THE VIEW FROMTHE STREETS

Each week, we hit the streets of County Wexford to ask the public their thoughts on a range of subjects... this week: Are you confident the government is taking appropriate action to help stem the spread of the Coronavirus?

JOE O’REGAN, ENNISCORTHY

‘At the moment I think they are doing the best they can. I don’t think they could do much more.’

GEORGE GRIFFITH, WILLOW PARK, GOREY

‘No, I can’t say it’s too late but they could have acted on it quicker. They are closing the stable door when the horse has bolted in other words. Cheltenham going ahead was crazy.’

MYLES COURTNEY, NEW ROSS

‘Confident is a bit of a strong word. I think they are taking a measured response and are going by what the health experts are saying is appropriate. I am concerned at the deluge of misinformation going out on social media from unattributed experts.’

MARION GOREY, SPAWELL ROAD

‘At the moment we don’t really know the extent of it. They had to let the likes of Cheltenham go ahead. The Irish people won’t stay in doors for a month. I don’t think we could do more than a couple of weeks. This is worse than Ebola was. It’s a more intelligent virus.’

KAY O’REGAN, ENNISCORTHY

‘I don’t really think about it at all to be honest. It’s there but you can’t worry about it.’

DAVID BOLGER, GOREY

‘Yes, I’m confident. They are attending to all the medical stuff, they are putting plans in place all the time since the start. I suppose it’s all based on the foot and mouth epidemic and the sars epidemic etc. They are doing their job under severe circumstances.’

MANUEL FERNANDEZ, NEW ROSS

‘I think they are doing everything they can and are waiting to see what other countries are doing. I cannot say I’m not worried about it because every time you turn on the TV you hear about another case.’

WILLIE ROCHE, CARRIGLAWN

‘At the moment I think the government are taking the right action. They’re not creating panic. We have to see how this thing develops and I think we’re at the right phase now. I think the important thing is not to panic and not to start this panic buying.’

ANN DOYLE, ENNISCORTHY

‘Yes, I think they are. We were going to go to Italy in a few weeks but it’s been cancelled and I think it’s worrying for the elderly.’

IMELDA WILLOUGHBY, COURTOWN

‘I would have confidence in them if they came out and said that if the country had to go into lock-down they’d look after us, maybe put a freeze on mortgages and bills. If people had symptoms they might still go to work because they are worried about finances.’

LAURA BAILEY, NEW ROSS

‘I think flights should have been cancelled sooner. I wasn’t worried about it until I saw the chemist choc-a-bloc with people stocking up on medication, paracetamol, Calpol and Nurofen.’

HELEN DAVIS, HOLLYMOUNT COURT

‘No I think the government should be doing more. They should have been stopping flights earlier. Also all this dilly-dallying on forming a government is helping no one.’

ANGELA BROWNE, ENNISCORTHY

‘Absolutely, I think they should be doing more. I think they will wait until it gets worse. They really need to buckle down on everything.’

ANNA CURTIS, GOREY

‘People are anxious and I feel the government may have been too slow to act. They are waiting for the thing to take a grip, and it seems to be to be too little, too late but hopefully it’s not too late.’

MARGARET MCGRATH, THE ROWER

‘They are acting now but they should have taken steps sooner. They should have had doctors at the airport testing people when they came off the planes and disinfecting them. I am very concerned for people who have a pre-existing condition.’

JOE RYAN, CROMWELLSFORT

‘I think the government are doing the best they can. This will be with us for months or years until a vaccine is developed. We need to have a conversation about the people who deny the effect of vaccines and I think they need to be free of charge.’

STEPHEN LEACY, ENNISCORTHY

‘No, they are not doing enough. You can still get imports from China and I think they should have made hand sanitiser available to the public. They should also stop corporate businesses hiking up the prices of things like hand sanitiser.’

PADDY BRADY, GOREY

‘They should have put a stop to people coming into the country last weekend, the Italians. Thousands came in to Ireland that shouldn’t have been allowed in. They are getting there, they are definitely on the right road but they are not there yet.’

KEVIN FELL, MULLINAVAT

‘Flights should have been ceased sooner and GAA matches cancelled. The Government should have reacted stronger in quarantining people.’

TOMMY BYRNE, KENNEDY PARK

‘The government are doing the best they can. The responsibility is on us to wash our hands. If the Italian government could go back to where we are now, maybe they would have gone into lockdown sooner. But then you don’t want to cause panic either.’