Mary Lou: Calm down the stockpiling

MARY Lou McDonald has appealed for ‘calm’ as long queues formed in shops, with customers rushing to stockpile food.

Speaking to reporters outside Leinster House yesterday, the Sinn Féin leader said: ‘People need to remember the shops will be open tomorrow, they’ll be fully stocked.’

She said of the measures such as the closure of schools and childcare providers revealed by Leo Varadkar yesterday: ‘These measures will no doubt disrupt people’s lives because, you know, it is necessary to do everything that we can to put people’s health and welfare first. That’s the bottom line.’

Ms McDonald called for special childcare supports for frontline healthcare workers, adding: ‘We are now in a position where we need to look at different schemes, look at how people who work in the childcare sector, and who won’t be in their normal pace of employment, how their skills and expertise might be used to support those health workers in particular.’