Is the priest supposed to deny the 51st person entry
REFLECTS ON THE OPENING OF SOCIETY
Well Leo and Dr. Tony lifted the lid a little to allow us over 70’s see a chink of light from our lockdown cells.
Mind you we all have reservations about how some of the new regulations will work most notably attending church services, getting a badly needed haircut or colouring, venturing for a meal out, attending a sporting fixture, or enjoying the congeniality of the pub.
Inevitably though the merchants of gloom and doom are already predicting that it’s all going to cost a lot more.
Like the president of the hairdressers federation who says it’s going to cost an extra €5 euro for a haircut to offset the additional costs salons will incur.
For many, like myself, the thought of an extra €5 for a haircut, is enough to buy a new pair of clippers for the grandson and let him continue to serve the apprenticeship he started during lockdown.
Like the arrival of decimalisation, or the introduction of the euro, it is all starting to look like a charter for a hike in prices.
Unquestionably costs will have to increase to provide the safeguards needed in the provision of some services, and capacity will be reduced in bars and restaurants, but if, and when, a vaccine is available, and the need for protection and social distancing is relaxed, will prices come back to pre- Covid levels ?.
Not likely. It never happened with decimalisation or the euro.
Whatever about the predicted price increases, the regulations with regard to church services, pubs are just plain daft.
Can anyone tell how the numbers attending Mass from next Monday can be limited to 50?
Is the priest or a volunteer going to count the numbers entering the church and then tell the 51st person arriving to go home ?
The regulations regarding pubs when they reopen are even more absurd.
What publican hoping to stay in business is going to monitor the time his customer enters the pub, and then tells the customer that he or she has outstayed their allocated time.
Even then has the publican to stamp a visitor’s card (or the back of the hand) to prevent customers from moving on to another licensed premises next door.
You have to ask, and I’m sure many have, who the hell thinks of these daft regulations.
Limiting drinking time in a pub is like telling a child they can only eat half the sweets in a bag.
They’re unworkable, and will inevitably lead to a large number of publicans never opening for business again.
Of course we all know and accept the motivation behind the regulations, and in most cases the guidelines and the route map out of lockdown have been sensible and clear, unlike other countries, most notably Britain and the USA.
For this Leo and Dr. Tony must take credit, and clearly they have also listened to the pleas of many, like the businesses, and over 70’s, to bring forward the timescale for opening some facilities and businesses earlier.
Unfortunately restrictions remain on the numbers attending funeral services, burials and maintaining social distancing when extending condolences to families of the deceased.
This, many find, has been one of the hardest aspects of the lockdown for many of my generation for the obvious reason see more family and friends sadly pass away.
Since lockdown started I myself have lost five friends and colleagues all to non Covid-19 related deaths, and in only one of those deaths could I attend the funeral service.
That denial, imposed because of the number restriction, and travel limitations, was extremely difficult to accept and added to the sense of isolation and loss.
The empty church for the service, the restrictions in attending the home of the deceased to adequately convey that shared sense of loss, and the need to stand apart from relatives of the deceased at the church and cemetery is extremely difficult and not the Irish way of doing things.
Of course there are some who like the new way, the absence of lengthy eulogy, often by a priest who never knew the deceased, and coping with the volume of sympathisers before and after the funeral service.
For most this is not a burden, but a comfort in their grief, and this country will be a lot poorer if we don’t find a way of bringing back one of our most cherished traditions.
Covid-19 has changed all our lives, perhaps forever, but let’s find a way of honouring our deceased family and friends as we have done for generations.
LIMITING DRINKING TIME IN A PUB IS LIKE TELLING A CHILD THEY CAN ONLY EAT HALF THE SWEETS IN A BAG