CARAVAN CONVOY EN ROUTE TO FRANCE
A QUEUE of caravans boarded a ferry in Rosslare, Co. Wexford, at 8.30pm last night, while people remained in lockdown and faced fines of up to €2,000 for all but essential travel.
The caravans, which bore a mix of Irish and UK registration plates, were boarding a Stena Line vessel bound for Cherbourg in France.
The ferry company was unable to provide a statement last night.
An industry source said that companies have no powers to police people’s travel. They also pointed out that all international travellers would need negative PCR tests. It is not known whether the owners of the caravans were travelling for essential purposes.
People arriving from high-risk countries will soon have to quarantine in hotels for 14 days at a cost of up to €2,000 for adults and €500 for children, under plans being worked out by the Government. Those arriving from other countries will be required to have a negative Covid test and to isolate at home.
The move comes after figures showed that around half of passengers coming through Dublin Airport were returning from holidays.
The Irish Mail on Sunday reported last week that some Irish people were booking Botox and other cosmetic treatments in Lithuania, while some Irish travellers had been booking dental appointments to have an excuse to travel to locations such as Tenerife, but not showing up.
However, it was reported that after a crackdown, these bookings have dried up.
Trinity College Dublin Associate Immunology Professor Tomás Ryan said: ‘The quarantine system proposed is completely inadequate because they are not doing it for every country. We need blanket quarantine for every country including the UK. If we don’t try to eliminate the virus it is going to be a very slow 2021 so we need to make it more robust.
‘We should be doing everything we can to get to zero cases before the end of April.’