‘IT’LL BE TOUGH BUT WE’LL GET THROUGH THIS’
SINEAD KELLEHER SPEAKS TO CEO OF KERRY COUNTY COUNCIL MOIRA MURRELL ON THE COVID-19 EFFECTS
WITH COVID-19 cases decreasing and discussion now moving on how to try and come back from the pandemic, Kerry County Council will have major issues to address throughout 2020.
With a huge drop in finances on the council books because of the crisis it is going to be a difficult few years ahead. The impact of the pandemic is still not yet known says CEO Moira Murrell but she said Kerry will face a bigger impact than other counties due to its reliance on tourism.
Having spent recent weeks preparing the emergency response to the pandemic, now staff led by Ms Murrell are turning their time to try and address the impact across the county.
“We are doing a full assessment of the impact and the likely impact on big businesses as well as with local chambers and local enterprise offices for smaller businesses,” explains Ms Murrell
“There will be a very significant impact on Kerry given it is the county most dependent on tourism it will be the heaviest area hit.
“It is a huge unknown. We are trying to get a handle on it but it is very difficult,” she said.
The focus will now turn to domestic tourism and Kerry County Council will begin work on promoting the county in this regard once all restrictions have been lifted. It remains to be seen what national support will be given and what funding will be granted but she firmly believes that the focus will be on Kerry as the ‘engine of tourism’.
“There will be a focus on Kerry. It is the engine of tourism, nationally, and you start with the engine,” she said, adding that a ‘significant marketing plan’ will be needed for when the county comes out of this. The tourism strategy and the projects contained in the tourism plan will have to be re-examined but it is too early to fully look at this.Kerry County Council are also now beginning to focus on the financial implications of the crisis but again it is too early to say what the full impact will be. However, the rates post-ponement and the loss of income from car-parks etc, will have a financial impact. However, the exact impact will depend on how long the crisis goes on and how the Government supports the crisis.
“It will depend on the national picture but absolutely we will have to look at the budget,” said Ms Murrell.
“It will be tough. The ramifications will go on but we will get through it.”
Behind the scenes much work has been going on at council level - planning is still being examined although on-site visits cannot go ahead at the moment. Capital projects including housing developments are being progressed to design stage although construction has been halted and will depend on national public health guidelines.
The council is now also looking at supporting businesses and are in the process of setting up a full referral system for all businesses to ensure they get the support needed to get off the ground.
For the duration of the pandemic the local authority’s 1,400 staff have been divided between working from home, in offices some permanent, some temporary, and working shifts in a bid to keep the county running. Work now begins at 6.30am and continues until 10pm to rotate staff while the county’s libraries and other buildings are now serving as offices. Some 250 staff were redeployed to new roles and 130 staff to support the HSE in administrative roles where needed.
“We have been up to this point in fire-fighting mode putting in place contingency plans for the crisis,” said Ms Murrell. This included community fatality planning which included providing extra morgue space at Ballymullen barracks, preparing graveyards and preparing the civil defence for first-responder roles. They have also stepped into deliver PPE equipment. Kerry County Council was also chair of the HSE Southern Region Emergency Inter-Agency Group involving all local agencies and Cork City and count county council which oversaw a lot of contingency planning for the region.
The CEO of the county said her message to the people was to continue to comply with public health guidelines and she thanked them for their support throughout the crisis and more and she concluded “We’ll get through it.”
IT WILL DEPEND ON THE NATIONAL PICTURE IT WILL BE TOUGH THE RAMIFICATONS WILL GO ON BUT WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS.