, although
Collection of household bins continues, but may change. There will be no special household collections although existing requests will be honoured where possible.
Birth registration services are suspended for three weeks. Parents can register children at a GP practice, although they will not be penalised if this is not done within the 42 day period.
There will be no civil marriage or civil partnership ceremonies until further notice but applications for new marriages will be accepted by post.
Registration of deaths is by appointment at Town Hall in Bangor, although it is thought this service will soon operate remotely.
The council will restrict the number of people attending gravesides during burials to 10 mourners for 15 minutes while respecting social distancing.
To protect cemetery staff, additional protective equipment has been issued, including face masks, glasses and gloves.
Belfast City
Only black bins will be collected while Bryson Recycling’s box collection is continuing at present.
The wheelie box trial has also been suspended, affecting around 5,000 households. All recycling centres and civic amenity sites have also been closed until further notice.
Bulky waste collection has been suspended until further notice.
People are advised to contact the registration office to register a death or stillbirth. Birth of children can be registered at a GP practice. Weddings and civil partnerships are not being carried out and no bookings are being taken for future ceremonies.
New applications for religious and humanist marriage notices are being accepted by post.
Burials will take place with restrictions limiting the number of people at the graveside to 10 and ceremonies to 15 minutes, with social distancing in force.
The chapel at Roselawn Crematorium has been closed and while cremations themselves can be carried out, no friends and families can attend.
A NORTHERN Ireland doctor in Australia has said he is terrified for hundreds of stranded travellers.
Kevin Mcgourty (28), from Kircubbin, is a doctor at the Ulster Hospital and has been in Australia for the last two weeks.
He has called on the British and Irish governments to act as many travellers now face “poverty and real starvation”.
“I was travelling around the east coast with a lot of young Irish and UK people who were on holiday visas and had jobs,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.
“As soon as we arrived back to Sydney their lives fell to pieces, they all lost their jobs and accommodation and many of the hostels started to close.”
He said there were tense scenes at the British Embassy in Sydney on Tuesday, where around 200 young people were given little information.
“A lot of 18 to 20-year-old girls had nowhere to stay or money for flights home. They thought the embassy might be able to get them shelter or repatriated back home.
“They came out with leaflets with phone numbers which we’ve all been trying to ring for days but are just left on hold for hours and hours.
“The Irish Embassy itself was actually closed and there was no one to speak to. Lots of people here have no family support.
“We don’t know how long this is going to last so they’re all living day by day, not eating or drinking.
“I’m really worried about the people here, especially the mental health of young people.”
Dr Mcgourty does have a flight booked home for this weekend, but this isn’t an option for many travellers who are saving their money.
“I’m not worried about myself,” he said.
“If anything happened to my family and I can’t be there for them, that would be the worst thing possible.”
Sinn Fein’s West Belfast MP Paul Maskey has added to the calls for both governments to repatriate citizens.
“With increased flight restricdo much more and take a more proactive approach to assisting citizens. is a time of great fear and anxiety for families as Covid-19 continues to spread, the additional burden of being stranded abroad should not be placed on them.”
In Peru, hundreds of people have said they fear being stuck for months after two reported cases of Covid-19 in a hostel saw 150 tourists placed into quarantine. Many say they face a race against time as hostels are due to close by the end of March.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the first Government-charted flight from Peru arrived back in the UK yesterday.
He added he was “working urgently” with Peruvian authorities to deliver more flights.