Travel Limit Set To Be Extended To Anywhere In The County

Photo © Clare FM

People will be allowed to travel anywhere within their county under a further easing of lockdown measures from Monday.

It goes beyond the planned extension of movement to 20 kilometres.

Cabinet Ministers met this morning and approved new measures to take effect from Monday that will allow people to move anywhere within their own counties.

CONTINUE READING BELOW

The original plan for phase two was that people would be allowed to move 20 kilometres away from their homes.

But there was concern that for people in more isolated rural areas that would mean little change from the last phase.

It’s understood the government has also approved scrapping the movement limit entirely from the end of June.

While there has been proposals to examine opening pubs and hotels earlier than planned in order to allow them to try to make some benefit of the summer season.

Those are among the major deviations from the roadmap plan originally announced.

People will be allowed to go into each other’s homes from Monday in small, socially distanced groups.

It’s expected playgrounds will re-open – and that there will be announcements on summer camps and visitation to nursing homes.

A full announcement on the roadmap will come this afternoon.

Meanwhile,

An Ennis Based retail lobby group says shopping on the high street will be a very different experience from Monday.

Under Phase 2 of exiting lockdown, more non-essential retail shops will open.

This will exclude stores in shopping centres and they will need to have a ground-level open entrance.

Deputy Chair of Retail Excellence, Jean McCabe, who’s the owner of Willow on O’Connell Street in Ennis, says people won’t be able to browse as they once did.

While restrictions look set to be eased today, there will be calls for people to continue to adhere to advice on social distancing, and handwashing, in order to suppress the virus.

NUIG Professor Molly Byrne, a member of the Behaviour Change sub-group which advises NPHET, outlined the likely advice that will be given to people when she spoke on Clare FM’s Morning Focus earlier today.