Wicklow Voice 21-09-2020

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September 21, 2020

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‘We won’t hike the local property tax’

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Relief as minister pledges to defer valuation until 2021 Homeowners in Wicklow can breath a sigh of relief after the Finance Minster said he would not introduce increases in the Local Property Tax this year.

Minister Paschal Donohoe announced that he would defer the valuation date for the tax from November this year to the same month in 2021 which means property owners will not face

any new charges until 2022 at the earliest.

In September 2019, Wicklow Council voted to increase the LPT in the country by 10%.

Mr Donohoe said that as with many aspects of the economy, the pandemic has introduced volatility into the residential property market and the Revenue Comissioners needed enough time to introduce the

necessary changes to the LPT regime before any new valuation date.

“Consequently I have decided to defer the valuation date from November 1, 2020 to November 1, 2021.

“With this new valuation date, there will be no change in LPT liabilities until 2022 at the earliest,” Mr Donohoe said.

New homes purchased since

since the introduction of the tax in 2013 have been exempt.

Meanwhile, number of property transactions recorded a big drop in July, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, as Covid-19 continued to impact the housing market.

See the full story on page 6 inside

Deirdre Geraghty at the launch of the ‘Glendalough: Power, Prayer and Pilgrimage’ exhibition at the National Museum. Pic: Julien Behal

04|

COVID-19 OUTBREAK Don’#t forget to wash your hands

COVID-19 OUTBREAK Don’#t forget to wash your hands

September 21, 2020

Archbishop tells schools to remove priority for siblings

Singer Mary Byrne at the launch of The Irish Cancer Society’s ‘Your Cough Could Be Masking Something Else’, lung cancer awareness campaign.

Pic: Andres Poveda

Parents happy with class rules EIGHT in 10 parents are satisfied with Covid-19 guidelines put in place at their child’s school, while three in four parents are comfortable with their children being back in school every day, according to a new survey.

The iReach nationwide survey to determine parents’ thoughts and concerns about their children returning to school received more than 1,000 responses which shows:

* 78% of parents are satisfied with the guidelines put in place by the school their children attend. However, 13% of parents are unaware of the guidelines implemented by their school. * 76% of parents are comfortable with their child being back in school. * 19% of parents believe that schools will be forced to close before Halloween, while a further 22% believe they

will be closed at some stage before Christmas.

Oisin Byrne, iReach Managing Director, said: “The vast majority of parents in Ireland are confident that schools nationwide are doing their best to minimise the risks of Covid-19.

However, we do see a growing level of expectation that the risk of school closures still exist.”

Pandemic pay falls by up to €100

The Pandemic Unemployment Payment has been reduced by up to €100 a week for some people.

The top rate of PUP payment for those laid off due to the Covid-19 crisis had been €350 a week, which applied to those who were earning more than €200 a week prior to the pandemic.

The lower rate of €203 was payable to those whose prepandemic earnings were below €200.

However, now the top rate will fall to €300 for workers who were previously earning over €300 a week.

A new rate of €250 will apply to those whose pre-Covid earnings were between €200 and €300 a week.

The lower rate of €203 for those earning less than €200 remains unchanged.

The reduced entitlements will be reflected in welfare payments from September 22.

PUP rates will be further reduced in February, and the scheme will expire on March 31 2021, after which claimants will avail of normal Jobseekers benefits.

CATHOLIC schools which give enrolment priority to siblings of existing pupils say they have been instructed by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, to drop admission rules that give such priority.

The Archdiocese of Dublin – the patron body for about 400 schools in Dublin, Wicklow and parts of Kildare, Carlow, Laois and Wexford – has asked all primary schools to update admissions policies in the coming weeks.

Schools who operate ‘siblingfirst’ enrolment policies say they have been instructed to grant parity to all children in the local catchment area, rather than giving preference to siblings of pupils.

In a letter to parents, the board of management of Our Lady’s Grove Primary School in Dublin 14 said it had wanted to continue to offer priority admission, but the archdiocese would not approve this.

The letter said that the board of management consulted other schools in the locality who were “ experiencing a similar difficulty in relation to the changes to admissions policy insisted upon by the patron.

“However, it is now clear that the patron insists that Our

Lady’s Grove and, indeed, other schools in the Archdiocese, adopt a standard admission policy, which does not permit a school to prioritise siblings of current students only in its first category.”

“Juggling work and dropping children to school is difficult as it currently is for many parents, in particular for single parents,” she said.

“Arranging drop-offs and collections at different times in different schools would make the planning and practicalities of their week even more difficult for parents.

“Now more than ever, with the rapidly evolving working landscape, we should be trying to work together and consider the whole family unit when making decisions about enrolment policies,” she said.

The revised admissions policy for schools in the archdiocese are due to come into effect this month.

They will apply to children seeking school places for the 2021/22 school year.

Denying that a change is being made to rule, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Dublin said the policy is considered to be “the fairest” and would only affect over-subscribed schools.

Over 12,000 apply for Leaving Cert rechecks More than 12,000 students have applied for rechecks of their Leaving Certificate exam results, the Department of Education has confirmed.

The 12,292 appeals are in respect of 33,677 grades.

Students had until 5pm on September 16 to lodge an appeal.

Appeals will not deal with the difference between the marks given by a school and the grade ultimately awarded by the Department of Education.

The appeal could only be made in respect of errors in the transmission and processing of student data.

Students who are unhappy with their results still have the option of sitting the Leaving Cert on 16 November.

However, details on how this exam will take place have yet to be finalised.

Last week, the first of what may be several legal challenges against the system used to calculate Leaving Certificate results came before the High Court.

The student claims that marks she was awarded under the standardisation process are not an accurate reflection of what she achieved in three subjects in which she was downgraded

September 21, 2020

|05

06 |

September 21, 2020

Cheers!

Pubs reopen

Pubs not serving food throughout the county have opened their doors for the first time since mid-March.

But sue to the ongoing pandemic, operations have restarted under strict guidelines with the experience very different for staff and customers alike.

There are limits on customer numbers in every premises, social distancing measures are obligatory and there will be enhanced cleaning regimes for all surfaces and contact points.

Table service is mandatory, so ordering or sitting at the bar is a thing of the past, for now.

Other guidelines govern noise levels, employee movements and contact tracing.

The organisation representing pub owners says its members have invested heavily in advance of business resuming and that they are committed to operating in line with the new standards.

The Vintners’ Federation has been critical of the length of time restrictions have been in place.

Its Chief Executive Padraig Cribben said the reopening of pubs is a good news story, par-

Author Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi with Henry Power (9) at the launch of the Red Line Book Festival which runs from October 12-18. Pic: Julien Behal

43% of workers worried about returning to desks THE county is worried ...

43% of workers say they are anxious about the risk of exposure to Covid-19 on returning to the workplace, according to a new survey.

Two-thirds are also concerned about the lack of additional mental health supports being offered by their employers while the pandemic remains at large.

The Matrix Recruitment Return to Work Survey tracked the views of almost 900 adults in Ireland and

found that 65% of those in employment have returned to the workplace, while 35% are still working from home.

Of those that continue to work from home, 43% do not know when they will return to the workplace, indicating that employers may still be putting preparations in place or simply be waiting longer given the fluidity of the situation and newfound rising levels of Covid-19 cases.

42% of survey respondents

say that will not be returning until early 2021, while a third will be back in the workplace before Christmas. 6% have been told that they will continue to work from home on a permanent basis.

Of the workers who are back in the workplace already, almost one in three (31%) were not happy about returning, with the majority (69%) saying that they were feeling anxious about the potential exposure to COVID-19.

Number of property sales drop by 40% The number of property transactions recorded a big drop in July, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, as Covid-19 continued to impact the housing market.

The CSO said that a total of 2,561 household dwelling purchases were filed with Revenue in July, a drop of 40.7% compared to the 4,316 purchases in July of last year.

However, the number of home purchases in July was up 12.9% on June, the CSO said.

Residential property prices fell by 0.5% on an annual basis July, with prices in Dublin declining by 1.3% while in the rest of the country, they were 0.2% higher in July compared to the same time last year.

The CSO said that Dublin house prices decreased by 1.2% and apartments increased by 0.4%.

It noted that the highest house price growth in Dublin was in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown at 1.3%, while Dublin City saw a decline of 2.7%.

Meanwhile, house and apart-

ment prices in the rest of the county saw growth of 0.3%.

The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest rise in house prices was the SouthWest at 4.3%, while at the other end of the scale the South-East reported a 1.6% decline.

The CSO said that property prices nationally have increased by 83.5% from their trough in early 2013.

Dublin prices have risen 91.4% from their February 2012 low, while prices in the rest of the country are 83.6% higher than May 2013.

The figures show that households paid a mean price of €295,825 for a home on the residential property market in the 12 months to July.

The mean price in Dublin stood at €443,115 and was the highest in any region or county.

Outside of Dublin, the MidEast was the most expensive region, with a mean of €303,275.

Wicklow was the most expensive county in the Mid-East region, with a mean price of €371,274.

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| 07

September 21, 2020

Jobs at risk as hotel bookings take a tumble AS wet pubs across the country prepare reopen another sector of the hospitality trade is reported to be in serious trouble.

With the summer season finished, hotels and guesthouses are now recording a 70% drop in projected revenues and the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) fears that close to tens of thousands of jobs could be lost in the county.

The SouthEast is doing better than the rest of the country but bookings for September and October have plunged with average room occupancy levels in the region standing at 41% .

The South West (31%) is the next best region.

The national room occupancy rate is 24% and in Dublin it is down to 12% across the city and county.

Locally, hotels in the county are doing better than those in towns.

Town and city hotels everywhere have been hit by the cancellation of concerts and conferences and the ban on crowds at sporting events.

In cities, excluding Dublin, the average occupany rate is down to 24%, according to figures from a survey conducted for the IHF .

Colm Neville, chair of the South East branch, said that the figures highlight the requirement for further specific measures to support Irish tourism.

“Our industry is operating in a quasi-lockdown,” he said. “The existing supports are totally inadequate for our industry given the current restrictions.

If appropriate measures are not put in place, more jobs will be lost.”

Before the Covid crisis, tourism supported more than 20,000 jobs in the region,

contributing hundreds of millions to the local economy.

“With a predicted revenue loss of €100m, 4,600 of these jobs are now under threat,” said Mr Neville.

He said measures contained in the Government’s stimulus package do not go far enough.

He called for an extension of the local Authority Rates Waiver and a reduction in tourism VAT to 9% .

B&B AID: Grants of €4,000 are being made available to B&Bs that do not pay rates to their local authority. The will help with the costs of re-opening and operating their businesses.

Minister Mary Butler, welcomed the move. “This funding will be of great encouragement and assistance to the many B&B owners and operators in Waterford,” she said.

08 |

September 21, 2020

Education2020

A lesson from Minister Norma

A

S Fianna Fáil sinks to new depths in the polls its beleaguered m i n i s t e r s should take a lesson from the Minister for Education.

Norma Foley is the best pupil in Micheál Martin’s class.

Admittedly, that is not a great distinction, for they are an unruly bunch of under-achievers.

They fight, talk behind the teacher’s back and tell tales out of school. And some of them never do their homework.

But Norma did her homework when it came to planning the re-opening of our schools. She ignored the clamour for interviews and public statements from many in opposition parties and the media, and stuck to her difficult task.

She took advice from school principals and senior civil servants and learned from the experience of other countries.

She cleared her lines with the teacher unions and with representatives of all the interests involved.

Although Ms Foley is an in-

Michael Wolsey experienced politician, she displayed a deft touch and was careful to leave no hostages to fortune. She marked out the limitations of her authority and made it clear there would be times when she would defer to the public health professionals if, for instance, they called for the closure of a class or an entire school.

An incredible amount of work went into re-opening the schools - from the teachers, of course, but also from the caretaking and catering staffs and the people who run and drive school buses. To equip an entire fleet with protective screens, hand sanitizers and reserved seats was a considerable achievement.

Mark Smith at the launch of HB Ireland’s 2020 Ice Cream Sunday campaign in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland Naturally, there have been some problems.

There have not been enough bus seats for everyone, everywhere, or enough space for every class in every school.

Nevertheless, the operation has

shown the hallmarks of sound planning, a trait rarely exhibited by this Government.

Ms Foley does not deserve all the credit. But ministers get a lot of blame when things go wrong so I think she has earned a pat

on the back. Maith an cailín you’re the best girl in the class!

The minister also deserves praise for her handling of the Leaving Cert under the system of predictive grades. She took advice and changed her plans when she saw the problems caused by the use of computer algorithms in the British exam system. And she has refused to be panicked by the few cases of wrongful downgrading or the anger of some students whose results from last year were devalued by grade inflation. These are genuine problems but they are the problems of a few individuals. They should not detract from what was, overall, a successful conclusion to an exam year fraught with difficulty .

Ms Foley’s calm and considered approach stands in total contrast to so much else the Government has done, in particular the chaos surrounding the ill-judged plan to make pubs keep details of every meal they serve.

At least, that was the plan as first leaked to newspapers.

Then it turned out that the pubs would only be required to keep their till rolls, which they have

to do anyway for VAT purposes. And we barely had time to absorb this change before we learned that it didn’t really matter because most of the wet pubs would soon be allowed to re-open without any food requirement.

The Government, and its individual ministers, employ an army of advisors and spin doctors, yet nobody seems to have thought through this mad measure or briefed back-benchers on what was intended and how it might work.

Fianna Fáil ministers should not shoulder all the blame for the hesitancy and poor judgment that has damaged this Government. But, with the exception of Ms Foley, they do seem to be a particularly hapless bunch and the party’s constant infighting and sniping at its leader does nothing to help their case.

Mr Martin can only pray they all stay on board as the great new Covid plan plays out. For, as Benjamin Franklin warned the politicians of eighteenth century America: “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

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10 |

September 21, 2020

We take a look back at extracts from old newspapers to see what was in the news this month in years gone by

Irish Independent 29/09/1938

Irish Press 15/09/1949

Freemans Journal 26/08/1862

Irish Independent 17/09/1907

Irish Press 22/09/1941

September 21, 2020

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12 |

September 21, 2020

opinion&comment

Sam the man behind the mask!

Y

ou could be forgiven for not knowing what Sam Bennett looks like.

You have probably heard the name by now but might not be able to put a face to it – usually it’s the other way around, but then there is nothing usual about these times we are living through.

In case you need to be brought up to speed, Sam Bennett won the green jersey in this year’s Tour de France, as well as two stages of this iconic race.

Helmeted during the race coverage and masked during interviews and podium appearances, it is entirely understandable that people may not know what he looks like.

Bennett hails from Carrickon-Suir, home of another great of Irish cycling, Sean Kelly.

Indeed, Bennett is the first Irishman to lead one of the Tour’s classifications since Kelly in 1989.

I’m glad to see that the Belgians aren’t trying to claim ‘Sammy B’.

Sam’s father Michael – the former Waterford United player and manager – played soccer for Belgian club Eendracht

Wervik in the late ‘80’s /early 90’s, and Sam was born there (by the time he was four he was back in Ireland).

In road bicycle racing parlance, Sam is a ‘sprinter’.

Sprinters aim for high finishes in a stage and compete in intermediate sprints, and the points from these tallies towards the contest for the green jersey.

The yellow jersey is the most famous jersey in the Tour de France – and rightly so as it gets worn by the overall leader and winner – but amongst ‘sprinters’ the green jersey is hotly contested, as is the polka-dot jersey amongst the ‘climbers’.

Bennett rides for the UCI WorldTeam Deceunick – Quick-Step team and the two stages he delivered for them in this year’s Tour de France brings to seven Grand Tour stages (Tour de France, Giro de Italia and Vuelta a Espana) that he has won in his decade-long pro career.

Ireland badly needed a new sporting hero to give the nation a lift in these troubled times.

We have been denied most of our normal annual sporting diet and cycling badly needs a new hero here.

Like it or not the exploits of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche are tainted by the era

they operated in, and what we now know about the practices in cycling at the time and long afterwards.

I’m not naïve enough to think that the sport is fully cleaned up even now, but I am fair enough to give Bennett the benefit of the doubt.

Back to the mask. There was a touch of ‘Zorro’ in Bennett’s win and media appearances.

A swashbuckling, heroic achievement. Let’s celebrate his win. *******

T

here has been an

unprecedented level of focus on the science community in 2020, as solutions to the Covid-19 crisis are sought.

This is how it should be. It is the business of science to make new discoveries that will make our lives safer, healthier, longer, more productive and more enjoyable.

Too much talk in the media though about vaccines for Covid-19 is unhelpful; expectations are raised and the meter starts running on public patience.

Scientists will deliver safe and efficient vaccines but it won’t be today or tomorrow; it probably won’t be this year and possibly not even next.

A safe vaccine is one that has been through Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials.

Progressing through this suite of trials establishes the safety of the drug or vaccine, followed by the correct dosages and ultimately proven efficacy for widespread use.

The process has up to now taken the guts of a decade, and you can add on a Phase 4 which is feedback after general use to fine-tune the list of side-effects.

We won’t be waiting a decade for a vaccine for Covid-19. The search for it has changed the game enormously, and the time for development will be driven down drastically.

No more gaps between the phases as funding for the next phase is sought; they will now be overlapped and dovetailed.

Knowledge sharing around the industry has moved up

several gears. Better technology is being employed for research and will be employed for manufacture.

Industry, governments and educational establishments are scrambling to collaborate.

While the above is all good news and progressive, it may still be the case that we reach herd immunity (where a large percentage of the population has become immune to an infection, thereby providing protection for those who are not immune) before we have a fully functioning vaccine.

While this will inevitably involve more fatalities, we are at least seeing some hopeful signs.

Trends across the globe at present see case numbers rising as societies reopen after lockdown, but fatalities dropping as a percentage of those infected.

More information about how blood thinners and common steroids can be effective in fighting the virus is emerging daily (where I work is producing one of these thinners).

It may yet add up to us learning how to live with Covid-19 before we can rid it from our lives through vaccination.

- Brian Quigley

| 13

September 21, 2020

WILDLIFE

ninenottomiss

Report from a Dying Planet

book of the week

with Justin Ivory

African Lion population now estimated at only 25,000 (Photo Justin Ivory) In case you missed it, the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and ZSL (Zoological Society of London) released the Living Planet Report 2020. For the rest of this column I am going to quote from the transcript the WWF used for their YouTube Bitesize Guide video simple summary of the report.

For many years the WWF and ZSL have been working with wildlife scientists and researchers, using all kinds of monitoring methods to collect data about thousands of species and their populations.

This data is written down and presented in the Living Planet Report. You could think of it as a health check for the planet.

These reports are written every couple of years and the results get more terrifying every time.

The shocking new headline from the 2020 report is that since 1970 in just five decades our planet’s wildlife populations have plummeted by around 68% in size, and 68% is just an average.

The population sizes of freshwater creatures have gone down by around 84%, not surprising since up to 90% of the world’s wetlands have been lost in the past three centuries, and when we say lost what we really mean more often than not, is destroyed.

People have been central to that destruction. Not intentionally in most cases, but just by us not thinking about the consequences of our everyday actions; the things we eat, the things we buy, the choices we make.

And by big companies who put profit before the planet, exploiting our natural world to get rich quick and by governments who don’t pass strong enough laws to stop it happening.

Too many people have been carrying on like nothing is wrong, ignoring the alarm signals the planet has been sending us for years. Ice sheets melting, forests burning, seas rising, extreme weather.

African Elephant – population now estimated at only about 40,000 (Photo Justin Ivory)

tv show of the week

HOROSCOPES

film of the week

sika the wild deer

by Liam Nolan

ecoeye RTE ONE, 7.30pm, Wednesdays

herself Released October 16th

Barrister Liam Nolan has just published, ‘Sika the Wild Deer’, which tells the story of a wild sika stag told over his lifetime in the Wicklow Mountains. The story reflects the author’s lifelong interest in wild deer. Liam Nolan is a former Chairman and President of the Irish Deer Society, a member of the Irish Deer Management Forum and Secretary since 2003 of the Deer Alliance, the body responsible for hunter training. Sika’s wanderings take him over mountains and valleys as he grapples with forces of nature while ensuring his own survival. Available from www.deeralliance.ie

After the ratings for David Attenborough’s Extinction: The Facts went stratospheric on BBC earlier this month, this is a good opportunity to revisit the pressing environmental issues closer to home. In this episode, Anja Murray and Dr Lara Dungan (pictured) examine the future of Ireland’s beaches. Given the worrying rise of sea waters and associated effects of climate change, shouldn’t we be more concerned about the impact of human activity, such as erosion, on our shoreline?

The new Irish movie, Herself, was just selected for the 64th BFI London Film Festival in October, one of only 13 films to be screened physically. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!, The Iron Lady) and starring our own Clare Dunne, Herself had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year where Clare was hailed “a revelation” and lauded for her “blisteringly intense central performance”

by The Times. Herself follows the story of Sandra (Dunne), a young mum determined to provide for her two young daughters. It will be released here on October 16th.

STAYCATION of the week schoolkids of the week family film of the week

AriesMake a bargain, or promise.

Push for a long-term dream and vision. Use your charm and creativity. Make a move leading to lasting benefit.

TaurusReplenish your reserves.

Compute expenses to find painless twigs to prune.

Align on solutions for longterm growth.

GeminiFocus energy for a personal project for long-lasting gain. Research and consider expert financial opinions.

Explore and innovate.

CancerReview options for the way of least friction. Gentle, steady pressure works better than force. Determine the best direction.

LeoA community effort gains momentum. Long-term goals seem within reach.

Work together to exceed expectations. Recruit friends to help.

belfast www.visitbelfast.com

how stuff works www.howstuffworks.com

Belfast is the perfect city to explore at this time of year as everything you need can be reached on foot. There are plenty of cultural opportunities to enjoy, from the Titanic Museum (above), Ulster Folk and Transport Museum to parks, gardens and galleries as well as the new shopping complex, Victoria Centre.

The Giant’s Causeway along the Antrim coast, just an hour away, is also worth checking out, as is the Bushmills Railway that connects the causeway with the historic town of Bushmills.

The Maldron Hotel, right in the centre, do excellent all-inclusive family deals.

Aimed at the more senior kids (and parents) in the house this website can probably answer any question thrown at you over dinner — even something as totally random as ‘How does perfume work? (pictured). The site is broken down into multiple categories, from science and health to entertainment and history, and you can find yourself getting lost as you browse the answers to questions you didn’t think you needed to know. Be advised that younger children may need to be monitored.

album of the week

culture of the week

rocks In cinemas from Friday Rocks is a British coming-of-age drama, directed

by Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) and stars Bukky Bakray as Olushola, nicknamed “Rocks”, a Black British teenage girl in London whose single mother abandons her and her younger brother Emmanuel (D’angelou Osei Kissiedu), forcing them to fend for themselves with the help of her loyal friend Sumaya (Kosar Ali). A hit on the festival circuit, Rocks is made with a mostly young, non-professional cast. It’s a vibrant portrait of loving female friendship and a close look at contemporary London life.

cause of the week

VirgoPlay the game you’ve been practicing to win. Forge ahead, and anticipate changes. Stay light on your feet, and have fun..

LibraSet into place structures to support your next adventure.

Balance and weigh your options. Make long-term decisions and preparations.

ScorpioGo for big financial goals with a partner’s support.

Teamwork goes the distance. Clarify your vision to inspire greater gain.

Sagittarius-

Collaborate to determine next steps with your partner.

Discuss possibilities, and align upon which to greenlight. Compromise and negotiate terms.

CapricornPick up the pace as demand for your work rises. The moves you make now can have lasting personal benefits. You have an extra advantage.

neil young The Times

culture night culturenight.ie

world patient safety day who.int

As prolific as ever, Neil Young is releasing another new work following Homegrown earlier this year. A new EP, The Times, is being made available through Amazon Music from Friday and is likely to appeal to his diehard fans rather than attract any new ones. The EP includes a politically charged collection of classics spanning Neil Young’s catalogue, including ‘Looking for a leader’, as well as a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’’.

Culture Night is an annual celebration of culture, creativity and the arts, and venues and organisations around Ireland extend their opening hours or run special workshops for the public to enjoy. Obviously, this year things are going to be very different; but there are still a wealth of events to enjoy both online and offline, including in Waterford, with a screening of short movies at Garter Lane Arts Centre (pictured) and exhibitions at the Rogue Gallery and the Parlour Vintage Tea Rooms.

Recognising patient safety as a global health priority, all 194 WHO Member States last year endorsed the establishment of World Patient Safety Day, to be marked annually on 17 September. This year is particularly poignant and the objectives of World Patient Safety Day are to increase public awareness and engagement, enhance global understanding, and promote patient safety. Socialcare Ireland is actively promoting the campaign on: www.socialcareireland.ie

AquariusCollaboration flowers.

Pull together for common gain. Have fun with family, friends and someone you love. Share your heart.

PiscesWork together for home and family. Work out who will do what, and get going.

Handle household routines, and make a long-desired improvement.

14 |

45 children complaints from here

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office 2019 Annual Report has revealed an increase in the percentage of complaints received relating to education, despite an overall decrease in the number of complaints received on behalf of children.

In 2019, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) received 1,503 complaints, a decrease from 1,622 complaints in 2018, however 49% of the complaints in 2019 related to education, up from 42%.

While the highest proportion of complaints came from Dublin (28%), 3% or approximately 45 complaints came from the Wicklow region.

Of those complaints, 75% related to schools, 17% to the Department of Education and Skills and 4% were associated with other educational agencies such as the National Council for Special Education and the State Examinations Commission.

The OCO’s 2019 Annual Report also revealed that 20% of complaints related to Family Support Care and Protection, a reduction from 24% in 2018.

The proportion of complaints received by the OCO that related to the health services also decreased from 16% to 14%.

wicklowvoice.ie September 21, 2020

Local firms creates 15 jobs with online tutoring service

A Wicklow company is creating 15 new jobs with the launch of an online tutoring service for primary pupils and second- and third-level students.

School Is Easy North Wicklow/South Dublin, which is based in Bray, has partnered with a Canadian company which specialises in bespoke online teaching.

“As we battle to cope with the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 regulations, homebased learning has taken on a new importance,” says Sharon Bolger, Director of School Is Easy North Wicklow/South Dublin.

“At a time when health and safety is uppermost in everyone’s mind, we can bring you home education from a safe distance.

“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 and this is where School is Easy South Dublin/North Wicklow comes in.

Ryan Kinsella, Cian Matthew O’Sullivan and Eimear Burke at the launch of Maths Week Ireland 2020. Pic: Chris Bellew

“We provide safe, online tutorials that are recorded so that your child can future reference any topic covered.”

Anyone who is interested in becoming a tutor can send their details to southdublin@

schooliseasy.com - please note applicants must be suitably qualified with teaching or professional qualifications or be in their second year of University study.

“SIE South Dublin/North

Wicklow 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,” Sharon adds.

“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.

“We appreciate that each child is unique and that is it is incredibly important to find a tutor who understands both the students and their learning needs – whatever level they may be at.

“We take pride in matching students with qualified, supportive, and caring tutors.”

Visit the website or email southdublin@schooliseasy.com.

NWET school to move next month

Fine Gael TD Simon Harris has welcomed the news that North Wicklow Educate Together will be moving to Ravenswell by mid-term.

“The staff and all the team at North Wicklow Educate Together have worked incredibly hard in the most challenging circumstances in the past few months,” he said. “The delay to the preparation of the Ravenswell campus caused enormous disruption to the school and I have been working with the school to prioritise the delivery of the school’s new home as quickly as possible.

“The patron, Educate Together and the school have been preparing the Putland Road property for the school’s use as interim accommodation pending completion of the refurbishment works at the Ravenswell site.”

September 21, 2020

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wicklowvoice.ie September 21, 2020