MORE COVERAGE ON THE CRISIS
Sinn Féin leader says that ‘unless it’s life or death’ everyone should stay put, in a call for sweeping measures
MARY Lou McDonald yesterday called on the Taoiseach to introduce sweeping measures in response to the coronavirus, such as closing schools and extending the travel ban beyond Italy.
The Sinn Féin leader told reporters she was writing to Leo Varadkar to urge him to provide clarity on a range of measures such as the cancelling of mass gatherings – and calling for testing and contact tracing to be ‘ramped up significantly’, and for ‘strict direction and advice’ to be provided ‘across the public and private sector about working from home’.
Ms McDonald said she believed no-one should be travelling onto or off the island unless it is absolutely necessary and that she believes government ministers should not be going on their St Patrick’s Day trips.
She said: ‘I can’t tell other people what to do, but I can give you a strong view. I don’t think... unless you absolutely have to, as a matter of life or death, travel off the island, I think, for now, for the next number of weeks, for this period of time, we sit tight here, and we do the things that we need to do. So it causes disruption, but that’s just where we are.’
She welcomed flights to Italy being cancelled but said there needed to be ‘absolute vigilance’ about air traffic on and off the island. She said: ‘I think there just needs to be a very hard-nosed assessment and I think we need to have a watching brief on airline traffic and otherwise coming on and off the island.
‘And listen, and for those who might think that that’s somewhat extreme, just look at what happened and what has been happening; people will vote with their feet as well, flights will be empty.’
She said parents, teachers and students all need clarity on inevitable school closures, which she said needed to be done in an orderly manner and not overnight. She said the St Patrick’s Day holiday offers a ‘natural hiatus’ in order to bring forward school closures ahead of the Easter break,.
However, Ms McDonald said she would seek guidance from the Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, on this. The TD’s two children are in their second week of self-isolation after their north Dublin school was shut due to coronavirus concerns.
When asked if she supported Green Party proposals to introduce an effective curfew by closing bars and restaurants by 6pm and shutting nightclubs and theatres, she said: ‘Everything’s on the table now, I think all bets are off.
‘I don’t think that we can continue to talk about these measures in a context of going too far. And so I think all of those things needs to be considered.’
Ms McDonald said it was time for the HSE and the Chief Medical Officer to provide guidance on mass gatherings, which was initially due earlier this week.
‘They have been promising guidance and advice on mass of gatherings. We need that now,’ she said.
She said there was a ‘serious question mark’ over whether the Dáil would continue to sit and that a rigorous risk assessment is needed. ‘As you will see from the [Dáil] chamber... there isn’t a metre or two metres between all of us. I think this institution, no more or no less than any other institution, now needs to do a very, very rigorous risk assessment,’ she added.
Last night, the Houses of the Oireachtas issued a statement notifying staff that the public would effectively be banned from Leinster House unless their visit related to ‘core legislative business’, in order to protect those working in the building.
Contingency plans are already in place for the Dáil to sit in Dublin Castle if there is an outbreak of Covid-19 in Leinster House.
The Sinn Féin leader is also writing to her party officials and staff urging them ‘not to leave the island’ on party business.
She said: ‘I’m currently signing off on a memo which I will issue to the party this evening and instructing no travel off the island for Sinn Féin purposes, no big events... and giving guidance in terms of our constituency services and clinics, and also for staff in terms of working from home.
‘So we will be very much practising what we preach.’
‘For the next few weeks, we sit tight here’ ‘All those things must be considered’