wicklowvoice
May 28, 2015, t: 01 901 5556/7, January 17, 2021 e: info@wicklowvoice.ie
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January 15, 2021
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May 28, 2015, t: 01 901 5556/7, January 17, 2021 wicklowvoice.ie e: info@wicklowvoice.ie t: 01 901 5565 e: info@wicklowvoice.ie
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Unit 5, Idea House, Killarney Road Business Park, Bray
What we must do to defeat Covid-19 as the rollout of vaccine gathers pace Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said he welcomed the first vaccines being administered to residents of nursing homes ahead of schedule. The rollout in nursing homes has been pushed forward by several days after reassurances from Pfizer orders are secure and will be delivered. The Minister said there was further good news with Moderna and the Astra Zeneca expected to come on stream
soon which will allow the rate of vaccines rollout to be ramped up even further. “This is a fantastic day for the nursing homes of Wicklow who have endured an extremely difficult year,” said Minister Donnelly. “By the end of February all nursing homes in Wicklow will have received their second dose and be fully vaccinated. “In fact by the end of March we intend to have 700,000
people including nursing home residents and staff as well as frontline medical workers vaccinated. “We are set to receive substantially more vaccines per month in April which will allow us to protect even more people from Covid-19.” The Government last week announced a series of new restrictions aimed at tackling the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and are on top of the existing
Level 5 measures which came into force before Christmas. The latest measures will remain in place until the end of January. So what do these new restrictions mean for you and how do they affect your life? School closures All schools closed from Monday, January 11. Teaching moved online for students. Continued on next page
Charlotte Bestall (96) originally from Barniski, Arklow Co Wicklow after receiving her vaccine, one of the first administered in the county, in Blainroe Lodge, where she has been a resident since 2017
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January 15, 2021
Gardai to issue €100 fines for breaking 5km rule
Gardai are set to issue fines of €100 to anyone who breaks the 5km from home Covid-19 travel restricition and who refuse to comply with a direction to turn back. People found in breach of the Level 5 Covid-19 regulations will be informed of the penalty by the Garda who stops them and will receive a fixed charge penalty notice in the post which they will have to pay within 28 days, Gardaí say they will no longer consult
with the Director of Public Prosecutions in these cases before issuing the fine. They have reminded people that under legislation the restriction on people leaving their home without a reasonable excuse is a penal regulation and enforceable. The escalation of this enforcement measure comes after thousands of people visited beauty spots and scenic locations all over the country this weekend for exercise outside the 5km
limit. Hundreds were turned back from the Wicklow mountains over the weekend and several illegally parked cars were towed away from mountain roads because gardaí said they had caused an obstruction and blocked access for emergency vehicles. Travel beyond the 5km limit will still be permitted for essential purposes such as medical appointments, vital family reasons or travel to and from work.
Looking for a tutor? School Is Easy is here to help you Advertorial As we battle to cope with the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 regulations, home-based learning has taken on a new importance. Many parents who want their children to enjoy the benefits of one-to-one tuition are, nevertheless, nervous about having a stranger in their home or sending young students to a tuition centre. School is Easy (SIE) can solve that problem. We can offer one-to-one or group grinds for Primary, Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate school students at a time that works for you and your family. We offer the following subjects, from Primary to Secondary to Specialist Third Level courses: Irish/Gaelige, English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, French, German, Spanish, History, Geography, Business Studies, Economics, Design and Technology, Music, and Physical Education . Going to university and dreading the college exams? No problem, we have skilled and experienced tutors to help every student.
We provide safe, online tutorials that are recorded so that your child can future reference any topic covered. When you work with SIE, you will get nothing but the best. All of our tutors have formal education, classroom experience and a passion for teaching. For senior subjects we use college and university instructors with a Masters degree. The choice is yours when it comes to the style of tutoring and our range of subjects is broad. We don’t use generic tutoring lessons. We customise each programme based on the student’s needs, goals and capacity and we take care to match students with the right tutors. We are easy to work with. We screen tutors for you. We identify learning deficiencies and we get results . Our certified tutors will provide an initial assessment, if you need it, to ascertain your child’s requirements. Call us today on 01 556 3553 to book a consulation. We will be delighted to match you with a tutor.
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58% hit by ‘lockdown loneliness’ Almost TWO-thirds of adults in the county have admitted to feeling isolated or lonely as the pandemic takes its toll on the nation’s mental health. The stark results of a survey by HaloCare shows 58% of us of all adult respondents (18+) said they “sometimes” or “often” feel down due to the impact of reduced social engagement. When posed with the same questions, almost half (45%) of elderly people aged 65+ nationally claimed they felt down due to the impact of reduced social engagement, while 56% say they have been left feeling isolated. However, showing that technology has helped so many of us overcome the hurdles of the pandemic, 78% of elderly
respondents said technology helped alleviate isolation and loneliness somewhat, by being able to engage online. Halocare is a new Carlowbased startup which aims to address the issues of isolation and loneliness in the elderly by using new software to focus on social interconnectivity via technology. The service is backed up by 24/7 live, ondemand medical professionals, who will check in regularly by phone with those requiring it. Some 37% of survey respondents have said that a daily call from experienced professionals would make them feel more secure in their homes. Commenting on the findings, Dr Johnny Walker, CoFounder & Clinical Director of
HaloCare, said: “We founded HaloCare based on what we were hearing on the ground – that is, that there is a large cohort of elderly people who are capable of living at home yet nevertheless need a little extra support to enable them to continue living independently. “From the onset of Covid-19 especially, these people were being overlooked when it came to maintaining regular contact with friends, family, and support services. The research results validate our findings and highlight the gap between those who are comfortable using technology, but have not recognised its capability to alleviate loneliness, isolation, and sense of security.”
Continued from first page
Shopping Non-essential retail will no longer operate for clickand-collect services, but can continue to operate on a delivery basis and any existing orders can be collected.
permitted to meet up and exercise with residents from one other household in an outdoor setting. The number of people who can attend a funeral is 10; the number of guests allowed at weddings is six. Hotels, guesthouses and Bed and Breakfasts can remain open, but only for guests who are providing an essential service. Museums, galleries and other cultural attractions will remain closed. Public transport will now operate at 25% capacity to allow those providing essential services to get to work.
What the latest restrictions mean
The move came after the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland instructed members not to attend classes or cooperate with Government plans to reopen schools. The Government has reiterated the hope that Leaving Certificate exams will go ahead, as normal, this summer. Higher and further education will move online, except where there is a practical requirement, such as a project, lab activity or work required during an apprenticeship. Childcare Childcare services, including regulated childminders, will remain closed, with the exception of services for vulnerable children and children of essential workers. A household of an essential worker can form a ‘bubble’ with another household for the purpose of providing childcare if needed.
Construction Essential construction projects can still continue and sole traders such a plumbers and electricians will be take emergency call-outs. Leaving the home Under the existing Level 5 restrictions people are only able to travel within 5km of their home to exercise. You are allowed travel outside 5km for work, education or other essential purposes. To see what these services are, visit: www.gov.ie/en/ publication/c9158-essentialservices/ All household visits are prohibited, including social visits to gardens, except for essential family reasons or those in your support bubble. However, people will be
Foreign travel The advice now is to curtail all non-essential travel overseas. However, if you must go overseas, check for advice here: www.dfa.ie/ travel/travel-advice/ The most recent change concerns passengers coming into Ireland from Britain and South Africa, who will need to provide a negative Covid test or face fines/imprisonment.
January 15, 2021
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January 15, 2021
opinion&comment
Please come back St Patrick
A
round this time last year I was enjoying a long weekend in Clare, a Christmas present from my daughters who joined me on the trip. Rumours of a new virus were in the air but the virus itself was mainly confined to China. When we saw some Chinese visitors wearing facemasks a normal precaution in Asia against ordinary colds and flu we joked that soon we might all be dressing that way. Some joke! Within weeks the virus had spread to Italy and shortly after that came the infamous Cheltenham meeting when hundreds of punters caught Covid and brought it back to Ireland. I still found it hard to take the threat seriously. Indeed, I wrote a piece saying this was just another variant on winter flu and there was no need to panic. The moral is that you should take your medical advice from a doctor, not a journalist. And
The Savoy Cinema and Gresham Hotel, O’Connell Street, in 1962 – the year in which ‘The Quare Fellow’, adapted from the play by Brendan Behan, was released. This photo and many more of Dublin in decades gone by were recently donated to the Old Dublin Society by the family of the late Liam Breen. Details of the society can be found at olddublinsociety.ie. If you would like a free digital copy of the photograph just send an Email to olddublinsociety@gmail.com
Michael Wolsey not from a politician either, although our politicians, just fresh from a general election campaign, were coping well with some very big decisions. Their biggest decision was to cancel all the St Patrick’s Day events. This announced, in effect, that Ireland was closed to visitors, and dealt a terrible blow to the tourist trade. However it was undoubtedly the right move. It stopped Covid’s first attack from turning into a total rout of our health service. Few thought then that this plague would still be ravishing the country a year later. The situation now is as bad, if not worse, than when the crisis
began - with the big difference that we now have a vaccine and can be confident that an end to our woes is in sight. However, the vaccine won’t have turned the tide before March 17 and I think it about time the Government announced that St Patrick’s Day events will be cancelled again. Even if the current Covid wave has been crushed by then, it would be very risky to let the full show go ahead and, any-
way, I doubt if all the arrangements and bookings could be made in so short a time. The best course would be to cancel - and announce plans for a Better Late Than Never St Patrick’s Day. It would be tempting fate to put a specific date on the event just yet, but Fáilte Ireland could pencil it in for late May or early June and confirm it as soon as possible. The Better Late festival would not only salvage the St Patrick’s Day business but
would be a great way to kickstart our tourist trade, bringing Ireland back with a bang. If it caught on, maybe we could stick with the new date. Let’s face it, mid-March is a terrible time to hold a big outdoor event in Ireland. How often have we seen majorettes turning blue with cold, bandsmen bailing out rain from their instruments and elaborate floats destroyed by high winds? I don’t know what the Church would have to say about a move. But St Patrick’s Day has
long ceased to be a religious event . It’s a time when all the world pretends to be Irish and a large part of it descends on this country for a bit of fun. That would go a lot more smoothly in May than in March - not just this year, but this year most certainly.
For more than 50 years, Michael Wolsey has been writing columns and comment pieces for newspapers in Ireland and Britain and a collection of these has now been published by Amazon. ‘As I was Saying - Fifty Years of Comment from the Columns of Irish Newspapers’ is a wry look at changing times and issues that are sometimes serious, more often humorous. All proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to Nala, the National Adult Literacy Agency, which helps adults who have difficulty reading. ‘As I Was Saying’ can be ordered from Amazon or the Kindle book store in both ereader and paperback formats.
January 15, 2021
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COVID-19 OUTBREAK Don’#t forget to wash your hands
January 15, 2021
High five: Local charities receive €500 Aldi grants
Aldi Charity Champions Kamil Jenka & Mircea Ciomea making a €500 Donation to Suzanne Cox and Mark Meakin of the Open Door Day Centre at the Aldi Rathnew Store
COVID-19 OUTBREAK Don’#t forget to wash your hands
Five Wicklow-based charities have become the latest beneficiaries of Aldi’s Community Grants programme, with each charity receiving a €500 grant from the Aldi store teams in County Wicklow. €500 grants were presented to Open Door Day Centre, The Irish Horse Welfare Trust, Ash Animal Shelter, Arklow Cancer Support Group and Greystones
Cancer Support. Aldi’s Community Grants programme helps fund local charities and organisations that contribute vital work and services in their local communities. Each local charity supported is chosen by Aldi employees, enabling them to help the local good causes they are passionate about. The programme has contributed to 750 local
projects to date, donating over €375,000 since 2016. “We are very proud to have been able to contribute to supporting local charities across the country through the Aldi Community Grants programme and we’re pleased to see the impact of our donation in the local communities for County Wicklow,” Commenting, John Curtin, Group Buying Director, Aldi Ireland said.
Net result: Conor wins sports gong
Wicklow’s Conor Woods is to receive nationwide recognition for his dedicated work with Greystones Tennis Club this week, as he will be awarded the Wicklow award at this week’s virtual Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport awards, proudly supported by EBS Mortgage Masters. Conor has volunteered in many capacities over the last number of years and has worked tirelessly in the role of club manager for the last three and a half years. During this time, he completed the grant applications which were successful and enabled the courts to be resurfaced and new lights to be installed. He also spent a huge amount of time getting the club ready for Covid-19 in order for players to return safely. The Volunteers in Sport Awards were created to champion the contribution, commitment and dedication of the army of 450,000 volunteers across the country who go above and beyond by giving their time to Irish sport and physical activity each year.
Stay away from the uplands, drivers warned
Drivers and daytrippers have been warned to stay a way from the Wicklow uplands partly due to the Covid-19 risk of a rescue situation. A spokesperson for the Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue team, Valerie Hayes, said social distancing is difficult during emergency rescues. “We would ask people to seriously reconsider going into the mountains at this time,” Ms Hayes told RTÉ. “It’s very difficult for us to safely operate with Covid to safely rescue someone. It’s impossible to socially distance while carrying a stretcher. “You might be walking within your 5k [radius from your home] and you’re socially distanced, or you’re traveling or walking just with your family members, but if you get injured, all of a sudden you’re in very close contact to at least 12 people. 12 new people. So that’s putting you at risk, it’s putting us at risk. Our team is made up entirely of volunteers. A lot of us are also healthcare workers and it’s bringing extra risk then back into the healthcare settings when we’ve been exposed to so many
new close contacts. She said a call out at the weekend which would usually take 15 minutes to reach took rescuers 45 minutes to gain access. She said this is due in part to “a lot of people parking in front of gates”. Hayes said rescuers have keys for the gates which allows them “to get equipment closer to the injured party faster”. “It cuts off kilometers of carrying equipment up and carrying a stretcher back down off the mountain,” she said. Gardaí in Wicklow were in the upland areas over the weekend to control traffic volumes. “Emergency vehicles would not have been able to access several areas yesterday due to obstruction caused by illegally parked cars. Several cars were towed and two tow trucks have been deployed today to assist,” Wicklow gardaí said on Facebook. Last week, gardaí further told people to “please stay out of the uplands”. “It is dangerous at present due to conditions and you are risking exposing the emergency services to unnecessary risk if we have to come to your assistance. This is aside from any breaches of Covid regulations.”
Go-ahead for studio
Wicklow County Council has given thego-ahead for a new €150m film studio and media campus in Greystones. The council granted planning permission to Greystones Media Campus (GMC) Ltd for its “state of the art” film studio and media campus on an almost 50-acre site in Greystones in a project that will create more than 1,500 jobs. The media campus company is a 50/50 joint venture between builders, John Sisk & Son Ltd and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) which is managed and controlled by State-owned debt agency, the
National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). Ardmore Studios and Ashford Studios have already put Wicklow at the centre of the Irish movie and TV industry with productions including Braveheart, the Tudors, Penny Dreadful and Ashford’s Vikings. Planning documentation lodged with the new plan states that the studio scheme’s direct, indirect and induced economic impact has a gross value of €1.54bn which, it states, will represent a significant stimulus to Greystones and the wider metropolitan region.
January 15, 2021
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January 15, 2021
opinion&comment
It’s darkest just before dawn
T
he darkest hour is just before dawn’ is a phrase I’m clinging onto at the moment. It is a phrase that inspires hope, and there is every reason to hope and expect that 2021 will be a much better year than 2020. By ‘better’ I mean safer, less full of surprises and with more focus on long-term sustainable solutions to our problems, both domestic and global. Trump is gone and a postBrexit deal has been struck. OK, Donald’s supporters had one last hurrah last week, when Capitol Hill looked like the set of an Adam & The Ants video, and the Brexit finale was fraught with tension and bad feeling, but the world will move on from both. Covid-19’s third wave sees the virus pose as big a problem now as it did last spring but the arrival of the scientific cavalry with the vaccines means that although we are still in the tunnel, we can see the light at the end of it shining up ahead, albeit a
few twists and turns away. In hindsight the relaxation of restrictions in the run-up to Christmas was a poor move, and coupled with the new strains of the virus has led to the unprecedented surge in cases we have seen this week. Politicians were trying too hard to please too many groups and this is impossible in a pandemic. At this stage we need to stay locked down for the best part of the spring until we can roll out a widespread vaccination programme. The government must ensure that they get sufficient supplies into the country to vaccinate everyone in the early months of the year. They need to get the message across too that the vaccines are safe – not easy when the fakenews merchants are stoking up public fear that the opposite is the case. I believe the vaccines are safe, and I have no vested interested in saying this - I work in pharma but not in the area of vaccines. The idea that say the Pfizer vaccine isn’t safe because it uti-
lizes new technology belies the fact that the technology isn’t actually new – it has been around for more than a decade. Getting a vaccine in two parts is commonplace – I built up immunity to Hepatitis B to
become a First Aid Responder over the course of three doses of that vaccine. Some of the takeaways from Covid-19 will stand us in good stead, from us all pulling together in our families and com-
munities, to more efficient ways of working. Then there’s the collaboration between society’s big powers to discover and deliver a solution; imagine if the same focus was applied to getting a handle on
the housing crisis, global warming, world peace and the elimination of Third World poverty? Something else we can take out of the whole experience is the idea that we have finally found a way of sharing wealth more equitably - the Covid payment could be seen as the latest steps towards the implementation of a Universal Basic Income. Appreciating those whose jobs have a high social value, such as supermarket workers, has been progressive too. Last year may have robbed us of many sporting tournaments, but that is another reason to look forward to 2021. We weren’t expecting an Olympic Games or a UEFA European Championship Finals this coming year, but we will have these events. Life may seem quite bleak this January. It is cold and dark and we are locked down. But the darkest hour is just before dawn, so although it may not seem like it, this is a time to hope, to remain optimistic and to stay strong. - Brian Quigley
January 15, 2021
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12 | WILDLIFE
with Justin Ivory
New Year, New Planet
Birdsong became more obvious during lockdown (Photo Justin Ivory, far left ) LAST year was a year unlike any other, a year we are all glad to see the back of. But as we head into 2021 and hopefully some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, let us reflect on some of the positives from last year. In a world of calm and silence during lockdown nature and wildlife thrived. Birds could be heard singing louder and for longer, foxes and other secretive animals of the night were active during daylight hours as they were now free to move around with little or no disturbance. The public for the first time began to really notice the wonderful wildlife we live side-by-side with and they loved what they were seeing and hearing. What was there all along but for the most part went unnoticed. We have seen this evolve into biophilia on a scale not seen before. What is biophilia? Biophilia is a hypothesis first put forward by Edward O. Wilson which suggests that humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. So, what does all this mean as we enter 2021? I will leave it to Sir David Attenborough from his New Year message: “Today we are experiencing environmental change as never before and the need to take action has never been more urgent. This could be a year for positive change for ourselves, for our planet and for the wonderful creatures with which we share it. A year the world could remember proudly and say we made a difference. As we make our New Year’s resolutions let’s think about what each of us could do. What positive changes could we make in our own lives. So, here’s to a brighter year ahead. Let’s make 2021 a Happy New Year for all the inhabitants of our perfect planet.”
Foxes and other mammals became more active during lockdown (Photo Justin Ivory)
January 15, 2021
ninenottomiss book of the week
tv show of the week
HOROSCOPES
family film of the week
the great irish farm book by Darragh McCullough
operation transformation 13th January, 9.35pm, RTE One
my sister’s keeper New to Netflix, available now
Did you know that there are almost 2,000,000 pigs in Ireland? And that sheep have rectangular pupils, which means they have amazing vision? Would you believe only 10% of the milk produced in Ireland is consumed here? These are all facts that you can share, courtesy of celebrity farmer and journalist, Darragh McCullough, who writes with an infectious passion. This wonderfully quirky book will appeal to nostalgic adults as well as curious children, with its wealth of information and charming delivery. Did you know, hens are pregnant for just 21 days?
IF you haven’t got off the couch by now, don’t despair, it’s early days in the 2021 outing for the Operation Transformation team and still time to get up and do a few press-ups. The lockdown is sure to make things difficult for most of us who were genuinely planning on running more than 5K away from our front doors in the new year. But no doubt, Catherine Thomas (pictured) and the OT team will find a way to wheedle and starve you into a thinner self by spring, even if that does mean working out in the wardrobe. Good luck!
BASED on the Jodi Picoult novel, this may not be one for the current situation we find ourselves in, but it’s still a wonderful if heartbreaking tale of Anna, a young girl, who seeks a lawyer’s help to earn medical emancipation from her parents when they force her to donate organs, blood and tissue to her leukaemia-stricken elder sister. Melodramatic at times, it does however treat the subject matter sensitively. Have the tissues ready and expect a barrage of questions on ethics from the kids.
day out of the week
RECIPE of the week
film of the week
AriesYou’re especially popular for the next month Group activities go well. Get out in public. Social activities benefit your career. TaurusTake on more responsibility. Watch for opportunities to advance your career. Assume authority. It’s easier to advance your agenda. GeminiTravel entices over the coming month. It’s easier to venture forth now. Set study goals. Explore and discover fresh terrain. CancerFeed the family kitty. This month is good for saving money. Review numbers. Increase your assets with organization and attention. LeoYou love learning. You’re especially clever and creative with communications. Write, record and express your views.
winter gardening growinghealthykids.co.uk/winter-gardeningactivities-for-kids/ LOCKDOWN? Day out? That’s a good one ... again. The best we could come up with is gardening activities for the whole family to enjoy. No seriously. Now is the perfect time to plant some flower bulbs so you’ll have something to look forward to in spring — provided you can get through the frozen soil with the spade! No seriously. This is the perfect time for planting seeds also, and for the cost of a cup of coffee you could be eating your very own vegetables in a few months’ time. And the kids will love getting involved. No seriously.
album of the week
10 wallet-friendly recipes www.realfood.tesco.com
outside the wire Netflix from 15th January
TRYING to stick to a tight budget this January? We all are, but it doesn’t mean you can’t still tuck into delicious meals with some walletfriendly recipes from the team at Tesco. The ‘Mediterranean gnocchi bake’ is a great replacement for pasta and you can always add ingredients like a few pulses to bulk it up; the ‘Green orzotto’ looks like a bit lean at this time of year, so you can skip that and move on to the ‘Taco bean burgers’, cheap as chips and wonderfully hearty! Check the website for full list of recipes.
SET in the future — well, what else is there? — a drone pilot sent into a war zone finds himself teaming up with a top-secret android officer on a mission to stop a nuclear attack (nice to know we’re back to the good old nuclear threats). Produced by the studio behind Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction and Charlize Theron’s Old Guard, Outside the Wire stars Anthony Mackie (pictured) and is directed by Mikael Hafstrom, whose previous works include Escape Plan and The Rite and a scatter of scary things. Can’t wait.
activity of the week
podcast of the week
VirgoThings could get lucrative. Your health, work and fitness blossom. Energize your performance. Infuse love into your labors. LibraYou’re especially lucky in love with Venus in Aquarius. Artistic efforts sparkle. Practice skills, talents and hobbies. Give in to romance. ScorpioMake your home your love nest. Enjoy domestic arts, crafts and projects. Focus on home and family. Make household improvements. Sagittarius-
Communication is key. Partnerships flower. Compromise comes easier. Share your heart, passions and commitments. CapricornHarvest windfall apples. Gather new income. Enjoy a profitable phase. Discover a professional highperformance zone.
passenger Songs For The Drunk And Broken Hearted
online courses freecodecamp.org/news/best-online-courses
The Happiness Lab www.happinesslab.fm
FROM the artist who inhaled helium at a children’s party and never looked back, Michael David Rosenberg, aka Passenger, returns with his 13th album, recorded preCoronavirus at his Black Crow Studios in his hometown of Brighton shortly after becoming newly single. So expect it to be more brokenhearted than drunk. The album contains no less than 20 drinking and heartbreaking songs, which proves that the muse is never more present than when one is down and out.
UPDATED every year to reflect demand and ratings, these free courses — yes, free — range in subject matter from mindfulness to report writing, Shakespeare to the solar system, and while most are simply there to appease the curious, some do offer certificates. And what better time to feed the mind than in January. The list is based on more than 125,000 user reviews and is comprised of courses from 100 universities in 23 countries.
HAPPINESS is in short supply at the moment but it is very attainable if you change your mindset. There is no one ‘thing’ that can make you happy except yourself, and achieving that state of mind takes daily work. That’s what Dr Laurie Santos, who studied the science of happiness at Yale and has a doctorate in psychology, makes clear in her podcast tackling questions about how to live a life with more joy. Don’t expect miracles, but this is well worth a listen when you get some time to yourself.
AquariusYou’re in the love light with Venus in your sign. Your charm and charisma shine. Upgrade your personal presentation. Get stylish. Step onstage and smile. PiscesSavor peaceful privacy. Pursue your own thoughts and dreams with Venus in Aquarius. Nature soothes your spirit. Connect with your passion and compassion.
January 15, 2021
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wicklowvoice.ie January 15, 2021
Heart failure patients offered new supports
The Irish Heart Foundation is urging the estimated 2,700 people living with heart failure in Wicklow to engage with new supports it has established during Covid-19 restrictions. The charity has responded to a sense of isolation felt by people living with heart failure, a condition which has a lower survival rate than many cancers. Heart failure or heart inefficiency occurs when the or-
gan is not working as well as it should and does not pump blood around the body efficiently. With almost 300 new cases every year in Wicklow, the Foundation’s new support service will help thousands of people nationwide to live normal, full and active lives with their condition. It has launched a range of supports, including online groups
and a podcast presented by retired RTE presenter Michael Lyster, who has experienced heart failure. “Patients with heart failure and other cardiac conditions have real fears and a sense of isolation during the current climate of escalating Covid cases,” said Lucinda McNerney, Heart Failure Programme Manager. “The supports, which include our new podcast series, Nurse Support Line, new heart failure web page, Heart Support Network, online meetings, daily exercise on Facebook and peer to peer support, will help patients and their families to keep well at home both physically and mentally.” You can sign up to receive the supports at www.irishheart.ie or contact Lucinda McNerney, Heart Failure Programme Manager on 01 – 668 5001 or at heartfailure@irishheart.ie.
GOAL thanks Wicklow runners for going extra mile GM Wicklow Councillor Rory OConnor, GOAL's David Wilkins, Mladen and Jelica Ivosevic (from Croatia) and Grace Connor with Sadie the Labrador doing their Christmas GOAL Mile on Bray beach.
GOAL has thanked the hundreds of people all over Co Wicklow who turned out over Christmas to do a virtual GOAL Mile to support vulnerable communities all over the world. Every Christmas family, friends and neighbours in Wicklow take time out to walk, run or jog a mile for GOAL at various locations to support the agency’s work in 14 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle
East. Due to Covid-19, the GOAL Mile 2020 went virtual with more than 5,000 Irish people at home and abroad signed up. “I want to extend a world of thanks to each and every person in Wicklow for uniting as one global family this Christmas to make a difference,” GOAL CEO, Siobhan Walsh, said. “Thank you for your humanity.” “This year has seen all of our lives upheaved in ways unimaginable just 12 months
New year sees the return of two old scams
THE new year has brought the return of old scams to threaten people in Wicklow. Gardaí have warned about a Revenue vishing scame and issued an alert about bogus tradesmen. They advise people to be wary of any tradesperson who calls to your door offering to carry out work and point to a recent case here where someone paid a substantial amount of money for work that was never carried out. The Garda advice is that if a person calls to your door offering to carryout work you: *Ask for a sales brochure or other documentation that you can investigate and verify whether it is genuine. *Ask for a written itemised quotation and references from previous customers. *Never engage with someone who insists on cash payment. Use a traceable method of payment. *Advise elderly friends and
neighbours of these scams and never be embarrassed or ashamed to contact Gardaí if you have fallen victim to this type of crime. Gardaí are also appealing for members of the public to be vigiliant in relation to a phone scam where the caller claims to be offering a tax refund. Contact is made from a landline number with an 051 prefix. The caller states that he is organising a refund from Revenue and requests bank details. Gardaí warn that you should not give your credit/debit card, bank account, or PPS number to anyone who makes contact with you over the phone. An Garda Síochána, Revenue, and bnanks will never call you and ask for your PPS number or bank account details. If you receive such a call you should end the call and report the matter to the Garda.
ago. The impact of Covid-19 has been profound in the 13 countries in which GOAL works, exacerbated by the unresolved humanitarian issues that plague progress including climate change, global hunger, access to clean water, basic medical care, and sustainable livelihoods.” Apart from Covid-19 in 2020, GOAL reached more than 8m people in its countries with food, health, livelihoods and emergency response support.
16,000 drivers pay the penalty
MORE than 16,000 drivers in Wicklow had penalty points on their licences last year. Figures released by the Road Safety Authority show that 16,582 drivers in the county had points in the 12 months to the end of September. The biggest number (11,616) had three points - 42 drivers had 12 points. Nationally, more than half a million people (510,269) had penalty points on their licences. This represents a slight fall from the previous year, when a total of 516,390 people had points on their licences. Most drivers included in the list had three penalty points (359,593), while 35,576 people had two points and 52,226 had six points. The highest numbers were in Dublin (109,365 people) followed by Cork (50,946). The counties with the lowest number of drivers with penalty points were Leitrim (2,820 ), Longford with 4,885 and Sligo with 5,561.
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January 15, 2021
We take a look back at extracts from old newspapers to see what was in the news this month in years gone by
Freemans Jrn 5/01/1853
Freemans Jrn 6/01/1834
Sun Ind 7/01/1940Â
Freemans Jrn 27/01/1920
Irish Press 11/01/ 1936
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wicklowvoice.ie January 15, 2021