Are we there yet? Your second Travel Megathread (threadbans in OP}

poisonated · 11-02-2021 5:10am

gansi wrote: »

What?? Any link

https://www.dfa.ie/passports/

Until level 5 is lifted at least.

Richard Hillman · 11-02-2021 5:44am

I'm going bikepacking around Europe this summer, and there ain't nothing stopping me. And I'm not coming home unless the country is free again

Del Griffith · 11-02-2021 7:51am

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

Passport issue and renewal suspended until travel restrictions lifted.

An absolute disgrace.

Between this and the begrudgery tax it just shows how the government have completely lost it.

Bare in mind that every traveller needs a negative test in fly anyway, a common sense measure that wasn't in place for the often sited numbers that landed in Ireland at Christmas.

All this is to deter healthy, covid free people from travelling. Utterly ridiculous.

Fann Linn · 11-02-2021 8:05am

Del Griffith wrote: »

An absolute disgrace.

Between this and the begrudgery tax it just shows how the government have completely lost it.

Bare in mind that every traveller needs a negative test in fly anyway, a common sense measure that wasn't in place for the often sited numbers that landed in Ireland at Christmas.

All this is to deter healthy, covid free people from travelling. Utterly ridiculous.

That restriction is there since before the end of Christmas 2020. I applied for my wife online in early Jan, my €100 was accepted and when everything was uploaded I got a follow up email basically saying that during level 5 nothing would be processed however if they needed follow up info or documentation they would let me know but to send nothing in by post for now.

I'd say myself once 5 is dropped they'll start processing, just that the backlog will slowly start increasing similar to driving tests, licensing etc.

scouserstation · 11-02-2021 8:56am

I think the government have possibly shot themselves in the foot here, with the 500 euro people were travelling while factoring in the fine as part of their holiday costs, now youl not only have non compliance but people refusing to pay the fine also, and I wouldn't be too sure that this fine has a sound legal standing, it will be interesting to see what happens the first person that decides to challenge this in court that's for sure,
Some people Looking at what's being done in the UK but don't seem to realise that the measures they are bringing in over there are TEMPORARY over here we are talking about these restrictions until 2022 or even later, and Varadkar was quoted last week stating these measures could go on indefinitely, its looking like you won't be able to travel out of this country for a very long time, let that sink in for a moment

faceman · 11-02-2021 9:09am

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

So did I and again, never asked

I’m guessing that they’re guessing?! They must be assuming that anyone travelling from Spain or other typical holiday destinations are tourists? It’s bizarre. Then again they can’t even get the daily covid numbers correct so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised

faceman · 11-02-2021 9:12am

Yapamillias wrote: »

I haven't been back in Ireland for a few years now and recently came back. I was in the States and Germany and both places had their ups and downs in terms of how people were adhering to things on a practical level.

I have been trying to follow the Irish rules and regs and facts and figures since I got back so If I say something incorrect then don't dogpile on me.

I edited your post for brevity in my reply. Your observations are fairly spot on, particularly around the negative messaging and non existent mental health supports. Jack Lambert spoke about the negative messaging on Broadsheet.ie last week.

The mental health thing is a grave concern. If this is how they handle mental health in a prolonged major crisis there is zero hope of any future investment in mental health when this is all over.

11-02-2021 9:15am

poisonated wrote: »

https://www.dfa.ie/passports/

Until level 5 is lifted at least.

Level 5 will be lifted in April at the latest I would think

angel eyes 2012 · 11-02-2021 9:29am

poisonated wrote: »

https://www.dfa.ie/passports/

Until level 5 is lifted at least.

The link doesn't make any reference to travelling for essential health purposes. Given that this jurisdiction doesn't provide adequate health services in various disciplines, can a passport be renewed in such circumstances.

caveat emptor · 11-02-2021 9:32am

Someone was saying yesterday that there won't be any EU countries added to the red list. I said I wouldn't be so sure due to what's going on in Austria. I think regards travel it's best to assume things can change quite quickly and plan accordingly.
Looks to be changing quite quickly.

https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1359779773694828546?s=20

faceman · 11-02-2021 9:36am

Thought I'd give you yet another update from Spain's Costa Blanca region. We are in a de facto lockdown of sorts now for a few weeks. 10pm curfew is still in place, hospitality is closed bar take away as are gyms and leisure. All retail is open including hairdressers and barbers but non essential retail must close at 6pm each day. All retail is closed on Sundays. Masks now have to be worn on beaches and while exercising outdoors between 10am and 7pm. No social house visits are permitted and you can only meet 1 person from outside your household in public.

At weekends, you cannot leave your municipality (for most people this means their city) from 3pm to 6am Monday morning. This means if your girlfriend/boyfriend lives in another city you cannot visit them at the weekend during those times unless children are involved. No one is allowed to enter or leave the Valencia region by car or train.

All of this is due to last till February 15th but the government indicated this week it will likely extend to March 1st. All the regional governments are doing their best to be ready for a summer season.

So what does all this look like?
As always with Spain, these measures are checked and enforced. The masks while exercising is a whore. I went for a run once during those hours and never did it again. I am doing all my exercise and training outdoors because the weather permits it. Its a small consolation.

Cases are dropping rapidly, its odd that the plateau that ireland sees during a lockdown isn't seen here. I dont know why that is, the Spanish are divils for family gatherings.

I cant emphasise this enough, there is no international tourism at all. I haven't met any Irish tourists since Christmas. (British tourists are still banned from entering Spain). The coastal towns are that usually popular with tourists all year round are empty. I dont know for sure but I guess the age profile in my town averages with older people so people are well behaved. There is a reluctance from people to be welcoming tourists at this point, particular Irish tourists given the rates at Christmas. The current messaging on fines in Ireland etc is giving an impression to people that Ireland is a dangerous place.

The media is less doom and gloom than Ireland. Focus and anger is squarely on the vaccine rollout. There is rarely a mention of the impact of international travel in the media. While the government is singing the Sound of Music during their press briefings they tend to line their briefings with messages of hope.

gmisk · 11-02-2021 9:44am

20 more countries to be added to Ireland's mandatory hotel quarantine list https://jrnl.ie/5351005

faceman · 11-02-2021 9:56am

caveat emptor wrote: »

Someone was saying yesterday that there won't be any EU countries added to the red list. I said I wouldn't be so sure due to what's going on in Austria. I think regards travel it's best to assume things can change quite quickly and plan accordingly.
Looks to be changing quite quickly.

https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1359779773694828546?s=20

That was me and this is a eye brow raising development. I’m not familiar with what’s going on in Austria, is there a driving factor as to why travellers from Austria need to be quarantine in a detention centre hotel?

I’m guessing it’s a more an disincentive for would be skiers

faceman · 11-02-2021 9:57am

angel eyes 2012 wrote: »

The link doesn't make any reference to travelling for essential health purposes. Given that this jurisdiction doesn't provide adequate health services in various disciplines, can a passport be renewed in such circumstances.

Passports can still be issued for essential needs. There’s details on their website of how to apply. It’s pretty strict, not open to abuse

The passport office has always been closed when Ireland was in level 5

caveat emptor · 11-02-2021 10:02am

faceman wrote: »

That was me and this is a eye brow raising development. I’m not familiar with what’s going on in Austria, is there a driving factor as to why travellers from Austria need to be quarantine in a detention centre hotel?

I’m guessing it’s a more an disincentive for would be skiers

Unfortunately there is a very significant outbreak of the immunity escaping South African variant which could have been caused by Austrian golfers in S.A or South African skiers depending on which rumour you subscribe to.

There were Irish people who were caught there 12 days ago breaching local covid rules who came for a skiing holiday.

It's as if 2020 mid term skiing holidays never happened in some people's minds.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/irish-among-those-in-breach-of-lockdown-rules-at-austrian-ski-resort-1.4472198

faceman · 11-02-2021 10:09am

caveat emptor wrote: »

Unfortunately there is a very significant outbreak of the immunity escaping South African variant which could have been caused by Austrian golfers in S.A or South African skiers depending on which rumour you subscribe to.

There were Irish people who were caught there 12 days ago breaching local covid rules who came for a skiing holiday.

It's as if 2020 mid term skiing holidays never happened in some people's minds.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/irish-among-those-in-breach-of-lockdown-rules-at-austrian-ski-resort-1.4472198

Will be interesting to follow Austria as test case. How will EU react and how long will the requirement for travellers from Austria to be in the detention centre hotels stay in place

monkeybutter · 11-02-2021 10:37am

faceman wrote: »

Thought I'd give you yet another update from Spain's Costa Blanca region. We are in a de facto lockdown of sorts now for a few weeks. 10pm curfew is still in place, hospitality is closed bar take away as are gyms and leisure. All retail is open including hairdressers and barbers but non essential retail must close at 6pm each day. All retail is closed on Sundays. Masks now have to be worn on beaches and while exercising outdoors between 10am and 7pm. No social house visits are permitted and you can only meet 1 person from outside your household in public.

At weekends, you cannot leave your municipality (for most people this means their city) from 3pm to 6am Monday morning. This means if your girlfriend/boyfriend lives in another city you cannot visit them at the weekend during those times unless children are involved. No one is allowed to enter or leave the Valencia region by car or train.

All of this is due to last till February 15th but the government indicated this week it will likely extend to March 1st. All the regional governments are doing their best to be ready for a summer season.

So what does all this look like?
As always with Spain, these measures are checked and enforced. The masks while exercising is a whore. I went for a run once during those hours and never did it again. I am doing all my exercise and training outdoors because the weather permits it. Its a small consolation.

Cases are dropping rapidly, its odd that the plateau that ireland sees during a lockdown isn't seen here. I dont know why that is, the Spanish are divils for family gatherings.

I cant emphasise this enough, there is no international tourism at all. I haven't met any Irish tourists since Christmas. (British tourists are still banned from entering Spain). The coastal towns are that usually popular with tourists all year round are empty. I dont know for sure but I guess the age profile in my town averages with older people so people are well behaved. There is a reluctance from people to be welcoming tourists at this point, particular Irish tourists given the rates at Christmas. The current messaging on fines in Ireland etc is giving an impression to people that Ireland is a dangerous place.

The media is less doom and gloom than Ireland. Focus and anger is squarely on the vaccine rollout. There is rarely a mention of the impact of international travel in the media. While the government is singing the Sound of Music during their press briefings they tend to line their briefings with messages of hope.

dunno how right you are on the plateau,

but looking at worldometers.info cases in spain peaking at say just 30-35k and are now around 20k

and in ireland they peaked at say 5-6k (ignore the backlog) and are now around 800 across similar tie periods mid jan to now

other than that, it seems pretty similar in terms of the lockdown

faceman · 11-02-2021 10:42am

monkeybutter wrote: »

dunno how right you are on the plateau,

but looking at worldometers.info cases in spain peaking at say just 30-35k and are now around 20k

and in ireland they peaked at say 5-6k (ignore the backlog) and are now around 800 across similar tie periods mid jan to now

other than that, it seems pretty similar in terms of the lockdown

Spain has a population of 50m Ireland has a population of less than 5m

By plateau I was referring to Ireland’s daily cases currently sticking around the 1,000 mark

monkeybutter · 11-02-2021 10:47am

faceman wrote: »

Spain has a population of 50m Ireland has a population of less than 5m

By plateau I was referring to Ireland’s daily cases currently sticking around the 1,000 mark

what has the population of Spain go to do with it

you said the case numbers are falling rapidly

irelands aren't

but the opposite is true, they are higher than the end of jan

i mean 50/5 is 10

20,000 / 1000(rounding up our figures) is 20

they are higher per person right, is that what you were trying to get at?

faceman · 11-02-2021 10:49am

monkeybutter wrote: »

what has the population of Spain go to do with it

you said the case numbers are falling rapidly

irelands aren't

but the opposite is true, they are higher than the end of jan

i mean 50/5 is 10

20,000 / 1000(rounding up our figures) is 20

they are higher per person right, is that what you were trying to get at?

Either you're not following my point or I dont understand what you're talking about. Or both.

monkeybutter · 11-02-2021 10:53am

faceman wrote: »

Either you're not following my point or I dont understand what you're talking about. Or both.

what

you said cases are falling rapidly in Spain

the plateau you are seeing in ireland isn't happening here

but the opposite is the case

Spain is plateauing, and at a much higher rate and cases aren't dropping rapidly,

But they are here

monkeybutter · 11-02-2021 11:04am

faceman wrote: »

Either you're not following my point or I dont understand what you're talking about. Or both.

even on cases and deaths from the end of the summer to now spain has been doing very badly next to doom and gloom ireland

Hector Savage · 11-02-2021 11:24am

https://twitter.com/Niall_Boylan/status/1359596785849823233?s=20

So that's it, foreign travel is essentially over, it will take years - decades even to vaccinate the whole world.
I've accepted I'll never see my parents again, maybe when I retire I'll get to see Ireland again.

And TEN YEARS IN PRISON for people in the UK lying about where they have been !!! think about that for a second ....

In the meantime, there is some fantastic 4K youtube travel videos out there, city walks and all ...

monkeybutter · 11-02-2021 11:31am

Hector Savage wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Niall_Boylan/status/1359596785849823233?s=20

So that's it, foreign travel is essentially over, it will take years - decades even to vaccinate the whole world.
I've accepted I'll never see my parents again, maybe when I retire I'll get to see Ireland again.

And TEN YEARS IN PRISON for people in the UK lying about where they have been !!! think about that for a second ....

In the meantime, there is some fantastic 4K youtube travel videos out there, city walks and all ...

don't be putting to much on what anyone in the UK government ever says

they change their minds by the hour

its a fine and up to 10 years, no one will ever get 10 years for it

Del Griffith · 11-02-2021 11:35am

monkeybutter wrote: »

don't be putting to much on what anyone in the UK government ever says

they change their minds by the hour

its a fine and up to 10 years, no one will ever get 10 years for it

The 10 years max is for extreme stuff, like someone from a redzone with a positive test doing a legger from quarantine.. that sort of thing.

I absolutely hate what they are doing, don't get me wrong, but it's bat**** crazy enough without confusing the matter by thinking a 10 year sentence could happen for standard travelling.

Whiplash85 · 11-02-2021 11:38am

Del Griffith wrote: »

The 10 years max is for extreme stuff, like someone from a redzone with a positive test doing a legger from quarantine.. that sort of thing.

I absolutely hate what they are doing, don't get me wrong, but it's bat**** crazy enough without confusing the matter by thinking a 10 year sentence could happen for standard travelling.

10 years is mental. Would you get 10 years for smuggling drugs overseas. I'm sure there have been people who have killed other people in this country and served less.

Del Griffith · 11-02-2021 11:40am

Whiplash85 wrote: »

10 years is mental. Would you get 10 years for smuggling drugs overseas. I'm sure there have been people who have killed other people in this country and served less.

I agree with you

dmcsweeney · 11-02-2021 11:50am

The tone from MM sounds a bit more promising on RTE this morning;

Mr Martin said people should not be undertaking non-essential international travel, which is a breach of Level 5 restrictions.

He added that Ireland has to think beyond mandatory quarantine as "otherwise in the medium- to long-term we end up as prisoners in our own country".

Theboinkmaster · 11-02-2021 11:53am

faceman wrote: »

Spain has a population of 50m Ireland has a population of less than 5m

By plateau I was referring to Ireland’s daily cases currently sticking around the 1,000 mark

There’s no plateau - Ireland cases nos are steadily dropping.

RobitTV · 11-02-2021 12:06pm

UK: Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary spoke today of his optimism for summer holidays, despite Transport Secretary Grant Shapp's warning earlier against booking travel Link

Holidays can be booked confidently, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary claimed today. The airline boss spoke to BBC about his hopes for travel from the spring. "I still remain optimistic that people will be allowed to travel from May onwards," the airline boss said.

Are we there yet? Your second Travel Megathread (threadbans in OP}

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