Castlebar native reflects on lockdown in UK

FORMER Connaught Telegraph employee, Kevin MacAleese, a native of Ballynew, Castlebar, and a retired British Telecom worker, who is cocooning in Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK, lost his father-in-law to coronavirus. Here he reflects on his lockdown.

THIS has not been an easy period for the world, and my time in lockdown has had its fair share of drama.

The first time I heard about the coronavirus I was having a Christmas drink with my old work friends in the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle. This was a popular Irish socialising venue in the 1940s and ‘50s when the boat building industry on the Tyne was the biggest in the world.

While we were having a pint a friend of mine said there were a lot of people returning early from China to Europe as a virus had been discovered in Wuhan.

As the virus then got a bit closer to home, Italy went into lockdown, but our UK leaders did not seem concerned. Life carried on as usual, the Cheltenham horse racing festival went ahead, and St. Patrick’s Day in the Tyneside Irish Club was business as usual.

While corona was becoming more concerning, life still had to go on as usual to some extent. During this time, it felt like the northeast of England was lagging behind with corona preparations.

With the health of my father-in-law, John Henry Bell, taking a turn for the worst in hospital, the direction was to move him to a local nursing home to get cared for. The hospital was making way for an outburst of corona patients. The reality was kicking in.

We found a lovely care home that had availability and was close to our house in Wickham, Newcastle, and the plan was for our loving family to regularly visit him in his time of need.

With corona rapidly changing and impacting our daily lives, the nursing home went into lockdown. We all hoped and prayed that he understood why we were not allowed in.

My wife Marilyn and I, my children and grandchildren frequently went to the window of the nursing home to wave at him through the glass. This was a very emotional time for us all.

On the night of March 24, after only spending a few days in the nursing home, we got the dreaded phone call that John was quickly deteriorating and critical. My wife and I and my daughter Rebecca were thankfully allowed in to say our goodbyes.

Dealing with a funeral is difficult enough at times, but dealing with one during the corona pandemic was challenging. There were so many limitations we had to adhere to. We managed to get a priest to do a small service, lasting around 20 minutes, and only allowing a maximum of 10 in attendance. We had to all stay two metres apart and cry to ourselves in the crematorium - a very unreal funeral.

While this was all going on my youngest daughter, Rebecca, was moving house and her new property wasn’t ready, so she was moving in with us. We were both on lockdown with me being over 70 and my daughter being pregnant.

On April 7, we had to drive into Newcastle for her 20-week baby scan. This was a very surreal experience. There was no one on the road and driving past the Irish club and St. James Park we met very few people. It was very different to the usual hustle and bustle that we are so used to. When will this get back to normal?

Easter was unusual this year as my eldest daughter, Claire, in London, would usually come up with her two lovely children to spend time with us. My middle daughter, Marie, came with her children and stood on the other side of the street waving and talking over the road.

People all over the world are feeling the same and missing out on seeing loved ones. Marie is looking after her children while working from home for the local authority. Her husband is on the front-line for the NHS, working on the Covid-19 ward in the Royal Victoria Hospital - like going to Dunkirk every day!

I wonder what it will be like when we come out of this horrible tunnel? My neighbours come out every Thursday night to clap for the NHS and all the other key workers. Community spirit has visibly increased in our village and people are supporting each other and the vulnerable in this hard time. A very good effort by all.

A positive in this is that the homeless have been moved into hotels, and hopefully we can find a way to support this in the long term and they can find a better path in life.

I have just asked 'Alexa' how long the lockdown will last, as no one else seems to know. She replied with the potential of six months!

After this, I may not go back to my favourite ground, St. James Park, due to being a bit sick of some players getting in excess of £50,000 a week and being forced to take a 30 per cent pay cut, with their leader, Gordon Taylor, saying that he can't live on £2 million a year.

Now no one is worried about Brexit, the backstop or the Irish government election result. There are no Friday prayers over here. Synagogues and churches are closed. The Orange parade is off. The British Army are helping in Northern Ireland. Trump seems to be more worried about the stock market than the 10,000 who have died in New York. Putin won't let us know how many have died in Russia and if sometime in the future the Chinese government find out where this started will we believe them? All we seem to be getting is fake news.

My mother, Bridie MacAleese, from Ballynew, Castlebar, left this world in September 2019 (aged 101). We were able to have a lovely celebration of her life in Castlebar surrounded by friends and family - we are now very grateful for that. Comparing that to friends who are dying from corona and other illnesses and are unable to have the send-off they deserve.

My final say on the matter is, with God’s help, I will be able to go to Castlebar in August to celebrate life with my friends in Johnny McHale's, Coady’s, Moran’s and Byrne's bars.

This is a time we will never forget.