Springing into action
WHILE the medical front-line is the only front- line on people’s minds right now, a host of ‘ mini front- lines’ are also doing their bit to keep society slowly moving through the fog of COVID-19.
Supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies and petrol stations are all helping to make a strange way of life seem somewhat familiar.
The same is true of Ballymac Dairy in Kielduff, situated on the outskirts of Tralee.
It’s where milkman Chris Maloney starts his day at 5am, a time when the anxieties chilling the world at present must seem less noticeable.
Chris loads his van with fresh milk sourced from a herd of over 100 Friesian cows belonging to Hanna and Paddy Landers, and sets off on his journey to the clinking sound of bottles in tow.
It’s life as normal.
But Chris explains how the quiet country lanes and deserted streets around Tralee have grown even quieter and more deserted since social-distancing.
Conversations with customers still continue, but like church confessions they take place in muffled voices behind partitions.
It’s now a climate where people live in friendly fear of
WE’VE GOT SOME LOVELY MESSAGES FROM PEOPLE THANKING US FOR KEEPING THE SERVICE GOING.
one another.
“It feels like life is still halfway normal for people if the milk turns up at the door every morning,” Chris said.
“I generally don’t see the customers, but I do have one customer who I only hear through the window talking about the weather and stuff like that. I do miss the bit of interaction.
“What’s different is the way I’m dealing with new customers. I now talk to them over the phone, whereas I used to stop by to chat and set up the order. That’s changed,” he added.
Chris delivers about a third of his weekly milk output to homes in Tralee and surrounding places such as Leith, the Spa, Ballyseedy and Farmer’s Bridge.
Home deliveries have increased since the lock-down measures were introduced.
“Business has been steady, and while we’ve lost a number of cafés and restaurants, the home deliveries have increased for obvious reasons.
“We’re still supplying shops around the county also. People are increasing their orders for home deliveries as they’re not going out as much to work, or anywhere else. There’s more people at home now, so there’s more usage,” he said.
Ballymac Dairy was set up in 2016, while Chris has been doing milk rounds since 2012.
Change is sometimes good in a job, but enforced change tends to demand more of us, and Chris describes social-distancing protocols as ‘stressful’.
“I do find it stressful. The same is true of any business out there that is still operating. You have to take new measures to make sure everything is hygienic, and we’ve had to tighten up procedures in our own plant.
“You’re obviously worried about getting sick, but we’re mainly worried about getting other people sick by passing the virus on.
“Though it’s been stressful, people really appreciate it, and we’ve been getting a lot of nice messages and calls from people to say ‘ thank you’ for keeping the service going. It kind of makes it all worth it.
“I don’t think anyone could have seen something like this happening.”