Many passengers let the mask slip on their travels
LARGE groups of people are still not wearing face masks on public transport, an examination of Dublin’s Luas, Dart and bus services has found.
As part of observations carried out by the Irish Daily Mail yesterday, it was found that on the Luas, most people were wearing masks. However, many dropped them to speak on the phone and some let their masks slip off while speaking to friends.
A security guard on the Luas yesterday advised one couple to wear masks. But by the time they put their masks on, it was time for them to get off one stop down the line.
On the Dart, many people didn’t wear masks but could keep a wider distance from other passengers compared to the crowded Luas.
Dublin Bus passenger trends were also mixed.
While the bus drivers’ unions insist that members would not be enforcing the rule, individual bus drivers were preventing some passengers
‘Sorry bud, we’ll put them on’
from getting on without a mask.
The 90-minute-long analysis began yesterday with a trip on the Red Line of the Luas from Golden Bridge to Heuston Station.
Two people sitting opposite each other, a man and a woman, were not wearing masks, and several others dotted throughout the carriages were also not complying with the new rules.
However, there were also problems with those who were wearing them. At least three people were talking on their phones with their masks down, while one woman dropped her mask to speak to her friends.
Several had their masks pulled down below their nose.
At Heuston, a Luas train going in the opposite direction revealed a similar picture, with at least two people dropping their masks while they texted or used their phones.
On a Dublin Bus service from Heuston, we found an older woman got on the bus without a mask, as did one other man, who went upstairs. However, his friend was stopped and told he could not get on the bus without a mask.
The man, originally from Morocco, asked the driver if he could supply him with a mask, and then asked where he could get one.
He called to his friend, who came downstairs and told the driver he had paid his fare, and the driver explained that the problem was the lack of face masks.
The two men left the bus. They later said they had been in Ireland for four months and did not know about the new rule.
They asked if any of the shops in Heuston Station sold masks or where they could get them.
They also said that there are restrictions in Morocco and that they didn’t have a problem with the rules, as long as they knew what was happening.
A fourth Luas in the city centre was very busy with early afternoon commuters. One Dublin couple got on and a security guard told them they must wear masks. The man said: ‘Oh, sorry bud, we’ll put them on.’
His girlfriend wasn’t feeling well, so he put her mask on for her and then put on his own. By the time they completed this task, it was time to get off at the next stop at Jervis Street.
A Dart from Connolly Station to Lansdowne Road also contained many people without masks. Walking carriage to carriage, it was clear that, while the majority complied, some seemed oblivious to the rules and nobody stopped them or asked them to put on a mask.