Sir, – Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has stated the difficulties of closing off Ireland from Britain, citing the Common Travel Area as a reason this cannot be done.While I love my British neighbours and would ordinarily welcome them with open arms, it is necessary and prudent to suspend the Common Travel Area, as a disease-control measure, until such time as Britain gets its epidemic under control and, if required, to seal the Border also, if travel is allowed from Britain to Northern Ireland.
It is simply common sense. – Yours, etc,
DAVID DORAN,
Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.
Sir, – Will Covid-19 force the new Government to choose either opening the country to international travel or opening the schools in the autumn? – Yours, etc.
JOHN COVENEY,
Shankill,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – I laughed last week when I heard a restauranteur on the news wanting to know if back-to-back seating was allowed. I’m not a metre from the other diner if we’re sitting back to back so I thought it was pretty obvious. While I was out yesterday I was surprised to find restaurants and bars using back-to-back seating on tables a metre apart, but when the chairs were factored in, diners were only about a foot apart. Can the rule be clarified? Is it a metre between tables or a metre between diners? – Yours, etc,
SIOBHAN O’CONNOR,
Dublin 1.
Sir, – Having watched the very moving and shocking look inside Ireland’s Covid-19 hospitals by RTÉ Investigates, I was reduced to tears seeing the horrible trauma suffered by those who were unfortunate enough to succumb to the disease and the absolute commitment and dedication of our frontline workers in the level of care and compassion they gave to their patients. They were often the only person allowed to be present as a patient drew their last breath!
Having witnessed this catastrophe, how could anyone of us be so selfish as to holiday abroad and risk inflicting this horror on our loved ones or anyone else’s loved ones on our return?
Inward travel restrictions are to be reduced from July 9th, including abolition of the 14-day self-isolation period, and without even temperature or Covid-19 testing facilities being installed at our airports or seaports!
What madness is this?
Why should the lives of our elderly and most vulnerable citizens be put at risk just to facilitate a fortnight’s holiday for some tourist who is just passing through and who we might never see again? There must be something seriously out of balance here.
In the absence of testing, there should be compulsory isolation introduced on public health grounds until an effective vaccine or treatment for Covid-19 is found.
I understand the economic arguments being expressed in relation to the damage to our tourism and aviation industries but further waves of Covid-19, with the consequential deaths and further lockdowns, mean those cannot be justified in this crisis. – Yours, etc,
BARRY O’SHEA,
Cork.