CORONAVIRUS BULLETIN

÷COURTS

The Courts Service will scale back even further on the numbers attending court from Monday. The changes will see only urgent cases, and cases not involving witnesses, etc. going ahead in the coming weeks. Civil matters can be adjourned by consent via email.

÷DRIVING TESTS

All driving tests in the Republic of Ireland are to be suspended from today until March 29 in a bid to protect public health.

÷HORSE RACING

Horse racing meetings will continue to go ahead – but the general public cannot attend. According to Horse Racing Ireland, access to the racecourse will be strictly restricted to essential service providers and industry participants. There will be no catering facilities at the meeting nor will there be betting facilities (bookmakers/tote) in operation.

÷BANKING

Ireland’s biggest bank has suspended its planned charge of 1 cent for each use of its contactless debit and credit cards. AIB announced just four days ago that it was introducing the fees because the low ECB ‘interest rate environment’ has made it difficult for it to continue with fee-free banking. But yesterday the bank said: ‘In the light of the current Covid-19 outbreak AIB is suspending the planned introduction of the contactless fee.’ The charge was due to start on May 30.

÷BLARNEY STONE

People will no longer be allowed to kiss the Blarney Stone in Co. Cork due to the coronavirus. According to legend, whoever kisses the stone is endowed with the ‘gift of the gab’. In a tweet, Blarney Castle said: ‘For the first time in our history, the kissing of the Blarney Stone has been postponed until further notice.’ However The castle and gardens are still open, the tweet added.