Elderly kept housebound by Covid rules on bus travel

UNTIL about a month ago, those who had retired from the workplace were ordered to keep themselves under house arrest.

Many retirees were even afraid to be seen taking an outdoor doddle in their own gardens. The advice was that anyone over 65 was a danger to society as that age group were the main carriers of Covid-19.

It had almost reached the point that such age groups were expected to wave a flag and shout ‘unclean, unclean’ on the approach of a younger person.

The latest discrimination against retirees is their fear of using their free bus/train pass, because even if they achieve their outward journey they could find themselves stranded by being denied their homeward journey.

This problem arises because when boarding public transport the priority is given to those passengers who have previously booked online.

As limited seating is forecast to continue well into the future, this restriction can be used as another handy official method of ensuring that the elderly remain housebound.

The rights and entitlements of those who hold the free bus pass must be recognised and without further delay. DENIS O’HIGGINS,

Co. Monaghan.

Protect our way of life

WHEN the proverbial smoke clears, and the impact of a forced shutdown affecting ordinary people’s daily lives is internally understood by those very people, we must collectively ensure we have the society we want for ourselves.

We must force our elected officials to ensure that the things we hold dear are protected. If the virus has proved anything conclusively, it is that most things we hold dear and take for granted are easily taken away.

The Covid-19 crisis will pass, and after the storm, the sun will shine again. But it will shine on a rather different world. And this will change us. It must.

All plagues change society and culture, reversing some trends while accelerating others, shifting consciousness far and wide, with consequences we won’t discover for years or decades.

The one thing we know about epidemics is that at some point they will end.

The one thing we don’t know is who we will be then. I’m rediscovering in this surreal flashback a way of living I once knew. Plague living is almost seasonal for humans. Like the spring which insists on arriving. ANTHONY WOODS,

Co. Clare.

Saving lives at sea

I SINCERELY hope we can all learn a lesson from the near tragedy in Galway with paddle boards.

I wish to congratulate the fishermen who saved the girls who were clinging to a lobster pot buoy for 15 hours, hoping they would survive overnight as their worried families scoured the coastline and prayed for a miracle.

It came in the form of local fishermen Patrick Oliver and his son Morgan who found the girls 27km away from where they had set off.

Strong winds and tides were not in their favour and possibly no lifeguards on shore due to cutbacks .

We need to arm all paddle board users with a distress bleep tied to their belts or lifejackets and tuned into the rescue service.

The latter is in operation 24/7 and do a great job in saving lives at sea, so they can pinpoint the area and plot a course directly to the troubled spot . NOEL, HARRINGTON,

Kinsale, Co. Cork.