Ladies still logging on to look for love
Fair City’s final show airs on Easter Sunday »»Gardai report 20% decrease in emergency calls »»Concerns over domestic abuse and cyber fraud
FAIR City will broadcast its last episode on Easter Sunday, April 12, while filming has been halted amid Covid-19.
RTE was showing two episodes a week to keep the soap on air for as long as possible but the pre-recorded editions are coming to an end.
A spokesman refused to comment about what will fill the time slot and whether there will be repeats aired in the meantime.
In a previous statement,
RTE said: “The priority is to ensure Fair City adheres to HSE guidelines to protect the health and wellbeing of its actors, writers, directors and crew.
“The Government said these guidelines are in place for the foreseeable future.”
Dave Kelly
CORONAVIRUS isn’t stopping Irish ladies looking for love as thousands of singletons switch to virtual dating.
Women first dating app Bumble has seen a 35% rise in messages sent in Ireland and the UK during the lockdown.
Females are leading the cyber search for love as their message sending increased by 39% compared to 33% for men.
The app has seen a 21% rise in video calls over the past week – and 79% were started by men.
And it’s a case of young love with the greatest rise in users in the 23 to 29 age group.
However, 83% of all Irish and UK members say they’ll consider going on virtual dates while stuck at home during the lockdown.
Online dating
EMERGENCY calls to the Garda have plummeted since Ireland went into lockdown last week.
The 999 pleas for help fell by 20% as crime rates slumped across the country after the introduction of strict restrictions.
The crisis sparked an initial surge in emergency calls to the ambulance service and gardai.
Figures released to the Irish Mirror reveal there were 215,000 calls to the Emergency Call Answering Service in March – up 25,000 on the same period last year. Some days saw huge spikes.
An ECAS spokesperson said: “Specifically, requests for the ambulance and An Garda Siochana saw increases of 50% to 100% on certain days during March, indicating a particularly busy period for both of these emergency service providers. Requests for the Coast Guard and fire brigade services remained relatively static in the month.
“However, since more restrictive Covid-19 measures were introduced at midnight on Friday, March 27, average daily requests for An Garda Siochana have reduced by around 20%.
“It is likely this is as a result of people adhering to the requests of our Government and health authorities to stay at home and help our country flatten the curve of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The ECAS system is operated for the State by BT Ireland which said it has implemented measures to ensure the vital service continues through the crisis.
A spokesperson added: “To ensure only genuine emergency calls are routed to the service, members of the public with queries about Covid-19 are asked to call the HSE helpline on 1850 24 1850 rather than calling 112/999.”
The collapse in contact comes as sources revealed some categories of crime have become “virtually non-existent”, while others are historically low.
However, there are concerns at a potential rise in domestic violence cases and a spike in suspects spitting and coughing on gardai.
Increases in fraud and cyber crime are also among the biggest worries for senior gardai.
27th Date in March when the country went into lockdown 215k Calls to the Emergency Call Answering Service last month
Organised crime and drugs
Drug gangs are continuing to try and operate and move what contraband they have.
However, supplies of narcotics like cocaine and pills are under severe pressure.
There are fears reduced cash flows will inevitably result in