BRING US HOME ‘We’ve no job and money is running out’
THOUSANDS of distressed Irish people remain stranded abroad after a near-shutdown of global aviation.
And an Irish citizen in Peru is among those in lockdown in a hostel, after two other guests tested positive for coronavirus.
The hostel in Cusco must now comply with strict quarantine measures for at least one month.
Irish people in Australia and the Far East face similar struggles to return home, with flights being cancelled at the last minute.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is putting arrangements in place with Aer Lingus and British Airways to bring Irish citizens home from Lima in Peru.
But Breandán Casey, who is currently in Lima, said Irish people are getting increasingly frustrated at the apparent lack of progress. The 27year-old, from Charleville, Co. Cork, got the last bus from Cusco to Lima just before the national lockdown was put in place. He is staying in a hostel, and said people are on edge due to the heavy police presence.
‘We’re just stuck in our rooms all day pretty much,’ he told the Irish Daily Mail.
‘We can go out to get food in the supermarket and come back but even that’s getting harder to do now because there’s police on the streets everywhere and they’re asking you where you’re going, what you’re doing.’
He said that the news of the hostel in Cusco being put in complete lockdown has made them fear they may face a similar situation. ‘We’re all terrified that if our hostel gets it, then we’ll be shut down for at least a month and won’t be able to go anywhere,’ Mr Casey said.
Conor Haugh, 28, from Dublin, is also stranded in Peru, and described the tense atmosphere in Lima, where he is staying alone in an Airbnb. ‘In the first few days I was able to leave occasionally to visit the supermarket – though a strong military presence in the streets made me nervous to do even this. But my host has asked me to stop doing even that now.’
Citizens who are not in Peru were warned by the DFA to not make an attempt to travel to Lima for a repatriation flight. A spokesperson for the DFA said: ‘We know this is very stressful for those abroad and their families here, but we are leaving no stone unturned in trying to get people home.’
The DFA have been contacted by more than 2,000 Irish citizens around the world who are trying to get home. Monaghan native Niall Meegan is currently stranded in Bali in South-East Asia, along with his partner, brother and cousin.
The 31-year-old arrived there just under a fortnight ago for a retreat set up by his business, fitguru.ie.. However, he pulled the event and booked a number of flights home, all of which have been cancelled. ‘We have a house to stay in for now, but we don’t know for how long,’ he told the Mail.
Caolin Maguire, 24, from
‘Money is running out’
Cavan, is also stranded in Australia with her boyfriend, Ben Burgess, 25, from Donegal. They are currently staying with Caolin’s aunt on the Central Coast, and she said the idea of getting a flight home feels ‘impossible’.
‘We have no jobs, money is starting to run out and we still haven’t got our money back from our previous flights,’ Ms Maguire said. Meanwhile, the Government announced that 170 Irish citizens, including medics, left for home on a flight from Perth on Wednesday.