OFFALY LIFE: How the coronavirus lockdown became reality for one of our reporters

Downtown in the hairdresser in Birr yesterday, Thursday, March 12, the chat as the hairdryers hummed was all about the coronavirus. What we were hearing? What were local businesses going to do? What we were going to do if the schools were closed? Talk about local supermarkets and pharmacists having to ration supplies as people panic bought was to the forefront.

By the time I sat back in my car after my ‘bouncy blow dry’, the panic was palpable as my phone hopped with WhatsApp messages from family and friends. The Taoiseach had shut the schools, colleges and childcare facilities as we moved into the ‘delay phase.'

I rang my parents, to check in with them as they were away visiting one of my sisters and then chatted to my husband briefly as to what our options were about childcare, a deep worry on my mind as we rely on grandparents, people who are in a vulnerable group in the midst of these unprecedented times and my children are potential vectors, not victims.

A night away with friends then had to be cancelled and a row with the hotel over their cancellation policy is ongoing as they have refused to refund us our money, despite the testing times and some “strongly worded emails." But, I suppose to put it in perspective, it’s completely irrelevant as I think of all of those vulnerable people in my life, who are going to need our help in the coming weeks.

This isn’t going to be a storm that lifts after a few days and we are going to be able to peek out. It’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint. We are going to have to do this as a community collective and not a solo run.

Back to yesterday. With a few days annual leave taken, I had booked my car in for its NCT. So off I went towards Tullamore where the traffic was unbelievable. At the NCT centre, there were more and more people coming through the door with gloves on their hands as the reality of what was looming became apparent.

Across the road, the Aldi carpark was comparable to a war zone as I sat in the car, talking on the phone and a female driver waved frantically at me to get out of the parking spot. In store, there was talk about freezers being emptied in the nearby Tesco and no toilet roll left in Dunnes Stores down the road.

However, there was a jovial mood in the shop as the shop attendant re-stacked the shelf with toilet roll. “It’s been like this since the doors opened this morning,” he said. I joked and said people were going to need all that toilet roll as we looked towards the vacant shelves where the beans had been. A lady, putting toilet roll in her basket, laughed.

Later, while strolling down the aisle of Lidl, I chatted to a poor woman who couldn’t find toilet roll for love nor money and “really needed it” while there was little social distancing as we stood in the busy queue. In the carpark, I witnessed people struggling to carry large bags of potatoes, like it was the last day on earth. However, from what I can see, there’s no need to panic buy and we need to be mindful of those, who are at work while we are shopping for supplies or who may not be able to get to the shops, just yet.

As I brought in my few bits of shopping from the car, my thoughts also went to people who couldn’t panic buy because of financial constraints or living situations. I had been able to go into the shops and buy some extra milk, a bit of flour to make some bread, and a few other bits (including a bottle of wine for an emergency situation). What would they do? These were changing times ahead.

Soon, I was emptying the boys’ schools bags, loaded up with extra work. Mmh, I felt I may need a list and a timetable for the forthcoming weeks as to when they were doing their “schoolwork” and I later mentioned this to the boys, much to their ‘delight’.  

A few more texts to friends and neighbours, saying we are here if you need us before the googling about what to do with the boys over the coming weeks began. That list is currently still being worked on as we speak. There are loads of teachers on Twitter, who are offering advice. Other resources are available at www.padlet.com or www.twinkl.com while on Facebook, I came across ‘The Beautiful Truth’ while following ‘Twisted Doodle’ @twisteddoodles is well worth it, for a bit of humour at this serious time.

Then, there was the conversation with the boys about their hurling and rugby training being cancelled. That went down like a lead balloon just as a text arrived from a parent to say a pending birthday party was cancelled until further notice.

As the still of the evening (probably the only quiet time in my house) descended, the conversation turned towards how my husband was going to get to work as a self-employed person, who commutes on public transport to Dublin. After much debate, we took the decision to take each day as it comes and for the time being, he will drive to the capital when he needs to go.  

Then, there was a photo from my sister, who is a vegetarian, telling us she wasn’t panicking but had accidentally made enough lentil Ragu for the week and a heart-warming photo from another sister, who went to buy some essentials and found a mug with a ‘K’ on it for me, in the middle of the all the madness. Replying to their messages, I sent them a photo of my youngest boy after he told me he was in “isolation on a plane.” You really can’t underestimate what children hear and pick up from the media and general conversation.  

On social media, the outpouring of help even on Thursday was unbelievable. Offers of help to vulnerable people to drop meals to them, help to frontline staff, etc. It would make you realise what a great ‘little country’ Ireland really is and we were doing what we do best; protecting and supporting our communities.

In the meantime, I have had to stop myself looking at videos of Italian doctors battling to save people’s lives and simply, just keep dipping in and out of our media outlets for the latest updates, which sadly included a lot of event cancellations for the likes of ‘Birr Stage Guild’ and numerous other groups and organisations. 

More from me, @kogog hopefully, tomorrow and keep in touch with us via Twitter @midlandtrib, @tullamoretrib and @offalyexpress. 

Please let us know how you are getting on as we face these challenging times. We would love to hear from you. You can also keep up to date to with the local news by visiting our website www.offalyexpress.ie or checking out next week's Midland & Tullamore Tribunes.