# Are we all in this together?



## SGWidow (20 Nov 2020)

How do people feel people are complying with the guidelines?

Personally, from what I've witnessed it is not surprising that progress has stalled.


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## joer (20 Nov 2020)

But I do think that most people are being sensible and are careful in their day to day lives. There will always be the people who either won"t do what they should be doing or do not give a damn about anyone but themselves. 
Unfortunately there is not much can be done about those people. If everyone cared about their health and not be so selfish then we all might benefit .


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## Leper (20 Nov 2020)

Like Joer said (above) most are sensible people but you'll always get the ones who refuse to comply with anything
1. Take Away Pints:- Has led to people illegally congregating near pubs and disobeying restrictions. Solution:- Ban Take Away Alcohol from pubs and arrest those drinking alcohol in public and fine them heavily.
2. Breaking 5 Kms Limit:- This is probably being broken more than any other restriction (my opinion). Solution:- Fine the transgressors heavily and confiscate their vehicles.
3. Many ignoring hand sanitisers and refusing to wear face masks:- Solution:- Allow Security Personnel to forcibly remove them head first and horizontally from supermarkets etc.
4. All those spitting and sneezing improperly in public:- Round them up and lock them in some cold gym for a month or two and hire some capable Draculas to haunt them. Also, feed them on bread and unsalted water only again in some cold gym/sportshall. Hire Purple and Leo to advise them the error of their ways. That'll learn dem.
5. If possible round up all those arriving from abroad at airports and seaports and confine them to an isolated communal huts with sleeping bags only.
6. Ban all foreign travel and close all our borders. I don't care if the border is at Lifford, Dublin Airport or Rosslare.

Are we all in this together? Yes we are. But, they are not. Time to stop pussyfooting with this pandemic and let's get rid of it. If they can do it in New Zealand and Australia, we can.


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## joe sod (20 Nov 2020)

The elephant in the room the RTE leaving party, that's why figures have plateau'd because not even the talking heads in RTE believe all the fear mongering they have broadcast over the last few months. Hopefully this brings balance to the whole debate especially as some of the hospitality industry on the verge of collapse


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## joer (20 Nov 2020)

Agree 100 per cent Leper. This "lockdown" is so much NOT like the earlier one. With the first lockdown there was hardly a car to be seen on our roads but now it is like everywhere is open. All the car parks in towns are full  I go for a walk in Carlow town, so where are everyone going ? Most shops are closed, people are working from home so why is there so much traffic on our roads. There are checkpoints everywhere, or should I say a Garda presence.
Some people cannot do with their pints ( take away). People still seem to be going on holidays. Some will not wear masks.
So like the thread says Are we all in this together.? It does not look like it .
The RTE leaving party just adds to the question.


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## Purple (24 Nov 2020)

joer said:


> I go for a walk in Carlow town


My condolences


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## joer (24 Nov 2020)

And what is your point,  give me a better one , its a great town, when it is up and running of course....


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## Purple (25 Nov 2020)

joer said:


> And what is your point,  give me a better one , its a great town, when it is up and running of course....


I was joking.


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## joer (25 Nov 2020)

I was not taking it serious,   but give me your version of a great town when things are "normal"...


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## Ravima (25 Nov 2020)

I think we were all in this together at the start. However, those in essential services and those who can work from home are different to those in the locked down economy - pubs, non food retail, restaurants etc. The former has money coming in, the latter don't. They may have the Covid payment, but many don't. Those who are working, but on pensions, get no payments. To make things worse, some public sector get overtime to rub more salt into the wounds. Covid fatigue is setting in and people are getting fed up.

School children lost education; students lose the familiarity and socialising with other students, which as well as drinking does in fact assist studies as they do help each other out; our elderly are imprisoned in their homes/hospitals/nursing homes, with few if any visitors. Is it any wonder that depression is rising; people are dying of loneliness and  the rest of us cannot grieve in death or celebrate marriage.


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## Purple (26 Nov 2020)

Ravima said:


> I think we were all in this together at the start. However, those in essential services and those who can work from home are different to those in the locked down economy - pubs, non food retail, restaurants etc. The former has money coming in, the latter don't. They may have the Covid payment, but many don't. Those who are working, but on pensions, get no payments. To make things worse, some public sector get overtime to rub more salt into the wounds. Covid fatigue is setting in and people are getting fed up.
> 
> School children lost education; students lose the familiarity and socialising with other students, which as well as drinking does in fact assist studies as they do help each other out; our elderly are imprisoned in their homes/hospitals/nursing homes, with few if any visitors. Is it any wonder that depression is rising; people are dying of loneliness and  the rest of us cannot grieve in death or celebrate marriage.


People who work overtime get paid for it, or should do, whether they are in the public or private sector.
I'm not sure what you mean by "Those who are working, but on pensions, get no payments". Is it that they are not getting welfare payments? If they still have a pension income they can hardly expect a "Covid Payment".
Other that that I agree; the impact on people who, in some cases, have been out of work since March is massive. That impact is financial and mental. People who suffer from mental health and addiction issues are finding this particularly difficult.


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## Tintagel (26 Nov 2020)

I was in Dunnes Stores Beacon Centre yesterday.  Old guy walking around with his mask hanging from his ear but drinking a coffee that he bought in the shop.
Great social distancing as you approached the checkout, except that they only had three checkouts open. This resulted in long queues down the aisles, so shoppers mingling with those queuing at the checkouts.  When they eventually opened an extra check out they opened it side by side with the other open checkouts. This meant that we were all on top of each other, packing our groceries at the back of the checkouts. So there was only social distancing at the front of the checkouts.  I do not understand why they could not have staggered the "open" checkouts as there were plenty of checkouts closed.


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## Leper (26 Nov 2020)

I just ran through the recent number of infections and improvements are very slow. I think the restrictions should remain as they are now for at least another 3 weeks and to be reviewed then.


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## joer (26 Nov 2020)

I agree at least until people cop-on and start taking this seriously .
There is no comparison this time to the first lock down. There was little or no one moving around then .  It is like a normal Christmas , every day , this time.


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## LDFerguson (26 Nov 2020)

The difference between the March lockdown and now is chalk and cheese.  I live in County Laois but am within walking distance of Carlow town.  (@joer will understand!  @Purple You'd be very welcome to come here to go for a stroll around this lovely place.  I'll take you for a stroll along the banks of the Barrow via Carlow Town Park and you'll understand what you've been missing. )  

Anyway, in March strolling around Carlow town was almost eerie, because it was so quiet.  Now it's as busy as any other year.  

And this is why the numbers dropped like a stone during the first lockdown and are not being stubborn this time around.  We've seen for ourselves in March what we can do but for various reasons, it seems that more and more are choosing not to do it the second time around.


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## Purple (27 Nov 2020)

LDFerguson said:


> The difference between the March lockdown and now is chalk and cheese.  I live in County Laois but am within walking distance of Carlow town.  (@joer will understand!  @Purple You'd be very welcome to come here to go for a stroll around this lovely place.  I'll take you for a stroll along the banks of the Barrow via Carlow Town Park and you'll understand what you've been missing. )
> 
> Anyway, in March strolling around Carlow town was almost eerie, because it was so quiet.  Now it's as busy as any other year.
> 
> And this is why the numbers dropped like a stone during the first lockdown and are not being stubborn this time around.  We've seen for ourselves in March what we can do but for various reasons, it seems that more and more are choosing not to do it the second time around.


I think it's more to do with household gatherings etc rather than people moving around towns and cities.
There are indeed some lovely walks near Carlow .


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## Leo (27 Nov 2020)

In Dublin, October pedestrian numbers were about 4 times what they were during April. Picking a point on the M50, traffic [broken link removed]in October are 2.5 times what was recorded in April.


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## Purple (27 Nov 2020)

Leo said:


> In Dublin, October pedestrian numbers were about 4 times what they were during April. Picking a point on the M50, traffic [broken link removed]in October are 2.5 times what was recorded in April.


The M50 is full of white vans in the mornings. Traffic seems close to summertime levels but not near what I'd expect at this time of year travelling South to North.


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## odyssey06 (27 Nov 2020)

The roads are a lot quieter than they would be in a typical November though, at least round Dublin Bay North.


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## Leo (27 Nov 2020)

odyssey06 said:


> The roads are a lot quieter than they would be in a typical November though, at least round Dublin Bay North.



I wonder does it just look a low quieter as volumes drop to what the roads network can comfortably handle before the gridlock builds? October volumes on the M50 are 75% of 2019 numbers, numbers on the main entry points all look around the same.

Lot of talk about Carlow earlier, volumes there are over 90% of 2019.


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## odyssey06 (27 Nov 2020)

Leo said:


> I wonder does it just look a low quieter as volumes drop to what the roads network can comfortably handle before the gridlock builds? October volumes on the M50 are 75% of 2019 numbers, numbers on the main entry points all look around the same. Lot of talk about Carlow earlier, volumes there are over 90% of 2019.



There could be an element of that, although usually the grid lock has already started on the Clontarf road, Howth road, Malahide Road approaches to the city. If there is gridlock, it must be kicking in a lot closer to the city centre. So the traffic volumes must be down by a certain % or it would start upstream?
A 25% drop might be enough to do it, to free up the usual bottle necks.


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## Paul O Mahoney (27 Nov 2020)

Maynooth looks like 5th Ave for certain periods of the day. I walk everyday especially in the College and its a lot more busy that the spring lockdown,  which is good as more and more people are appreciating what we have here, and with some very large new housing estates now occupied newer residents are getting to know the town and its history. 
We have a community based Facebook page and we all assist each other in whatever way we can. I started posting photos of the places of interest that surrounds the town and now we have a thriving group of amateur photographers capturing the town. 

I'm a community type dude, and I believe that communities are the way we might be able to get ourselves out of the economic problems that lay ahead.


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