Letters to the editor - Regional reopening and McDonald's

Regional reopening

Dear Editor,
Having followed the daily Covid 19 briefings every day for the last year - one obvious trend is coming through. Dublin like every other capital city of more than a million people has the most amount of Covid cases. Averaging at 30% consistently and now at 46% in recent times. Dublin's population is 1.27 million and geographically is the 3rd smallest county in Ireland, i.e. high density.
Leitrim has had the smallest amount of positive cases and thankfully very few deaths. Last week, Leitrim recorded no positive cases for 5 days in a row. For a period of 8 weeks in a row Leitrim recorded fewer than 50 cases, Roscommon was 6 weeks in a row, while Sligo was 4 weeks.
In a recent episode of TV3's Tonight Show, Immunology Professor Thomas Ryan of Trinity College called for the regional opening of counties that are least affected by Covid - half the country. Professor Ryan consistently called for pubs not to reopen at Christmas so he takes this very serious. After every major Recession, cities including Dublin bounce back immediately but not so rural Ireland.
With Brexit and Covid the BMW region on the upper Shannon could take a decade to recover. Outdoor pubs will reopen on the 1st of July and indoor pubs from mid August. Regional easing of lockdowns are common all over Europe - Ireland should view this scenario.
Yours etc.,
Tom Glancy
Carrick-on-Shannon

McDONALD'S - All may not be golden under the arches

Dear Editor,
Whilst I’m sure there is much happiness amongst the younger generation that McDonald’s intend to open a restaurant in Carrick-on-Shannon, perhaps we should be careful what we wish for.
Firstly, Carrick is a beautiful small town with a growing reputation as a holiday destination and justifiable ambitions to achieve national honours in the tidy towns awards.
It has often been said that Carrick-on-Shannon would like to emulate Westport. Well, I’m sorry but an application like this would be impossible in Westport as they have a clear town plan which doesn’t allow any such development.
Secondly, where is Leitrim County Council’s plan in relation to the so-called ‘no fry zone’ which excludes the sale of high fat foods close to Schools?
As I understand it, this development will be the closest food outlet to Carrick-on-Shannon Community School and while our kids may like the idea of €1 hamburgers for lunch every day, future generations will surely be astounded that we allowed a development like this so close to a school.
A similar development by McDonald’s in Greystones, Co Wicklow was withdrawn a few years ago after the local schools and parents united against it and Wicklow County Council adopted regulations to prevent any future applications by fast food restaurants for planning permission to open close to schools.
I hope the local community will reflect on this.
Yours,
Adrian McGrath
Portmarnock
Co Dublin