Unlocking Ireland - an unprecedented thread no. 6

[CherryValanc]

A sixth thread in Craicnet!!

Who thought that would ever happen!!? Has there even been a sixth page before?

Grace Kelly had ancestors in Mayo I believe. That'll do us for the South of France.

See, I read it as Daniel O'Donnell and thought I'd missed the news!

@mrsfeatherbottom

See, I read it as Daniel O'Donnell and thought I'd missed the news!

Don't be silly, @mrsfeatherbottom, if Daniel had so much as a sniffle, you'd hear the wailing from Donegal to Dingle.

I'm up for a tour of the globe a graveside visit.

Just seen the numbers .. v high for a weekend evening; 769 new cases..I thought it was high before when it was at the 500 mark during the week but this seems v high for a Sunday..
how will they relax things if the cases are still so high?

That's very high, half. How are the cases staying so high when we've been in lockdown since Christmas?

I've just seen the case numbers. They are the highest since the 26th of February

I just can't understand it Fuzzy.

Me neither, Apile.

It's awful. We just don't seem to have a handle on it at all. But sure thousands still flying in every week and no quarantine system in place even the tracing system is crap. I just don't have any faith in them at all now. And the constant finger wagging at us. It's not my fault the numbers aren't going down! I feel like a bold child at around 6pm every day.

This lockdown will be extended til end of June for sure. Well sure they've leaked it already haven't they My DH is convinced the remaining secondary school pupils won't be going back after Easter. I'm afraid he might be right.

Given that I've heard of a few schools where classes have been sent home and everyone tested, I'm going to assume school reopening has something to do with it...it could be one of those high blips we seem to get, though.

The deaths are low (thankfully) but those case numbers!

My dad is getting quite depressed at the prospect of the 5km not being lifted in April. Mind you, I'll have gone back to Dublin by then, so I suppose technically he could form a bubble with my brother and family and would at least be able to go there and see the grandkids and go for walks around there.

I was also wondering if it's to do with the schools. The Leaving Cert. pupils must be back a few weeks now. And some (or is it all?) of the primary school classes.

In other news, Miriam O'Callaghan has her house up for sale. It's more tastefully decorated than Sinead's house. But it's not by the sea. So on balance, I think I'll stick with Sinead's house in Bray.

I don't think you can read too much into one day's result, but I would be concerned that we're seeing the impact of the schools reopening too. The numbers were bound to go up now that many children are back at school. Mothers' Day and St Patrick's Day might cause a further increase we haven't seen yet. Though loads of people will have been very careful for those events, some probably chanced things a bit.

Yes, they started to go back on the 5th of March (juniors to 2nd).
I'm also wondering if 1st years to TY will go back mid-April.

I thought the juniors to second classes, as well as the Leaving Certs, started back on March 1st, Fuzzy? So they're back three weeks now. The schools for children with special needs opened fully from March 1st too (they had been partially opened earlier). The preschoolers are back two weeks now and the remaining primary school classes and 5th years started back a week ago.

Yes, you're right, Lizzie, it was the 1st of March.

Just hope the numbers stabilise again, it's worrying.

Yes. I hope it's a blip and not the start of another upward trend.

I dont understand the secrecy around schools. I've heard from two teachers that I know, that they have been told not to say how many cases are in their schools. This has been a thing from the start but there are a lot of cases in schools. I am terrified of the day it lands in ours and it will, it's just a matter of time. It light already be in the school and we just dont know.
Parents should know though right?

My neighbours: household a had two sets of kids and grandkids, plus sister and bil in for mother's day plus a trip to the graveyard. Household b apparently have the three grandchildren to stay every Friday. Household c have resumed their two daughters calling in to see mammy on their way back from school runs. Houses either side of me have dads living elsewhere, so the kids are between two households.

So five houses around me are mixing.

I'd say we don't know the half of it. I know kids who were on playdates and sleep overs. Just don't understand that they don't realise it just drags everything out for longer.

I don't get the secrecy around schools either. What's the point? Why can't people just know what's going on?

In my large Midlands town, there was one case in a primary school last week - no one else in the class tested positive - so that’s good. The primary school my son attends has about 450 students and there’s been one case since September - no one else in the class got it. So schools don’t seem to be an issue here at least - meat processing plants on the other hand definitely are, plus I can see families mixing again quite a bit. Im worried that schools won’t be back after Easter. I was so sure when they were breaking up for Xmas that they would be back 😩

Hopefully just a blip.
I can totally see people relaxing the rules locally though.
I've been hardcore myself all year but I dunno - since the anniversary passed and the schools went back I'm more inclined to just run up to the shop for bread and milk rather than wait for the delivery etc.
So I'm probably part of the problem tbh

The schools are contributing to the spread if not the main driver. The FB group "alerting parents to outbreaks" are putting several cases daily all passed by administration as genuine HSE notifications.
In saying that all the DC are mixing outside of school too with the good weather, never mind teenagers.
Hopefully outdoor sport will open soon.