Nurse back on the road with free car

Quinn firm donates PPE to the frontline

A NURSE drove off in a new car free of charge after an “extremely kind gesture” from the owner of a dealership.

Marie Mullan had viewed the second-hand vehicle at MC Autosales in Magherafelt, Co Derry, when owner Marc Currie gave her the good news.

The Dungiven woman posted on Facebook: “Working as a nurse in NHS I depend on my car to take me to and from my work.

“Some of u know how much heartache my car had been causing me of recent. This morning I decided to go and see a wee car I had spotted for sale @ MC Autosales Ballyronan Magherafelt.

“When I arrived there was no sales guy available, then a text came through stating the car was for me without cost with the nicest message ever about the work nurses do in the NHS.”

Marc added: “It was just a wee car we had traded in. Not big value. It was just a small token giving something back to somebody who is helping to save lives.”

BUILDING products manufacturer Quinn Industrial Holdings has donated stocks of personal protective equipment to frontline health workers.

The news came as the company announced 600 staff have been laid off temporarily, while directors are to take a 50% pay cut.

A QIH spokesman said more than 1,000 PPE units have been provided to Cavan General Hospital, South West Acute Hospital in Co Fermanagh and local community care providers.

QIH has also been able to source a consignment of surgical masks which will also be donated when they arrive next week.

Separately, Quinn Packaging has manufactured and donated more than 1.6 tonnes of plastic PET sheet to Magherafelt-based Bloc Blinds for use in the manufacture of disposable face shields.

QIH chief Liam Mccaffrey said: “We hope in some small way this gesture will both show our appreciation and help save lives. It’s the least frontline healthcare workers deserve.”

SUPERMARKETS have had the biggest monthly takings ever, with shoppers splurging £10.8billion on groceries.

Sales soared by 20.6% compared with the same time last year, making the past four weeks even more lucrative than Christmas.

But there were signs yesterday that shelves are no longer being stripped bare as supermarkets began to relax rationing.

Aldi has axed the limit of four items per product on most goods.

But it remained in place for some essentials such as loo roll, pasta, nappies and beans.

Anti-bacterial hand gel, long life milk and baby milk stayed at two.

Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was corrected by No10 after saying people should only shop once a week. Downing Street said his remarks are “not what the guidance specifies”.

FOOLISH

Former Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable said: “Foolish insensitive minister with large freezer doesn’t understand that many poorer and older people have to shop regularly for a few perishable essentials – milk, fruit, bread.”

Mad Monday on March 16 marked the start of stockpiling, with 42 million extra shopping trips in four days as people went off their trolly ahead of the lockdown.

Figures from market analyst Kantar reveal 88% of households flocked to the supermarkets between March 16 and 19, making five trips on average.

The analyst, which began logging supermarket sales more than a decade ago, added checkout bills rose to £508 this month – up £88 on the same time last year.

With the closure of pubs,

REBUKED Minister Grant Shapps