Council cancels NY trip over Covid-19 threat

 

Cavan County Council is the latest to cancel their trip to travel to America for St Patrick’s Day.

The Cathaoirleach and Chief Executive of Cavan County Council have taken the decision to cancel their visit in light of the current global public health situation surrounding the coronavirus.

Chief Executive of Cavan County Council Tommy Ryan said, “We have not taken this decision lightly, as the annual St Patrick’s Day visit to New York represents an important opportunity to promote Cavan as a business and tourism destination and to foster links with the diaspora.

“However, the health and safety of the population is of paramount concern, and, in order to minimise any risk of spreading COVID-19 among our community at home and, indeed our hosts’ community, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s trip,” said Mr Ryan.

Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Cllr Shane P O’Reilly said, “We are entering a critical phase in terms of the management and containment of this virus, and both the Chief Executive and I recognise the need to take whatever steps are required to minimise the risk of spreading this disease to the most vulnerable in our society, and as such we will not be undertaking any non-critical overseas travel at this time.

“We wish to acknowledge the support and friendship of the Cavan community in New York City, Philadelphia and Rochester, and look forward to renewing our friendship in the very near future, including at the upcoming Cavan Calling homecoming celebrations this August,” noted Cllr O’Reilly.

The trip by the Council to America had been billed in part as critical to the continuing global promotion of the ‘Cavan Calling’ homecoming festival which is set to take place in the county in August later this year.

The determination follows that of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who announced he was curtailing his own St Patrick’s Day trip to the US due to the Covid-19 threat. He will now not be visiting New York and will only visit Washington DC.
The itinerary for the Cavan Council’s deputation had included visits to several major cities in America’s north-east.

On the cards was a visit to Rochester to meet with members of the Patrick O’Rorke Society there, as well as members of the local authority, before travelling to New York where the deputation will once again meet IDA officials, the Cavan P & B Association, and take part in the parade.
For a second year in a row, having completed a successful visit for the first time in 2019, the group had also been due attend events in Philadelphia and take part in the parade there also.
Up until yesterday, at the conclusion of the monthly meeting of elected members, Mr Ryan expressed the belief there was a chance that the deputation would still travel.

He said of the trip: “It’s about meeting our diaspora and continuing the good work already done in that regard. Shane P. for instance has arranged for a meeting to speak with people on the immigrant issue while we’re over there, that’s something he’s passionate about. So there is a schedule of work to be done, and all the while we’ll be doing our best to promote and encourage people to come visit Cavan for ‘Cavan Calling’ in August.”
He added: “We hope this Coronavirus thing won’t go on to effect ‘Cavan Calling’. We’ve put a lot of work into that now at this stage, a lot of people are on board and this trip is part of promoting that.”

‘Cavan Calling’ takes place from August 20-23, 2020.

Cavan County Council meanwhile has said it has a business continuity plan in place, which will ensure that critical services remain open should the current situation escalate.

A spokesperson stated: “Council management will continue to monitor the situation and co-ordinate with national and local stakeholders to determine the appropriate response as the situation develops.”
 

For accurate and up-to-date information on coronavirus, please consult the Health Service Executive’s website at https://www.hse.ie/coronavirus/