Tributes pour in for Bagatelle singer Liam Reilly
FRANCIS CARROLL LOOKS BACK ON THE ARRIVAL OF PANDEMIC FROM CHINA WHICH UTTERLY TRANSFORMED IRISH SOCIETY, AS EVERYONE ENDURED SEVERAL LOCKDOWNS, LOST LOVED ONES AND FACED AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
SOCIAL distancing, face masks, lockdown, behind closed doors, levels of restrictions, symptoms, hospital admissions, hand sanitizers, cocooning, death. Words associated with the Covid-19 pandemic we all became used to in 2020. The coronavirus reached Ireland at the end of February and within three weeks cases had been confirmed in all counties.
Events were cancelled, including St Patrick’s Day celebrations, schools closed and on 27 March the government imposed a stay-at-home order. It was the beginning of a time like no other. In Dundalk, 23 residents died in a coronavirus outbreak at privately-owned Dealgan House nursing home.
The care home suffered one of the worst outbreaks in the first wave of the pandemic with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland hospital group temporarily taking over the nursing home on 17 April.
A recession hit, people lost their jobs, businesses were decimated or forced to close, and most citizens did their best to contain the spread of coronavirus.
We had to adapt to a new way of life. Those who could, worked from home. Zoom meetings became the norm, whether to conduct business or keep in touch with family and friends.
People did their best to look out for neighbours and the vulnerable, and there was a Trojan effort from our health and emergency service workers.
There was, sadly, more heartbreak, frustration and fear.
From children not being able to complete primary school in the usual fashion to weddings being cancelled and the bereaved not able to properly mourn loved ones.
In the greater scheme of things, sport might not have been considered important, but once able to resume it proved vital for physical and mental health.
Dundalk FC, for example, were able to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League and win another FAI Cup.
The GAA club championships were completed to the delight of the successful teams in the main competitions, Naomh Mairtín, St. Bride’s and Naomh Fionnbarra.
And while supporters could not attend, they were able to watch on television or by live-streaming.
Games of golf were also cherished by participants and even being able to get out for a run or walk was looked forward to.
During the summer months there was hope that after ‘ the curve had flattened’ there would be no peak coming. Daily cases and deaths slowly
began to decline in June and July.
That hope was short-lived. A second wave of the virus was confirmed and in October restrictions were re-introduced.
Although these were eased at the start of December, this move only led to a surge in cases and as 2020 drew to a close, the country was dealing with a third wave of Covid-19 and another lockdown.
A 79-year-old Dublin woman became the first person in the country to receive the Covid-19
vaccine on 29 December. The grandmother was administered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at St James’s Hospital.
‘I feel very privileged to be the first person in Ireland to receive the vaccine,’ she said.
‘Like everyone else I have been waiting for the vaccine and I really feel like there is a bit of hope there now.’
Those sentiments were echoed by all of us heading into a new year.