‘People will re-evaluate what is important and what is not’

It may not have been as busy as it would have been in 2020 BC [Before Coronavirus], but there were still quite a few people out and about in Castlepollard when the Westmeath Examiner visited the town on Friday afternoon.

The first signs we saw of the new not so normal were the people queuing outside the few vital businesses that have stayed open during the Covid-19 crisis.

Since the first restrictions were introduced in mid-March, Barry’s Pharmacy on the Square has been conducting business through a hatch in the perspex screen it installed over the store entrance. The pharmacist Aoife Higgins said that people have been very understanding.

“We haven’t had one problem since we put up this screen. It’s not nice for customers, especially people who are hard of hearing, but we’ve had no problems at all. Everyone is ringing in to order. If it is even a shampoo, we have it ready. They are not standing there waiting. It’s a quick in and out.”

The demand for products such as hand sanitisers and masks has decreased in recent weeks as people adhere to the restrictions, while a group of volunteers are playing their part and delivering prescriptions to members of the community who are cocooning.

Aoife says that she’s hopeful that the country is moving in the right direction.

“A lot of people are doing the right thing, I think, anyway. The numbers are going to start going the right way, hopefully in the next two weeks. We are very grateful to the locals who have come on board with us and are doing deliveries for us. We’ve been so lucky.

“People have even been dropping us in chocolates and sweets. We have great customers and we are very thankful for that.”

Patricia Gargan is the proprietor of a supermarket and Castlepollard’s post office on Green Street.

She says that there has been a marked increase in the number of people getting groceries delivered, which she sends out with the postmen.

“People are liking the idea of having their stuff delivered as well. They have my mobile number and they are ringing for a chat more than anything. I am giving 100 per cent to try to look after everyone who comes in to the shop and the people coming to the post office.

“The postmen are also very good. They do check up on people and if I don’t see someone that I’d regularly see, I ask them to check with them. There was one lady I hadn’t seen, so I phoned to see if she was okay. I think that’s important.

“It’s nice to think that someone is thinking about you. This is where the mobiles come in very handy. Let’s hope we get through this. We are all doing our best.”

One of the more positive side effects of the current emergency is that many of the smaller, independent retailers in towns and villages have seen an upsurge in custom.

“We are very busy here in Castlepollard and are delighted with the trade,” greengrocer Fergus Duff said.

“People have responded to the measures [introduced by the government] and they are staying at home and staying local. Thank God, we are very busy.”

Peter says that while there was some panic buying the first week, people are now “steady buying”.

“People are probably eating a lot healthier this weather and eating a lot more fruit and veg,” he said.

Cathy Curtis and daughter Ciara, who was six yesterday, were taking their dog Bella for a walk when they stopped for a chat from a safe distance. Ciara has asthma and a heart condition, so Cathy says that her family have been diligently adhering to the social distancing guidelines.

However, Cathy says doesn’t mean that they haven’t enjoyed aspects of the last six weeks under lockdown.

“I am actually loving it, but I am one of the lucky ones. I work with Center Parcs and they are paying their staff.

“I am getting jobs done that I haven’t got done in years. From a personal point of view, it’s been great. The hard part is not seeing family. I have a grandchild who is three and they [she and Ciara] are like sisters and they haven’t seen each other since the start of this. That part of it is tough.

“We go out for our walks twice a day. We stay away from people. I don’t go near shops. My son is very good – he’s older and he does the shopping for us,” she said.

The almost unbroken good weather since the crisis began has been a Godsend to parents looking to keep their children positively occupied. Castlepollard’s rural location is also a huge advantage at this time, Cathy says.

“We are lucky where we live. If you were living in Dublin, in a high rise flat or something like that, and not able to get out. Or even in some of the bigger towns. “Here we are blessed. There is so much space around that you can get away from people. We still get to go out into the fields. We still get to go out to find water to splash in without going near Lough Lene or any of the hotspots, and I think that makes all the difference.”

Ciara may be off school, but she is keeping up with class work and thankfully enjoys it, her mother says.

“We do about three hours every day. She is finished her school books and we are now making up stuff ourselves that is along the lines of what was in the books. She is in junior infants, which means it is pretty easy for me. If she was in third or fourth class, it might be harder, but she loves it.”

Cathy says she is grateful to be able to get to spend this time with Ciara and the rest of her family.

“I have spent more time with her now than I have since she was born. Even financially it is easier because you are not paying for childcare. You are not paying the petrol costs for going to work. You are not racing and chasing the clock every day.

“You eat when you are hungry, you go to bed when you are tired. Isn’t that they way life should be lived?

“I think that a lot of people will come out the far end of this re-evaluating what is important and not important.”