All silent at Ledwidge Museum as Covid hits Meath culture bodies

It’s a sign of the strange times we live in that the all the chairperson of the Francis Ledwidge Museum at Slane can do is look through  its locked gates at the bluebells in full bloom in the garden.
Terry Wogan said that everything is eerily quiet save for the birdsong and the rustling of leaves on the pathway. The museum and the beautiful garden space, which is such an attraction to visitors, has remained closed since Friday 13th March. “Over two months later, we can only ruefully reflect on the devastating impact that the lockdown has had on the museum”, he said.

That impact of Covid-19 has been widely felt in Meath where several cultural organisations have been badly hit by the crisis. Just a few days ago, I reported on the fact that the Office of Public Works will close off access to the chamber at Newgrange when the complex reopens in July. Access to the exterior of the mound and the visitor centre will be allowed, however. The restrictions are somewhat of a setback for Newgrange where access to the 5,000-year-old chamber is seen as a highlight of a visit there. The complex would normally have 5-6,000 visitors a week at this time of year (about 300,000 annually). Clare Tuffy of the Office of Public Works says that normal maintenance is taking place at the centre but it remains closed now for a number of weeks more.

Newgrange is currently closed to visitors.

Back at the Ledwidge Museum, Terry Wogan recalls that around the time of the introduction of the national lockdown, the volunteer museum committee had been looking forward to the St Patrick’s weekend which always saw many visitors and which was in many ways the start of the visitor season. “We were about to ramp up preparations for our primay schools poetry recital competition but this became the first of our planned events to be cancelled. Thanks to the teachers in local schools, the competition presents an opportunity to introduce children to the poetry of Francis Ledwidge and create an awareness of one of the great literary figures of Co Meath”.

The Francis Ledwidge Museum at Slane.

The guides at the museum, Paul, Anne and Catriona offer a warm welcome and engage enthusiastically with visitors to Ledwidge’s original cottage home, and now museum in his memory. The poet died on 31st July 1917 in the First World War.

Unfortunately, although the  museum is grant-aided by Meath County Council, the income stream provided by visitors to keep the museum going on a day-by-day basis has been wiped out. During May and June, the museum normally welcomes school and coach tour groups from around the country. Terry Wogan said that the very real concern for the museum committee is that not only have all bookings made by groups up to the end of July been lost but it is very hard to see if such group visits will be organised by any groups or societies at all this year. Reduced capacity on coaches to maintain social distancing make it unlikely that such groups can come. Another highlight of the year at Janeville (location of the museum) is Ledwidge Day which typically takes place on the last Sunday in July. All plans for it this year have had to be shelved.  That was the most important single source of income.

On a more positive note, Terry Wogan says that plans are being formulated for a reopening of the museum on 20th July. “The negative impact of lockdown on the museum is undeniable and the consequences will only become more apparent in the months ahead. We can only hope that we can come through it all with the support of the public and in particular the support of tourist partners and local authorities, that we will survive and look forward to brighter days ahead”. One silver cloud on a rather dull outlook was the celebration of the 90th birthday of Joe Ledwidge, Slane resident and nephew of the poet . Watch out for an article about Joe in Ireland’s Own shortly.

Another organisation which has been badly hit by the Covid crisis is the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society which has 450 members. It has had to suspended all meetings, including its annual general meeting. Its annual outing, a much-looked-forward-to event in the society’s calendar, has also gone by the board. According to Julitta Clancy, a long-standing member of the committee, a talk scheduled for July has had to be suspended and at this stasge it looks like it will be Septmber before it reviews its position on lectures and talks. “We try to keep in touch with members whom we would be concerned about. The cancellation of our events is a huge disappointment who were really looking forward to getting together. We can only look forward to the day when we come back with all our meetings and events”.

Solicitors hope for near normal working in courts

The President of the Meath Solicitors’ Bar Association has said that the Courts Service is working hard to get the courts back to working in as near normal conditions as possible.

Trim Courthouse. Photo © Google Maps.

James Murphy said that while the courts in the county were still functioning at a certain level, this was only achieved by the co-operation of court staff and legal practitioners. He said that some criminal cases and family law matters were being dealt with and he said that there had been invaluable assistance from the Garda authority at a local level. No one could be certain about what would happen in the future but it was essential that the health and safety of judges, court staff, Gardai and the general public was essential and nothing could be allowed to jeopardise that.

He was speaking as the President of the Law Society Michelle O’Boyle warned that it was certain that the working lives of practitioners would continue to change but this would demand creativity from practitioners themselves, service providers and stakeholders. She said that the Courts Service was putting in an intensive effort to reopen courthouses for physical hearings. A very low volume of cases is currently listed before the courts and talks have been in progress in an effort to improve this. Ms O’Donnell said that in recent months Law Society representatives have been engaging extensively with the Courts Service and the judiciary tlo also develop remote technology-based hearings. However, it was also agreed that it was unlikely that there would be a return to the volume and process of cases traditionally heard in the courts for a very long time, if ever.

“The capacity to deal with court work is now limited by the size of courtrooms and court buildings. Each courthouse building is different and therefore each courthouse presents its own unique challenges”. Ms O’Donnell said that there would be no court specific public health advice issued. The Government’s public health advice as issued by the HSE would apply in courts as it did universally. There would be an emphasis on personal responsibility of all court users to comply with the HSE public health advice. Quotas on the number of people permitted in a courtroom at any one time would be an expected feature of courtrooms in the future.

“Going forward, even the largest courtroom in the Four Courts will in future be restricted to no more than 15 people being present at any one time. It follows that smaller courtrooms are likely to have smaller quota”, the Law Society President said.

In addition, in order to comply with social distancing rules, signage would be in place to specifically identify where those attending at courtroom were permitted to sit. Courtrooms are currently being fitted with Perspex screens for the bench and hand sanitisers for the judges. The screens would make the use of microphones more important. If the use of face masks is introduced on Government recommendations, parties attending the court will be expected to provide their own.

Solicitors may be asked to keep a note of who accompanies them to a courthouse in case it may be necessary to access it subsequently for contact tracing purposes.  One piece of planning for the Four Courts is that, when a judge is sitting in one courtroom, the adjacent courtroom will be utilised as the waiting area for the next case.

To the extent possible, depending on the characteristics of different court buildings, a one-way system for the passage of people will be put in place. It will be very important that no one clusters or loiters in the corridors of court buildings. Ms O’Donnell said that local court managers would deal with each courthouse on an individual basis. She has put forward a proposal that a small users’ forum be set up by individual Bar Associations to work in consultation with the court manager to identify a pathway forward to conduct cases in local courts.

Navan traders face the Covid beast

There’s a saying that an ill wind always blow somebody good and this is certainly the case in one action taken by John Donohoe of Donohoe Electrical in Navan when in the early days   of the pandemic he ordered in a consignment of electric hair clippers so that the hirsute ladies and gentlemen of Navan could turn out neatly coiffured!

“They just can’t be got”, he said, “they flew out the door. I suppose everybody is making an attempt at home hairdressing”. Donohoe is one of the lucky traders who can resume business on Monday but there are many others who will have to wait for the Government green flag before they can open their doors again. I’ve just completed a survey among retailers in the town which shows that many retailers are struggling against the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak but are hoping that the own can bounce back when the pandemic eases.

The survey of  thirty or so traders in the main shopping areas of Trimgate and Watergate Streets  pointed to a sharp increase in business at butcher shops (as some customers avoid the crowding in supermarkets)  but there is a less hopeful picture for women’s and men ‘s fashion stores, pubs and cafes. Many traders are convinced that they will have to work in a different way in the future with much more emphasis on the internet to promote business and draw in potential customers. The fashion stores are severely impacted because they had stocked up for Spring and Summer before the lockdown. And business among auctioneers has slowed because of their inability to show potential buyers around properties but they are continuing at a low level behind the scenes.

When I caught up with John Donohoe by phone at Kennedy Road  he was restructuring  the interior of the store to accommodate social distances measures when he reopens on Monday. He has been operating behind the scenes while the store has been closed in recent weeks. There was a balance to be struck between members of the staff who could come in to work and those who, because some family members were vulnerable or had underlying medical conditions, had to stay at home. He has now created a “flow area” in the store where customers can circulate without having to come into close contact with others and others areas where staff will be isolated but still, able to deal with customers’ queries.

The store was opened in the mid-1960s. How does he feel about the present crisis? “I’m in business so I have to be optimistic. We’re lucky to be on the East coast – in areas where people have traditionally depended on tourism, they are facing devastation. For that reason I think we will escape the worst of the effects of the pandemic. You have to put up your stall and embrace the opportunities”.

  
For 75 years the Barry family has carried on a barber shop business at Watergate Street. It took a pandemic of the proportion of Covid-19 to force its doors to close for several weeks now. Gerry Barry carries on the trade started by his late father Aidan and is proud of the tradition carried down through all these decades. Speaking from his home in Kells he said that he closed up the week before St Patrick’s  Day. “I thought it was the safe thing to do for our own sake and the customers’ sake. In my memory it’s the longest time we have ever closed. We don’t even close for holidays – we stagger them out!.  There were still quite a few customers ringing up to see if they could have haircuts but he had to rule that out”. He has worked at putting in special measures to open his doors again when the Government gives the signal. “We have special gowns for the staff, each staff member will have their own instruments, ourselves and customers will be masked up, and we will let a certain number into the premises at any one time”.

“Navan is a good town, a prosperous town and it will do well. It will bounce back. The one thing I’d say about having to close is that at least the weather has been good – and there’s not a weed in my garden!”

Up to the imposition of the lockdown, Michael McGoldrick’s music and sales shop at Brews Hill had been open six days a week. He just had to close and has no complaints about that. As he said “there were no customers around in any case – people were scared for the first few weeks of this [the pandemic]. “It’s going to be a whole new world for everyone after this. I had no online presence up to this but I’m working on that now. I’m going to reopen on 8th June if we’re allowed and we will havr to play it day by day after that.  The only frustrating thing is seeing couriers flying about delivering goods from foreign suppliers. I’m trying to stay cautiously optimistic”.

At the Central bar and restaurant at Trimgate Street, the doors have been closed for weeks – and that includes the popular “inside-outside” café at the front of the premises where the town denizens could while away a half hour or two over their coffees and cakes. The 110 members of staff in the restaurant/bar (and the associated Bective Restaurant in Kells) have been laid off. Owner Michael Gavigan, who is also part of REA T&J Gavigan auctioneers, points to the US as an example of how we could recover following the fallout from the pandemic. He says the “Roaring 20s” was a “gold” period there whereas Europe embraced austerity.

“If we follow that European example into austerity, then God bless Ireland.  In our business, the Government will need to put VAT to zero and slash excise duty. Otherwise, you won’t be able to open your doors, you just won’t be able to break even”.  However, he remains optimistic about the future. “Towns like Navan, Trim and Kells are strong towns and they will come back. On the auctioneering side of our business, it’s quiet although there is still a strong demand for property. When people get back to work and get money into their pockets, things will come back”.

There aren’t many businesses in Navan that can boast a family history going back 200 years but at the sign of the clock in Watergate Street, Mary Walsh and her son Ronan are still carrying on the family jewellery business, albeit with a temporary closure in operation. Mrs Walsh, who has been greeting customers at the distinctive shop for decades, has had to “cocoon”. Ronan has been dealing with orders placed with the firm prior to the lockdown. “I’d be optimistic that a vaccine will be found£, he said, £but I suppose there is a danger  that the lockdown will be lifted too soon. I suppose one thing that might come out of the crisis is that people might support the town that they live in. The small businesses need the business much more than the multinationals do”.

John Joyce of John Joyce Interiors, also in Watergate Street, is waiting for a June date to be announced so that he can reopen his business. “I’m 40 years here and I’ve never seen anything like this. This is different. Nothing will ever be the same again. Life for the next six to 24 months will be entirely different. It’ll be like putting out each fire as it comes up”. Like many other business people, John Joyce has to deal with standing costs even though his doors are closed. However, he is determined to resume business. His only fear is that customers may fear coming out of their homes again. “I know a person in her 50s and she hasn’t left her home since this thing started. But you can’t lie down under this thing – you have to face it even if the world has changed a good bit”.

Publican Noel Foley in Watergate Street is determined that he won’t bring his staff back to work unless he can do it safely. He feels he might be in a better trading place than some country pubs when he gets the green light to reopen but he foresees big changes in the way people socialise.

The Room 8 Restaurant at Watergate Street , open more than four years, has been closed for only one week since the beginning of the crisis  and already Geraldine Cosgrove Nelson and her brother Aidan, have found a new way of working, now operating takeaway prepared meals. They had been available for phone-in orders on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays but business has built up to such an extent that  they have now added on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “We just had to adapt to a new style of working. We’re doing takeaway but still maintaining the highest standards. About the reopening, we think about it all the time. We just don’t know what is going to happen at the end of July.  Social distancing will be huge for us  - it will make doing business nearly impossible. We’re really missing the regular customers. Navan is a great little town and Watergate Street has really come up in the last few years. I think what’s coming out of all this is that people are conscious of where they spend their money and they ought to keep it in the town”.

Needs must. This was the case when Eimear Reynolds of Bakealicious in Cornmarket had to close her café. Before the pandemic struck, the company had built up a strong reputation for its “occasion cakes”. Two days before it became obvious that closure was inevitable, she shuttered the café. An online offering for cakes was launched on 30th March. The firm used Spotify and then hired DPD couriers to shift cakes to their destinations “in Meath but also from Kerry to Donegal”. She had to let her staff go at an early stage of Covid. She studied at Cathal Brugha Street in Dublin but when she graduated in 2012 there were no jobs so she sold cakes at farmers’ markets, and at the Meath company Sheridan’s. “This Covid thing is something you can’t fight. I couldn’t keep the doors open at Cornmarket. I really miss the customers coming in and out and you’d get to know them. There was no them and us – we were all there together for a laugh and a chat.  I’ll keep an online impact but the physical shop won’t be the same. We just have to come up with new ways of reaching out to people.

Newsagent Joe Tierney’s newsagent’s shop just around the corner from Cornmarket was established in 1895 and not even two world wars or the Spanish flu, which took the lives of more than 20,000 Irish people in 2018, prevented the shop from trading. His is one of the businesses considered essential so his doors are still open.  “This whole thing is surreal, it is going down into the very fabric of our lives. We’re thankful at least that we are able to continue trading but I fear for the economy.  There may be 2-3 years of hardship ahead of us. I think the Government has done well in  distributing information but also challenging misinformation.  The way you look at all this depends on what business you’re in – for instance I look at the Central here beside me and the number of people who had to be laid off. These are people who would be spending in every other shop in the street. There is relief on rates but where is the county council going to get money to keep services going when there is no money coming in?

Another newsagent Jimmy Reilly at Brews Hill has been in business for 30 years and has never seen anything like the present situation. “These are tough days, they are weird. I carry a small amount of groceries and people come in so they can avoid the supermarkets. I think things will come back – this town is strong enough to do it. I would be optimistic about the future. I open here seven days a week and I take Sunday afternoon off. Aren’t I doing well?!”

Independent Councillor Francis Deane is a former chairman of the Navan Traders’ Association. “A big issue for quite a number of traders is the fact that they had bought in stocks of Spring and Summer wear before the lockdown but then had to shut their doors. There has been friction when a lot of these people have seen the big chain stores being able to open their clothing departments while they have to remain shut. For instance, Tesco opened its drapery and was selling stuff at half price. These big stores had their doors open and thousands of people walking through. That has to be unfair. I know that the county council has suspended rates for three months but that should be extended to six months for struggling traders. Also, there should be a freeze on parking charges when the pandemic is over."

How are you coping in Oldcastle?

JOHNNY GUIRKE TD

I’m just settling in to the new job. Up to fairly lately I was working in the building and being a councillor. My area is Meath West is huge so I have set up an office in Castlepollard to serve the Westmeath end of the constituency and I will have an office in Trim shortly. One of the first problems I come across here is the lack of good broadband coverage so I normally go into Castlepollard to do my constituency work and deal with matters there.  I have a secretarial assistant who will split his time between the two office and deal with administration. The biggest barrier to get day-to-day work done is Covid-19. Because there’s an awful lot of people you can’t meet because of Covid, you have to make do with the phone, emails and zoom. The issues that we campaigned on in the General Election, like the future of Navan hospital, the railway between Navan and Dublin and the underfunding of the local authority are all in the front of my mind. The Covid has added to the number of queries coming into the office. We would have about 100 queries  a week at the moment and I’m sure that will go on for some time. Myself and Darren O’Rourke in Meath East work very well together in the interests of the whole county. The Cocid crisis is affecting everything  but the number of volunteers offering to help out is tremendous and I have to mention the GAA clubs in this regard. They are just outstanding.

Oldcastle.

GERRY MCDERMOTT MENSWEAR

We certainly haven’t seen anything like this in my lifetime. The shop is open 60 years and I took over from my father 35 years ago. We closed on St Patrick’s weekend.  Our daughter had to have a test leading up to that and luckily she was clear. We had to self-isolate but we were closing within a few days anyway. The whole situation is unreal. I’m self-employed and my wife Carmel works with me part-time. I find it all so unusual –I can’t remember  taking a week off in 30 year. It’s a complete change of life for me. Behind all of that, at least we are fit and healthy and we can cope but I feel for other people who are in worse conditions. We’re closed 12 weeks now and, you know, you don’t get that money back. I’m lucky enough in that I have a farm and a garden and I’m chairperson of the Tidy Towns Committee so that keeps me going. And we’re v ery lucky with the weather – I can’t remember when we last had a Spring like this with such a stretch of unbroken good weather. We don’t know what’s happening in the future. There are still some fixed costs to be paid and then we have Spring and Summer stock that’s not sold but the suppliers will be looking for their money.

JUSTIN BURKE BARBERS

I’m in business in Oldcastle for 14 years. I’m originally from Ballymun, Dublin and opened the business before I bought my house in Ballyjamesduff. I work the business with one full-time staff member. I’m closed eight weeks now and they’re talking about reopening on 20th of July. But that’s only a target date. I can actually see it going into August. The loss of business is only part of it. The lack of interaction between ourselves and the customers is huge. I sponsor Oldcastle United team and a lot of the lads would come in. The loss of social aspect is very important.  It’s a huge part of life. Lads would come in and you’d hear a lot of their day-to-day problems. You’re like a barman – you hear a lot of the problems they have but you don’t offer an opinion.  It’s important for men’s health. Myself and Shane Farrelly set up a group for over-35s and we try to keep in touch with Whatsapp. I have my wife and kids in Ballyjamesduff but I have another extended family here in Oldcastle in the number of lads who come in to me. When we eventually come back, there’s going to be major disruption with the operation of social distancing and all that. It’s going to affect businesses in a severe way. You’ll have landlords who will be great and will take into account the circumstances of businesses but there’ll be other landlords who will be looking for their money even though the businesses haven’t been able to operate. I just miss the whole interaction of the thing. I’, all over the shop myself and I’m trying to do a bit of gardening and doing a bit of gardening for other people.

DONNA MCQUAID, PHARMACIST

I’m from a place called Tempo in Co Fermanagh and moved to Oldcastle in 2001. We have seven full-time and part-time staff. We could see when the virus was coming out of China it would only be a matter of time before it hit us. We put precautions in straight away, with social distancing, signage and all the rest of it. We do deliveries to vulnerable people. Now we had volunteers to help us but we do a lot of the deliveries ourselves. I’ve been up and down good roads, bad roads, bog roads, valleys and hills of Co Meath and Co Cavan. There was panic at the beginning. In fact, some people thought we would be closed but we’re an essential service and that was never going to happen.  We had always done emergency calls or out-of-hours service so we had no problem with that. There’s no doubt that many people are worried. Sme people have lost their jobs and we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. I think the Government has done a fantastic job, We have now flattened the curve. I have a husband and three children. My husband is a great support – in fact I’ve roped him in to do deliveries. I’m just glad I still have a business and I’m able to open my doors. I look up and down the street and see the number of businesses that have had to close. It must be very difficult for people.

PETER CAFFREY FURNITURE

We have stopped manufacturing except for a contract we’re doing fo Meath County Council. All furniture shops are closed so there’s mo point in making stuff that the shops can’t take. We will have to wait for the opening of the shops before anything happens. In any case, we wouldn’t be able to get raw material for manufacturing.  We’re waiting to see what happens on the 18th and whether shops will be allowed to open. There should be more clarification on that. We have 55 staff and everyone has been laid off. It’s very difficult for  everybody.  We’re  40 years in business and we have never seen anything like this. What am I doing at the moment? I’m ringing people up for a chat and I watched the 1997 rerun of the Meath versus Kildare football, that’s about it. Everybody is waiting for clarification about what happens next.

DECLAN FLOOD, BUTCHER

Can you ring me back at 1.30 [fist phone call was made at 10.30], we’re run off our feet here trying to get out orders. [1.30pm] That’s better, it’s calmed down a bit. We stayed open fropm the beginning [of Covid] and we’re working extra hours to cope with the amount of work. There was a huge increase in trade. People are sending in orders by phone from all over the place – they’re coming from Oldcastle but from Cavan, Westmeath and some people have even phoned orders in from Dublin. They’re filling in their freezes out there. People are afraid out there and they’re pulling up outside the shop and won’t leasve their cars so we bring the order out to them. We’re open since 1973 and it all started up with my father Johnny. We’re a family business and myself and my b rother Martin run it. There are five of us in the shop and we have our own slaughterhouse an d we buy from local farmers. We have our regular customers but we have seen a huge increase in trade – it seems that some people have moved away from the supermarkets and are turning to the smaller local butcher. We’ll take it all. I have my own farm and 50 cows to look after. 

CONCEPTA SMITH, TIGER LILY BOUTIQUE

I run the shop myself and I had to close from 17th March. There was no point in staying open because Oldcastle was like a ghost town. I opened in 2006 but then we had the recession after that. And that was fairly tough. We’re all in the same boat with this crisis. You don’t know when you’ll be able to reopen and then whether people will have any money to spend. I think there will be a lot of uncertainty when this is over. Then we will be wondering is the virus will come back. We’ll be wondering when people will be able to go out for a Saturday night for a bit of a social life and will they have money to spend on outfits for weddings, funerals, First Communions. I’m hoping to reopen myself  but I know things will be very tight. It’s just a waiting game at the moment. When the shop is open I’d have Sunday and Monday off, Now I just do things around the house but I go for a 10-mile walk around Loughcrew every day.

EUGENE SMITH, DUBLIN BAR

I’m working in construction myself and because I’m looking after the international side of the company’s trade I’m still in work. My parents Owen and Patricia bought the pub 41 years ago and they made a great job of it. It has won many awards including Black and White Pub of the Year. They just  don’t know what is going to happen. Will the pubs be reopened on a phased basis? We don’t know. The idea of operating social distancing in a country pub is a hell of a lot different to operating it in a city pub. The rural pubs have already been going downhill, I don’t know what Covid will do to them. My parents are going up and down to the pub every day, keeping it maintained and planting a few flowers. When things come back to normal the Government is going to have to look at reducing the excise duty on alcohol and reducing VAT. People are already going to supermarkets to buy alcohol so I don’t know whether they will return to the pub.

Keogan and Hoey seats on Meath Co Council to be filled

The process of filling two seats on Meath County Council left vacant by the election to the Seanad (Senate) of Councillors Sharon Keogan and Annie Hoey is now under way and the co-options are expected to take place when the council meets for its annual general meeting early in June.

Labour's Annie Hoey.

Senator Hoey is attached to the Labour Party and party officials have now written to members of the Jimmy Tully Branch of the party in East Meath seeking applications to fill the county council seat. If more than one person applies, a party convention will be held and members will vote on their preference for nomination.

Sharon Keogan was elected to the Seanad.

In the case of Senator Keogan, who sat on the council as an independent, she followed the existing practice in the council in which she named her successor to be placed in a sealed envelope and lodged with the council pending the holding of the meeting in June.

She said today (Thursday) that the task of getting people to apply to be a councillor was a difficult one and at least two people she had asked had declined to be put forward. She said that she had nominated a woman for the position but did not want to disclose her name at this stage. She said that her nominee had the support of several independent councillors on the council.

Golf clubs prepare reopening plans in anticipation of relaxation of restrictions

Golf clubs are preparing "ready-to-play" plans in the event the Government lifts some of the restrictions on sporting activities within the next couple of weeks.
Several clubs have had detailed plans prepared for some weeks in order to meet social distancing and other guidelines while others have documents in draft form which will then be adjusted when the Government releases more information.
Although playing has stopped at all clubs since the start of the lockdown, greenkeepers have been working in the background to maintain courses while managers and administration staff are keeping in touch with club members through emails and social media.

A spokesman for the Royal Dublin Golf Club, which has 1,100 members, said that while it had a number of guidelines prepared to cover a variety of scenarios, a complete plan would have to await release of the Government's plans in relation to sporting activities.
The club had been in touch with golfing associations in Sweden, Australia and Denmark to see how they were operating.

Royal Tara

Ray Keogh, Honorary Secretary of the Royal Tara Golf Club in Co Meath where 800 members play, said that up to a week before the lockdown the club had remained open but since then everything had closed down apart from course maintenance by seven staff.
Club officials were working on a plan in the event the Government lifted restrictions and he anticipated this would be ready this week. He said the club would miss events like competitions, a vintage car rally and a fashion show which had all been a feature of their activities.

Elm Park

Tom Ryan, course director at Elm Park Golf Club (2,000 members), said that while there was a "pent up" feeling among members who were anxious to get back out onto the course, this would be strictly monitored and controlled by the club.
"Before the lockdown we were already operating safe procedures in accordance with Golfing Union of Ireland and Government guidelines. The GUI had suggested the ending of all competitions and we followed that. We had put in a lot of safety features for both players and staff. We made sure that course equipment like rakes, ball washers, refuse bins were all removed and we turned hole cups upside down so that players would not have to reach down into the hole for ball retrieval."
He said that if restrictions were lifted, timesheets would be strictly controlled and players would not be allowed arrive early at the course or be allowed congregate in groups there. When golfing was finished, players would have to leave the area immediately. If restrictions are lifted, the club anticipated there would be a "surge" of members wanting to play but they would not allow a flood of people through the gates at the same time, Mr Ryan said.
The playing situation would have to be managed carefully over a couple of weeks.

Bellewstown

Michael Leonard, owner/manager, Bellewstown Golf Club said that the club had put in restrictions for the three weeks preceding the lockdown. All equipment like rakes, ball washers, etc, had been removed. The club already had a "Covid-19 Plan" in place but that was being updated in the event restrictions would be lifted. They would also put in special arrangements for the 60-plus age group to allow thjem play from 10-11am each day.

Co Meath Golf Club

Michael Fortune, Chairman, Co Meath Golf Club at Trim said that the club had put in a range of precautionary measures prior to the lockdown and extra measures would be implemented if restrictions were lifted. Cocooning members will not be able to use the course and the club was following all  GUI and Government guidelines. He said that most clubs and their members were looking forward to some lifting of the restrictions to allow some limited form of play to be resumed.