‘It’s like being in an open prison’ – public reaction to 5km restrictions
WITH LOCKDOWN SET TO EXTEND UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH, AND POSSIBLY BEYOND, THE PEOPLE OF WEXFORD TOWN HAVE THEIR SAY ON ITS IMPACT
FOR those of you who have been adhering to government guidelines the last two months have been a time of monotony and boredom, a series of unrelenting, neverending, groundhog days.
Unless you have reason not to, you will have spent this time travelling no further than 5 kilometres from your home, to the same places, day after day.
If you are fortunate enough to live within 5 kilometres of The Quay in Wexford town you will undoubtedly have gone for walks there, breathed in the sea air while looking at Curracloe in the distance, wondering when you’ll get back there.
We ventured there, onto The Quay, on a blustery Thursday afternoon to discuss lockdown, protests and ‘tetchy’ relationships with the daily walkers.
Like being in ‘an open prison’ is how Miriam Sinnott describes lockdown. She is meeting up with friend Rita Douglas for the first time since Christmas, sat on one of the benches enjoying a coffee.
And neither woman pulls any punches when discussing Covid-19.
‘Anyone coming into the country should be quarantined, because nobody’s doing it at home,’ Miriam says. ‘Every single person should be brought straight from the airport into a hotel, no matter where they’re coming from.’
And the protestors? ‘They should be locked up. Do they not have parents and grandparents? It’s a kick in the teeth to hospital staff,’ Miriam says.
‘What right have they to put all of us in danger?’ Rita asks. ‘They are being totally selfish and that’s it. It’s an extension of Trumpism.’
Both agree that this lockdown has taken a far greater toll on them than its predecessors.
‘We were all fantastic for the first lockdown but this particular lockdown has been the hardest, we are all just worn out, it’s mentally draining, and so boring,’ Rita says.
‘Will I go for a walk in the morning or the afternoon? That’s the biggest decision,’ adds Miriam.
Adding to the strain is a taoiseach who has yet to impress.
‘I have to say I’m not impressed by Micheál Martin, he’s a very weak leader,’ Rita says. ‘I had reservations about Leo but he was a stronger leader, Micheál is just milky.’
Pat and Winnie Sheil are also sat on one of the benches, also enjoying a coffee, when we approach them. Following Pat’s retirement in August 2019 the couple envisaged holidays abroad, travelling the world, and spending time with their grandkids.
Instead, like everyone else, they have been confined to their homes.
‘I think it’s terrible on people that are on their own,’ Winnie says.
‘And then it’s worse when you’re locked down with someone all the time,’ Pat says mischievously.
‘It’s getting very tetchy now at this stage,’ Winnie agrees. ‘Sure we can’t get apart, he retired two years ago and we had the plans for going here, there and everywhere, and what do you do? End up sitting at home looking at one another.’
Pat says he had been using the time to make ‘inroads into the garden’ until a wall fell down, he is waiting for that to be fixed before he can get his hands dirty again.
So now the couple walk. And despite their frustrations they are willing to endure weeks more of lockdown for the greater good.
‘I’d love to see restrictions extend to include the county but you have to be practical as well,’ Pat says. ‘If we stick with it till Easter or even the May Bank Holiday it might be finished then.
‘To open it up now for the summer and go back into again in September would be terrible.’
‘I think that would push people over the edge,’ Winnie says. ‘Then you see what happened in Limerick, and you can’t blame them, you can’t blame them, because they don’t see the impact of it.’
We stay talking to Pat and Winnie until the cold drives us onward, into the direction of Colm Murphy and Tony Brennan, a duo who are of a similar mindset to the Sheils.
‘It’s very tough when you hear it’s going to be end of April or early May (before lockdown ends), but you have to suck it up if it’s for the betterment of everyone,’ Colm says. ‘Hopefully when we open it up this time that’s the end of lockdowns.’
Commenting on the actions of the minority of young people who have broken restrictions, Colm says we could all learn a thing or two from our elders.
‘I understand people’s frustration from a number of different perspectives,’ he says. ‘But older people have lost their small routines, little things like going to shops and seeing people for maybe half-an-hour a day, that was their routine, and it’s all gone.
‘They’re the careful ones, again, learn from your elders. Young people have been doing great, the majority of them, and it is frustrating, we can’t socialise, do all the things we want to do, but it’s not going to last forever.’
Tony meanwhile is sympathetic to the younger people, mindful of the experiences they are missing out on.
‘It’s tougher on younger people, they’re at the stage in life now where they should be out enjoying themselves,’ he says. ‘They’re missing out on all that; school-going, college-going kids should be out having fun and they’re not able to.’
Lucky enough to be able to go out for a walk and see his friends most days, Tony also makes sure he keeps in touch with those living in more remote areas.
‘I’d tend to ring friends who are further afield nowadays, ring regularly to see how they’re getting on, I’d be a bit more conscious of that at the moment.’
We spot Shelmaliers hurling legend Noel Ryan out for his daily walk and ask him for his thoughts on lockdown and all it entails.
‘It’s troublesome, your freedom is gone,’ Noel says. ‘But you have to do it, it has to be done. The 5k is fairly stiff, I can only go as far as Castlebridge village, but I walk out here every day.’
Revealing that he hopes to get his vaccination at some point this week Noel believes the Government are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances.
‘No matter what government go in it’s hard to govern now, it’s hard to govern yourself now.’
Mark O’Hanlon is out walking with his dog, Rocco, and the
THIS PARTICULAR LOCKDOWN HAS BEEN THE HARDEST, WE ARE ALL JUST WORN OUT, IT’S MENTALLY DRAINING
ANYONE COMING INTO THE COUNTRY SHOULD BE QUARANTINED, THEY SHOULD BE BROUGHT STRAIGHT FROM THE AIRPORT INTO A HOTEL
first thing he wants to get off his chest concerns a long-standing issue in Wexford town.
‘We have The Quay here which is fantastic, the only thing is, I have a dog here, and I just wish people would just use the bins to clean up after theirs,’ he says.
Mark works as a porter in Wexford General Hospital and says that being able to work, to maintain his routine, has been a huge benefit.
‘I’m still working so I’m not too bad, it’s grand I’m not feeling it as much as some people.’
However, he’s reluctant to suggest we ease restrictions too soon.
‘All in good time,’ Mark says. ‘I think what happened at Christmas, where we had a bit of a rush, went too fast, is a warning. Politicians want to please everybody, but do what New Zealand did; close down if you have to but just do it once, this on and off, on and off, is not doing anyone’s mental health any good.’
Aware of how fortunate he is to be still working, Mark’s greatest sympathies go to those who are living alone and living in fear of the virus.
‘I feel sorry for those who over the winter months had their fuel bills go up because they were in the house more often,’ he says. ‘This is what we should be looking at, the elderly folk, that aren’t leaving their houses, and they’re scared, the news at the moment it’s too much, it’s too full-on, deaths and what have you, people don’t want to hear deaths, it scares them.’
Yet, as someone who goes out walking every day, Mark says he has seen positives emerge from the lockdown.
‘You meet people on The Quay, I’d say hello to everybody, if anything has come out of this it’s calmed people down a bit and brought communities together,’ he says.
‘People will say hello to each other and they’re not in a hurry anywhere, we’re in the situation we’re in but people are still being very friendly.’
Ordinarily if one of your closest friends was leaving the country for six months you’d have a proper knees-up, give them a send-off to remember.
But for Shendah Moran and her friends this option wasn’t available. Shendah is part of the Defence Forces and was meeting up with two of her friends on The Quay before shipping out to Mali this week.
‘I’m meeting for a coffee with friends before I head off,’ she says. ‘It’s my fifth trip altogether, but my first one to Mali, I’d say it’ll be different - I’ve been to Syria before so it’ll probably be similar to that.’