We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
GARDAÍ CONDUCTED A number of checkpoints over the weekend in Kildare, Laois and Offaly following new regional regulations announced Friday to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the Midlands.
The restrictions, which came into effect at midnight on Friday, relate to businesses, travel and social interactions. They will be in place for two weeks and then will be reviewed.
Food businesses in these counties can only operate a takeaway/deliver service and gatherings are limited to 15 people outdoors and six people indoors. Residents in the three counties are also being asked not to travel outside their county.
Gardaí are using the checkpoints to remind the public of the new regulations – particularly in relation to travel.
They can also take action if certain businesses remain open or operate outside of the regional regulations.
Enforcement
Although residents are being asked not to travel outside the country and there have been checkpoints in operation over the weekend, gardaí do not have powers of arrest in situations where a driver continues on a journey outside the county.
Gardaí at checkpoints are asking residents where they are travelling and why as well as reminding them of the public health advice and the new local guidelines.
Government restrictions state residents in these counties can only travel within the county, other than for the following reasons:
While it is not a requirement to carry a letter from an employer, it may help speed along interactions at a checkpoint.
The government has said people should also not travel into any of the three counties for any reason other than those listed above. Drivers are allowed to travel through these counties to get to another destination.
The new local regulations do provide penal provisions in relation to indoor and outdoor gatherings as well as the provision of certain business services.
This means gardaí can take enforcement action if there is, for example, an outdoor gathering of more than 15 people in one of these counties, or if a pub or restaurant accepts customers into the premises to sit down for a meal.
Under the regulations all cinemas, theatres, casinos, betting shops, bingo halls, gyms, leisure centres, swimming pools, exercise and dance studios are required to close, so the same policing enforcement would apply to these premises.
Policing by consent
Today An Garda Síochána urged the public to continue to work together to minimise the risk to each other. In a statement it said it will continue to adopt a graduated policing response “based on its tradition of policing by consent”.
“This has seen garda members engage, educate, encourage and, as a last resort, enforce.”
It said gardaí at checkpoints have been focused on supporting public compliance with public health measures which are being implemented in the three counties.
Speaking today, Deputy Commissioner, Policing and Security, John Twomey said: “Throughout the country, there has been a huge national and local effort to date in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, but Covid-19 remains a real threat.
“Once again, we as a community must flatten this new curve in the virus. As a community based organisation, An Garda Síochána is very aware of the impact increased restrictions place on our communities and we will continue to work closely with these communities to support them at this challenging time.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Honestly if people can’t do what is being asked of them for the good of every person in Ireland we are a lost cause. People refusing to wear face coverings and people refusing to stay in their own county for 2 weeks is not a lot to ask. It’s starting to sound like a school playground with the cries of “your not the boss of me and you can’t tell me what to do”.
@Olivia Smith: that’s OK. My area people hv been doing what’s asked for months now. But we are bk in lockdown. 50 kms from a cluster of 11. It’s hard on kids who were looking forward to few days away before going bk to school and now it’s being treated like we have the plague. Selective politics that’s happening now.
@LITTLEONE: It’s only for 2 wks so surely you can still get away for a few day’s? Listen it’s going to happen to other parts of the country so we just need to suck it up and get in with it.
@Olivia Smith: 2 weeks time kids getting ready to go bk school. People were encouraged to staycation so had places booked. Politicians need to keep up on geography. Ridiculous locking down entire county for a cluster closer to Dublin than most of South offaly.
@Olivia Smith: only 2 weeks sure. Remember the 2 week lockdown the Taoiseach announced in late March to stop the hospitals being overrun? Was over before we knew it.
@Olivia Smith: who died and made you judge and jury?!?!?, there are many many reasons why this lockdown of the 3 counties was totally unavoidable, cases in the meat factories in Offaly dating back to May, what actions were taken then by the government?, it was allowed to get out of control, people are tired of the double standards and most people have played their part, because if they hadn’t it’s not only the 3 countries that would be locked down now, so before coming on here full of platitudes just think the vast majority of people are doing everything necessary to protect themselves and others.
@LITTLEONE: Iv family In tullamore and they are also in this 2 wk lockdown but you just have to get on with it. I’m sure the government didn’t invision an outbreak when they advised about staycations. You can always go away on the midterm break. It’s not the end of the world and if the place you booked with refused to change dates or refund skate them all over social media.
@LITTLEONE: in two weeks kids will be getting ready to go back to school?
Really?
Do kids really need two weeks to ‘get ready’ to go back to school? I always thought they just went.
Maybe it’s actually the parents who need two weeks to ‘get ready’ to go back to school in which case, these two weeks could be spent doing all that stuff so the rest of the time is free for a quick holiday before school starts?
@Barry: and most of us lived to tell the tale.
@Olivia Smith: wonder would you enjoy for the next 2 weeks. Every time you leave your house to go visit your doctor. Dentist. Chemist etc having to explain to the gardai why you are leaving your lockdown. Because we do. Because we are on tipp/offaly border and closet town happens to be in tipp. Nonsense
@Olivia Smith: But for the ministers there are no rules because they think that they are above the law.
@LITTLEONE: We did have to do exactly that for nearly 5 months so 2 wks wouldn’t bother me to be fair. If it happens in Dublin I will get in with it best I can.
@Dara O’Brien: we are in lockdown for 2 weeks. How many days does that leave. Not many. People can’t just take off on a whim. You do realise parents work..
@Hans Vos: ??
@Olivia Smith: Diffence is. You have every thing on your doorstep in Dublin. We don’t. So you being confined to the county. No hardship. For people living on border of another county. They usually use services in another county due to cutbacks. Eg limerick hospital being one we use…
@Kate Flaherty: *avoidable.
@LITTLEONE: And did you skip part the essential travel exceptions ie: medical needs.
@Olivia Smith: no Olivia I didn’t skip medical needs exceptions but you don’t seem to be comprehending everything we do is in the closest town to us which is in tipp. Going other way takes us closer to the cluster. Which is nonsense. Even rural bus that takes elderly shopping every week goes into tipp. What should they do for 2 weeks… Geography lessons should have been part of discussions before a blanket lockdown on entire county
@LITTLEONE: stay safe and hopefully this will be the only hiccup for the 3 counties, infuriating I know but sure look it will be another county or three down the road…
@Kate Flaherty: I think you are right. After the bh weekend we should see more case arise
@LITTLEONE: Same as they did with the original lockdown.
@Kate Flaherty: thanks Kate. I don’t think people understand how infuriating it actually is. But maybe if they were in our shoes they would. But I suppose when people have everything on their doorstep, they forget not every one has..
@LITTLEONE: Just playing Devil’s advocate here, but 50km is 30 miles. How many people travel that 30 miles to work every day in all directions. I understand your point though as the lady the other day saying that as she is in Westmeath can travel as she likes but is only 8 km / 5 miles from a cluster in one of the counties in lockdown
@Olivia Smith: in original lockdown they could go into tipp because its was within the km range allowed. But this new lockdown. They can’t. Pure nonsense. Because its another county..
@Olivia Smith: I totally am happy to do my bit, but I shop, work, kids school, doctor, everything is 2 fields over in roscrea, Co Tipperary but my address is laois. I’m literally closer to Tipp than any laois town. there’s people being told to shop in their closest town within their county, even though, like me, their nearest laois town is only a garage and no Tesco or anything nearby. people on the border of counties who work, shop and everything in tip, meath or that are facing travelling 30mins to get to a Tesco and that shop is bringing them closer to the problem areas. A restaurant on my road is 200mtrs from the Tipp border but has to close, the restaurant a few hundred meters away in Tipp is allowed to open. Daft.
@Joe_X: I know majority here in my village all work in closest town to us. Which happens to be in tipp.. The cluster in question is down in furthest end of offaly from us. The majority down that way prob work in Dublin because of its closeness to each other. Not this way as we are only little villages
@Dawn Harvey: Fair play to you for doing it. Schools aren’t open yet so that’s not an issue. What did you do in the original lockdown? I get it’s a pain but it’s a necessary evil i guess. It’s going to happen in Dublin soon I’d say and the whole place will close like you now.
@Olivia Smith: again blaming people, why are the people of these counties to be blamed and punished for the mistakes of the gov and the blatant disregard of public health and safety by some unsavoury businesses ?
@Olivia Smith: in the original lockdown we were able to shop within 5km, distance is a safer way to do it
@Olivia Smith: you seem to be forgetting in original lockdown people could travel into another county if it was in certain km range. In this lockdown. You can’t big difference. So this one is actually harsher on people in border areas of 2 counties
@Da_Dell: It’s not a blame game. Yes the government should have done something sooner but who’s to say that the people affected haven’t mingled throughout the 3 counties and spread it even more? It’s for 2 bleeding weeks for god sake. Build a bridge.
@Olivia Smith: ill build a bridge, but you need to bleedin get over it.. you’d have a diff tune if Dublin was locked down again.
@Dawn Harvey: Can you not get online delivery from Tesco/SuperValu?
@Da_Dell: Read the whole thread, I have said numerous times I would have NO issue if it happens in Dublin. I wouldn’t be a selfish me me me see you nxt Tuesday. If it save some lives it’s necessary. Mind you don’t fall over the bleeding bridge while you go over it.
@LITTLEONE: I agree, I live in the North Kildare area, there was no justification for a countywide lockdown unless there is more to this story that we dont know yet
@Olivia Smith: just do as they say, you say! Even though what they’re proposing won’t work and they’re weeks behind. Being a sheep might work in Dublin, but we use our heads down the country.
@LITTLEONE: “getting ready”
What sort of nonsense non excuse is that? Is there a pre season warm up practice school or something? You had no holiday booked at all did you? Just inventing reasons to whine.
@Olivia Smith: aren’t you so virtuous , you brought the bridge into it and you used ‘bleedin’ and then you insulted.
I will stand corrected on my Dublin comment to you and thats about it.
My family and I are still operating as much as possible as if in a lockdown, as are much of the people we know, we didn’t relax when Leo relaxed. But we also are very frustrated when we see unsavoury businesses that were and are allowed to open that flaunt this privilege, be excused for and apologised for by the same who allowed them to open then punish the people not at fault.
@Carryyourowncanou: Did you get in a good supply of tinfoil in before midnight on Friday?
@Olivia Smith: used to work in Cork City, wfh in small town in KK since 2nd week in March, and yes i am happy to be away from cities, great to support the locality and local businesses and industry, especially thise that have done everything to try and comply with the ever changing guidelines out of their own pockets, there has been no incidents in our area either, the local people have done amazing job. Everything outside the Pale is not bog, and if it was what would be wrong with that ?
@Olivia Smith: yes, lots of tinfoil? I will go down and get more now as shops won’t be closing. Your reply confirmed my suspicion that you’re out of touch with reality.
@Olivia Smith: I don’t think its going to be 2 weeks :(
@LITTLEONE: The First two stages were 2km, and 5km, regardless of county, and the county thing is somewhat arbitrary I reckon. But I would hope (could be well off) That it’s not necessarily just based on the fact that Carroll cuisine is in Tullamore, but more where their staff live, I know At least two lads in Birr (one in Crinkle) that work there, so that’s pretty close, and i would guess that vast majority of the workers in the affected plants work in either Offaly, Laois and/or Kildare. I’m not sure its particularly political, Just trying to prevent another national lockdown, which probably isn’t possible if they continue with the rule book they have now.
@Olivia Smith: it’s not for good of every person in the country 98% of people won’t suffer any major effect if they catch this virus’s. State has no justifiable reason to lock theses places down
@Fiona Fitzgerald: Fingers crossed that’s all it is.
@Bilbo Baggins: I don’t think that figures in this persons reasoning. The first comment was the kids were looking forward to a holiday. Should be glad the kids can go on holidays soon time soon. Plenty of kids left don’t get holidays even before all this virus.
@Tom Jones: Who is it for then ? There is not 1 person in this country who is immune to the virus, cop the fuq on with that nonsense.
@Dara O’Brien: kids are due back end of August, (some from the 26th) i.e just over 2 weeks
@LITTLEONE: you can travel to Limerick hospital if you need to. Or for any other essential services
@Olivia Smith: I’ve got neighbours in Dublin sending their kids out of the country to party for weeks at a time (causing a spike of virus in the area) and grandparents who never stopped seeing their kids and grandkids, but my son goes out for 10 minutes into a store with me and because he’s not wearing a mask (before it was mandatory!!!) and doesn’t ”look handicapped” he’s yelled at and given dirty looks. We should all be ashamed of ourselves.
@Olivia Smith: “Two weeks to flatten the curve” they said in March…and now here we are in August being mandated to wear masks and locked down again – It has all been a complete over reaction from day one. I can’t believe how many people are buying into this farce – that’s the shocking part.
@Olivia Smith: the results from the bank holiday weekend aren’t in yet, by all accounts it was a free for all down the west of the country last weekend, I know for a fact that charlie chaulkes 2 pubs in Adare were heaving……nightclubs in Limerick open for business….no social distancing..no masks…..
@Olivia Smith: yes i left a lot if things behind, I certainly dont miss the arrogance of some city dwellers. seeing people losing their livelihoods and businesses due to the reckless of those who where given the privilege to be allowed to open and the flaunt it tends to make me lose my humour.
@Hana Barbera: I have absolutely no idea what you are saying. Who said your son looks handicapped?
@Hugo Haye-Wyre: As I’v already said get the supply of tinfoil in. Bunch of arseholes saying it’s not serious
@Da_Dell: You left more than that behind.
“Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money”.
@Modern Irish Dad: we won’t be around for that…so party on.
@Canyon: I am down to party as long as I am in bed for 12am.
@Modern Irish Dad: We can burn it to keep warm
@William J Gardener: and wipe our bottoms with it.
There is no longer any talk of COVID. Its been replaced with coronavirus
There is no longer talk of deaths, but now ‘new cases’
The fraud continues.
@Ryan1time: Ah no…..Plenty talk of CoViD-19 and new cases tend to be the precursor to deaths further down the line. Maybe you should start reading up on how it works.
@Paul Harvey: any proof to back up your claim?
@barry moore: yes. The fact that my comment was taken down is just a start.
@Paul Harvey: how dose that prove the virus is a scam (meaning it is fake) All that proves is you broke the rules here regarding posting.
Upwards of 400,000 children are being trafficked annually and MSM is obsessed with a virus that has a 99%+ recovery rate. Go figure.
Can’t believe gov anymore
@John Hartigan: never believe anything they say anyway.
Strange considering all the back slapping going on from these media outlets regarding how well our government has done on the covid pandemomic while the UK have less cases per 100,000 than we have.It’s a strange one considering we locked down earlier and they have opened up earlier,something just doesn’t add up?
@Paul Mc: we just had a major spike over the last 5 days or so. If this is controlled we’ll be back below them and several pairs of knickers will require untwisting..
@David Clements: tell that those working in meat plants or those living in a county in a forced lockdown through no fault of their own.
@David Clements: and he has a very valid point, media were all out in force to laud Leo and co for the work only they could do when in fact they were adhering to Health officials.
They were out in force praising Leo an co when they relaxed lockdown, when in fact Leo and co were trying to be populous, boost satisfactory and polls ratings to ensure a place in new Gov. Now they out in force backing Leo statements to not blame when things turn out to be not as good. They and he cannot be accepting praise for when things are good while not accepting responsibility when its not.
@Da_Dell: tell them what? Facts? I’ve nothing but sympathy for people in those counties. It’s the hysterical eejits elsewhere that my comment was aimed at
@Da_Dell: you do understand the statistic don’t you? Rolling 14 day figure? And our surpassing the UK has literally been the top story on RTE aka The Evil ffg MSM neo liberal commies…
Some are trying to skirt around the regulations. For example the camping site in Laois changing it’s address to Carlow.
@Paul Potts: is it changing it’s address to “Co. Carlow” or just dropping “Co. Laois”? There are parts of Carlow town in Laois so the address could be “Carlow Town, Co. Laois”
@Paul Potts: still okay to fly to Texas or London or China for that matter ?!! But I cant go to Offaly.. Pub at the end of my road still closed but I can fly to a pub in England Spain Italy ect ?!! Go figure !!
@Pat Kelly: and if you fly to any of those places you have to self isolate for 14 days upon return, so this 14 days of restrictions is a lot less than self isolation or are you against that too?
@Pat Kelly: no you can’t fly to US…only US citizens allowed in.
@Joe_X: would the part of Carlow town not be
Grauigecullen Co Laois .
Offaly unfree, shall never be at peace !
Up next explainer on all the measures that were or weren’t been followed by unsavoury businesses.
If the Gardai can lockdown 3 counties they could have policed these unsavoury businesses.
Poor man stopped, just after picking up his 202OY…
Localized lockdown will not work. You can leave to go to work. How many people who live in Co. Kildare work in Dublin. (Alot!!!) It makes absolutely no sense.
The Gardai are doing the best they can, while been thrown from pillar to post. Don’t envy their job these times. Just doing their job the best they can.
@Martin O’Reilly: I’m in Offaly and I have yet to see or hear of a garda checkpoint,traveled to athlone today for an nct, the route I took made me cross the Westmeath border 3 times each way,
I was locked down in Spain 3 months not allowed 35 meters from the house,and one trip to the supermarket once a day,and to produce ID ,no ID 150 Euro fine
That’s a lock down this is playing at it.
Where are you off to? where are you coming from? …….Ok cheers on ye go
Keep lockdown for 2 weeks. It’s not a lot to ask for. Those ppl won’t be happy till the whole country is back in lockdown
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say