Following the announcement from An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that creches, schools and universities should close, with plans to limit crowds gathering together, farmers at the mart in Athenry all had concerns for their families and their farms. Here are some of their thoughts.
Following the announcement from An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that creches, schools and universities should close, with plans to limit crowds gathering together, farmers at the mart in Athenry all had concerns for their families and their farms. Here are some of their thoughts.
Mark Goaley, Claregalway, Co Galway “It’s getting very serious now and it’s hard not to be concerned about it. I’m here selling cattle today to offload some of my weanlings in case the marts close soon.
"Eventually, I think they will close. And it would be hard to argue with that. You have a crowd gathering and it would be very easy to get it, especially with a lot of older farmers.
"I will definitely be taking precautions to try to protect myself anyway. I wouldn’t be going out socialising and I’ll try to avoid crowds as much as I can. You don’t know who has it or who could be getting it."
Gerry Leonard, Cloonboo, Co Galway
“It’s not a good situation at the moment. I’d say a lot of the marts will close down. I don’t know whether or not they should close but I know people aren’t supposed to be meeting so it’s going to be difficult.
"On a personal level, I would be concerned about it, yes. I’d be trying to be mindful of the bits of advice I’m hearing and try to follow it as best I can.”
Gerry Leonard, Athenry
Christy Murphy, Athenry, Co Galway“The situation is only going to get worse. If it happened in Italy, it’ll happen here too. It’s not the same as the time of the foot and mouth. That time the problem was only for Ireland and the UK – this is worldwide and if they can’t solve it in Italy, we are certainly on the back foot here.
"Oh yes, I am very concerned about it on a personal level. I have lots of contacts – not just farming – that could bring it to me.
"I think it will affect factories and schools but I can’t see it affecting the marts, unless they close. I don’t particularly think they should close either because if you close everything, everyone ends up in each other’s way somewhere else. Marts could bring in some regulations to limit it though.”
Farmers at Athenry mart on Thursday.
Joe Greaney, Kilcolgan, Co Galway“I think everyone is concerned about it because it could eventually affect them in some way. I have an elderly mother and she is afraid to go out at this stage.
"It’s hard to know what is going to happen to the marts. I hope they don’t [close] and I don’t think they should until it gets worse maybe.
"Personally, when I’m going out in public, it would definitely be on my mind a little bit more all right and I’m trying to be more cautious.”
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