How are you coping in Kells?

COUNCILLOR SEAN DREW

When the virus came in first we didn’t know what was facing us and how serious it would be but as time moved on I think the biggest fear among people was for their health. People worried about loss of social welfare entitlements. One of the biggest lot of enquiries I had was from people who didn’t know whether they were going to remain in their jobs and where their income was going to come from and whether they could pay their bills or put food on the table.
The one thing you could do for them was try to reassure them and point them in the right direction. And then wearing my accountancy cap was had employers and businesses making contact. There were also self-employed people who rang up asking if they would be entitled to payments of any sort so again you tried to give them advice and guide them to the right sources of information.

Kells town with its round tower.

There were also employees who contacted me and explained how they were afraid to go into work, and not so much worrying about themselves but their families. It is also a stressful time for parents of young people. I know people had been giving out about some teenagers gathering around the place but that’s only in a minority of cases. Actually, most parents want to do the right thing. I have also been talking to a number of health workers and they too worry about having to go to work and then rejoining their families in the evening – it is very difficult for therm.
I have a few pals who are men and I try to ring a few of them each morning because I know they are under pressure with social isolation. Normally, people can go to the pub for a drink or go to their locl sports club and mix around. That is all gone and I worry about the mental health of some people who are so unused to what is happening now. I try to go for a walk myself and greet people at a distance. The one thing we are really sorry about is the way funerals have to be conducted. There have been a number of non-Covid funerals in Kells in the last couple of weeks and it is terribly sad to see just 10 people following a hearse into a graveyard. Because of the way we usually conduct funerals in Ireland, when the community comes together to support the bereaved, that must be very hard on families. I feel sorry that we are not able to console people directly.

PETE HAND, CARLANSTOWN KILBEG RESPONSE GROUP

We have 47 volunteers on hand to do whatever is needed in the present situation. The group I am involved with is linked in with the Order of Malta. I set up a web page in 2018 for residents affected by Storm Emma to coordinate assistance and to give information about the storm. However, I decided to keep it open for all urgent and adverse events in the community.  We dealt mainly with getting supplies to farm and for road clearance but when Covid came up we knew that there were high risk people in the community who might need help from us. We liaised with Deputy Peadar Toibin, Cllr Sean Drew and Cllr Paul McCabe and then , of course we linked in with the Meath Food Bank in Trim, the Order of Malta in Kells, the Red Cross in Trim, Meath River Rescue and, of course the Bravo Charlie Tango Bikers group. Our priority is the high risk people, those suffering from cancer, and long-term conditions like COPD and cystic fibrosis.

DAVID CAMPBELL, O’CONNOR’S BAR, FARRELL STREET

I came back from the United States with my family in 2005 after being there for 20 years. I was in two different places in Kells but now I’m in Farrell Street . I closed the pub on 16th March. The previous weekend was a washout, I could see what way things were going. Ub the normal way I’d open at 4pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 1pm on Friday and then the regular hours at the weekend. I have a wife and three kids (the twin boys are doing their Leaving this year). I’d normally have a set routine, I’d be an early riser and I’d be up and down to he pub four or five times a day. Now I’m just walking the dog. I got some relief there when Sky TV cancelled the subscription. The insurance on the pub would be a big issue for me – it costs e9,000 a year and that’s paid in instalments of e800. I have a policy that caters for loss of business but as somebody else said to me lately, don’t hold your breath. I’ve been working since I was a teenager. KI left Ireland at 18. The way I see this crisis, if there’s a re-opening of businesses, the pubs and restaurants will be the last ones to re-open. I think we’re looking at the end of June before anything will happen.

One of Kells' high crosses with the round tower.

MICHAEL GIBNEY, MANAGER,  SUPERVALU 

(PROPRIETOR LARRY O BRIEN ASKED MICHAEL TO SPEAK TO US) 
From the very start of the virus we had to act very quickly. We ordered up protection for the stff and then kit was also  a case of covering up or wrapping certain products like unwrapped brad, and making sure the fish counter was properly protected. We have roughly 90 full and part-time staff and obviously we informed them what was happening and why it was happening and the need for protection. We took advice from Musgraves and the HSE about things we needed to do in the store. I suppose the whole dynamics of the supermarket have changed. In a normal week, before this virus struck, we would be operating efficiently because there is a system to it but with this virus business things were changing from day to day and you had to cope with that . I suppose you’d call it “the new normal”. The online and delivery service has gone through the roof. I’m at home at the minute with my wife Geraldine and children Cathal and Ellen but I keep in touch with the store.

CATHAL MC ENTEE, UNDERTAKER 

We’re into the fifth week of this virus now. This the oldest business in Kells, 121 years. For a long time we didn’t know exactly when kit opened  but then the Meath Chronicle published its Centenary Book in 1997 the actual transaction was there. But there was a further mystery when we read that the business had been founded on St Patrick’s Day and we scratched our heads and said there couldn’t have been a legal transaction on that day. Then of course we realised British rule was in force and St Patrick’s Day wasn’t celebrated with a public holiday. There’s a lot of proper Charlies in the family – my grandfather was Charlie, my father was Charlie, my own name is Charlie in Irish, my son is Charlie and HIS son is Charlie. Yes, there has been an increase in business, unfortunately it’s awful that some people have lost their loved ones to the virus but even with normal funerals, they have to be conducted in accordance with government guidelines. It is very hard for the bereaved, and indeed for us, to cope with all this. The priority is to ensure that  a funeral is conducted with as much respect and dignity as possible, despite the circumstances. The church services are being held in private and all families can do is say that the person’s life will be celebrated at a later date. In non-religious funerals we ensure that they are conducted with the same degree of respect and dignity.

FR JOHN BYRNE, PARISH PRIEST

We have 7,000 parishioners and this is a very strange time for everyone. In normal circumstances we would have the Holy Week ceremonies in public and that will have to be done in a different way this year. We had some funerals but of course we can only have 10 people present in the church. But it’s great to have the internet. We had a funeral lately and relatives in the Arab Emirates and California were able to watch the funeral Mass live. I have to isolate myself because of my age but our curate Fr Sebi is able to look after funerals. Of course, there is a loss of income for the church has fallen but we have our reserves and we can work on that to keep ticking over. I know some parishes would be in difficulty in this regard. But I would also say that people are very generous. We have a bill of insurance coming up for e10,000 but we will be able to cope with that. The main hing is to keep ourselves available 24/7 if people need to talk to us. That is what we are here for. I’m 50 years a priest and I have never seen anything like what we are seeing now. We have daily Mass on the internet at 9.30am but that will go back to 10am next week. Today, Holy Thursday we will broadcast Mass at 5pm and on Good Friday we will have Mass at 3pm. The Saturday Mass will be at 8pm, and  Easter Sunday at 11.30pm. Parishioners can see these Masses on the internet www.kellsparish.ie