‘It’s soul destroying to see people behaving like this’
GRAHAM DOYLE lives in Fethard-on-Sea village centre and has been horrified this past week as he saw holidaymakers enter and exit the shop across the street buying coffees and doing weekly shops.
Easter is always a busy time in the seaside village as holiday home owners arrive to catch some sunny weather and enjoy food and drink in local eateries.
Graham, who runs Hook Head Adventures, said: ‘My mind boggles; I just can’t comprehend the thinking and the rationale behind what is going on.’
Like many local residents, he has seen people arrive into the village over the past few weeks. Some arrived very early on in March as the coronavirus restrictions were being announced; while others have appeared in recent days.
Graham said: ‘It’s not a normal Easter. We’re normally absolutely packed out of it but we are talking about hundreds, not tens of people arriving at our peninsula. I walk 2km around the village every day and you can see the caravan park is closed and the camper van park also. People are coming down to their private homes from all over the country and, yes, there is a high percentage of Dubliners.’
He believes some people decided to lockdown in Fethard. ‘We have seen some arrive by night and we know who they are because the holiday homes are empty during the rest of the year. What I can’t get my head around is they are obviously oblivious to what is being advised. It’s probably because they are in Fethard every year they must think they have a right to be here.
‘I am living in the middle of the village and I can see them going into the shop and it gets my goat because we are all on lockdown here, doing one weekly shop or every ten days and lads are coming in from holiday homes and getting a coffee and going out again like they are on holiday,’ he said.
Like many people in the area, Graham drops off shopping to his parents and says hello through the window.
‘It’s soul destroying then to see people behaving like this. They could be asymptomatic; if they knew they had it they mightn’t have come down here. The percentage of people who have Covid-19 that don’t know is high and they are going in touching bananas and packets of biscuits and some local behind them could be picking them up getting a virus from someone who shouldn’t even be here.’
Mr Doyle saw a camper van roll up in the village on Good Friday and people bring a week’s shopping up to its doors.
‘ There were bikes on the back. I know the laws are so hard to enforce it’s just you’d hope people would have more common sense and empathy towards other people in these smaller villages and by and large are doing everything they’re supposed to. It’s pure selfishness. Anyone who came here even last month should have had to self isolate for a fortnight.’