Ireland Institutes Mandatory Quarantine for Travelers

If you're thinking of traveling to Ireland in the near future, think again. 

This Friday, March 26, 2021, sees the start of mandatory hotel quarantines for most people coming to Ireland. Passengers arriving into the Republic from a list of designated 'Category 2, high risk' countries will be required to stay in a designated hotel for twelve nights.

What's more, those people will have to bear the cost: €1,875 for the period of their stay. 

Category 2 is made up of a list of 33 countries experiencing high levels of COVID-19. Right now that list includes many African nations (including South Africa), a number of South American countries (Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela make the list), as well as Austria and the United Arab Emirates.

But be warned: Countries can be added to this 'danger' list at any time, and at the government's discretion. 

Moreover.... all inbound travelers now require valid proof of a negative PCR test for the virus. If you haven't got a certificate on you, proving that fact, you will also face mandatory quarantine at a daily rate of €150. In other words, if you don't have a valid negative test document, you will be whisked directly from the airport to your quarantine hotel. And don't even think about appealing.

Some people are exempt from the new regulations: aircrews, maritime crews, drivers of heavy goods vehicles transporting items to and from this country, and a few others. And that's it.

But for anyone else? Before you book your next trip to Ireland, make certain that your country of origin hasn't been designated Category 2 by the Irish government or you could be in deep trouble.

Background 

After twelve weeks of lockdown, the people of this country continue to suffer from the third wave of the global pandemic. Over 4,500 are now dead from the virus. Analysis suggests that part of the reason for the continuing spread of COVID in Ireland (particularly new variants) is unregulated inbound arrival of travelers from countries that are suffering from the virus worse than we are. Too, some Irish have also been at fault. A few of Irish travelers have chosen to holiday abroad even during the pandemic. When they came home, they've brought back the unwelcome gift of illness.

For weeks now many people including scientists, politicians, as well as members of the general public, have clamored for travel restrictions to choke off entry points for the virus. With the arrival of mandatory quarantine, it seems the government has finally listened to their demands.

Check Before You Book

You might be reading this from a chair in London or a couch in Florida. At this point, neither the United Kingdom nor the United States is on the Category 2 list. But as I point out above, if I were you...

Before you book your Irish-bound trip, check the list. And also realize that even if you book a trip for the summer right now - thinking everything is okay - but should your country of origin make the list before you depart, you might want to cancel. Or, you could find yourself spending almost 2 weeks in quarantine before you can make your way into the Irish countryside.

For more information:

• Today's The Journal article
• Today's RTE News article
• New Irish Government Mandatory Hotel Website

This Year, Saint Patrick's Day Will Be a Bit Different

In Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day is usually marked with a bit of tradition. While we don't dye our rivers green or eat green bagels, nor quaff green-coloured beer (which is considered a sin - why would anyone in their right mind ruin a perfectly good pint by poisoning it with pigment of unknown origin?), we do have a few activities which make the day fun and interesting.

Most Saint Patrick's Days, the weather is intolerable. March 17 isn't summer, of course, but our kids will insist we walk down to town to watch the parade. We'll stand at the side of the road, shivering as the rain sheets down, holding the kids high on our shoulders so they can watch the tractors pulling their floats, and the local school band skipping to the beat of a jig. The dancers and the clowns will sidle past, while the local town officials perch on the boots of their cars, getting soaked in the process. 

We'll smile and laugh despite the cold, gamely looking toward the Heavens and praying that the damned thing will be over soon so we can take a bit of comfort. But time ticks on until the last float passes by, and the local fella dressed in the garb of the Saint ends it all as he waves his crook at the sullen skies. With the parade finished, we'll all break toward our just reward - which happens to be a pint or two at the local pub.

We'll sit at the bar, jawing with our friends as the glasses are raised, keeping an eye on the kids who run between tables and chairs like packs of laughing pups. Most of us will have gone to Mass before the parade, and we'll shake the rain from coats and hats as we sit in the warmth of the cozy establishment, drowning the Shamrock with towering pints of Guinness. Many of us will have given up the drink for Lent, and Lent isn't over until Easter, but Saint Patrick's Day is a day of divine dispensation where all drinking sins are forgiven. 

When the kids get hungry they lead us home where we might find hot plates filled with bacon and cabbage, or chicken and ham, a full pot of mashed spuds beckoning to be eaten with butter. We'll eat our fill and perhaps watch the telly for a bit and, if we're lucky, we may hear a knock on the door where a good friend drags us again down to the pub, convinced that the Shamrock has not yet been properly drowned.

Saint Patrick's Day is Ireland's national day, a sort of Fourth of July and Thanksgiving all rolled in to one. It's a day for a bit of craic and of time with family. A day for a smile and a handshake and a hug and a laugh.

But not this year. Though Patrick may have banished the snakes, they're back as vicious as ever.

A Virtual Beauty

This year the rain has stopped and instead the sun is splitting the stones. The Met has forecast temperatures of up to 16 degrees C and maybe more. It's as if the Saint is teasing us because he knows that this year we'll not have a single parade. At least not one in person. This year, we could watch the parade pass by with the sun on our pates. But that's not going to happen. Not in 2021.

Like many countries, Ireland is closed. The streets where the parades take place each year are empty. The kids who usually march along with so much enthusiasm are gone home. The tractors are in their fields or locked in their sheds. No floats have been made by the town committees to mark the day.

The doors to the local pubs are shut tight. This year, we'll not have a chance to drown the Shamrock because the Guinness doesn't flow. We won't laugh together, nor sing together. We won't go to Mass together. We won't be able to share the craic.

Instead, we'll do it all virtually. We'll sit in our homes and think of what once was, and look forward to other Saint Patrick's Days. We might turn on the telly, watching the virtual events broadcast by RTE, our national TV station. Or we could turn to the computer or our Smart Phones where a special station, SPF - the St. Patrick's Day Festival - has been set up. We might check the radio to hear the throbbing notes of Riverdance or tune in for some Irish traditional songs and perhaps a Voyage by Christy Moore. 

We might open a tin of Guinness and toast the good health of friends and family we cannot see this year. Later in the day, many might take a walk within family bubbles, steering clear from others who come our way for fear of harming anyone.

Today, we'll think of the people who are not with us this Saint Patrick's Day. We'll say a prayer for the 4,552 Irish people who have died from COVID, as well as their families.

We'll go to bed early, perhaps, after watching the sun go down on a far, cloudless horizon. 

We'll pray for better times ahead, and ask Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, to throw out the snakes once again.

The 2021 - and Final! - Edition of A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland
is Now Available on Amazon!

Though the world is a poorer place right now, we still look to the horizon with hope. If you're dreaming of living and working in - or traveling to - Ireland, this book might be for you. At over 90,000 words, A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland, 2021, gives readers an insight of what it's like to immigrate to this beautiful country: of how to become a citizen, how to get a job and work visa, how to enjoy a perfect pint of Guinness, and the amazing tapestry that is Ireland. 

For more information, visit Amazon and A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland, 2021 Edition. 

The 2021 - and Final! - Edition of A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland is Now Available!

It's been a long journey. What started as a series of notes about this Yank's uncertain decision to uproot his life and replant his soul in Ireland has turned into an Eleven Edition exploration. 

Most years, I've edited A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland to reflect this country's current events, imparting the challenges and opportunities present in this country, hoping that it might be of help if you are considering a similar voyage. This year, just in time for Saint Patrick's Day, I offer an edition which explores the difficulties this country faces: pandemic, Brexit, and everything else.

At over 90,000 words, it's the biggest edition yet. 

I include an extensive guide that explores how to immigrate into this country and get a job here. I look at the faint, glimmering light of hope that is creeping over the country as its people are vaccinated, and to the opportunities that will again skyrocket heavenward when Ireland re-opens for business. 

Once again, I try to answer those questions friends have posed to me over the years: Tom, why did you immigrate to Ireland? How did you become a citizen? How did you get a job there? 

And the big one: Can I do that, too?

The answer to the last question is the most challenging. The short answer is: Yes. But the process is much more complicated than one simple word. Which is why I wrote the book in the first place.

This is the final edition of A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland. After all the years of writing it, I guess I've finally run out of things to say. Too, this head of mine isn't as young as it once. It's time to move on, just as the world is moving on.

To all those who have purchased past editions of A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland (and there are over twenty thousand of you), please know how grateful I am.

To those of you who are looking for an easy read about a nutty Yank's wild journeys in Ireland over the past 39 years, I hope you buy a copy of this 2021 edition.

And to everyone else: living the life of an expatriate has been one hellofa crazy ride. Recently, someone asked me if I'd do it again. The truthful answer is, probably not. It was far more work than I could have imagined.

Yet, though I didn't know it when I first moved here, I was given an immense gift. I've learned that living in a country different from your birth is a tremendous opportunity. Circumstances that are part of an immigrant's experience push you to perform to your very best. You're constantly reaching farther and higher because no one is there to catch you should you fall. 

You're on your own, and you learn that the only one you can rely on is the person inside.

I didn't always succeed. Often, I failed miserably. I probably would have made much more money had I never ventured to a country so different from that of my birth. But I know that had I stayed in America, I would never have tried my hand at so many different things to make a living for my family - from weighbridge salesman to writer; owner of a marketing agency to operations director of leased offices company, to the owner of a 'Tent Camping' site resting next to an amazingly beautiful Atlantic Bay. I was forced to learn. Either that, or perish. 

I chose the former and decided to survive.

Being an immigrant isn't easy. In fact, it's damned hard. (Think about THAT when you read about a family of immigrants trying to cross a U.S. border river to make a new life). But, it is also incredibly rewarding. And I'm not talking about the pocketbook definition of that word.

'Rewarding', as in learning to realize the innate goodness of people because you've met so many; 'rewarding', as in learning that even when you want to give up and drown yourself because you can't earn a proper crust, you discover that you are stronger than you thought because you'll keep trying; 'rewarding', as in waking up one day after 39 years of expatriate life, and finally understanding that the challenges you've encountered have also taught you many valuable lessons. You'll smile a bit, realizing that your struggle has burnished your soul with the heat of fear and heartache, transforming at last to hope and a bit of joyful triumph. 

'Rewarding', as you suddenly realize that the decision you made to stay here was the right one, after all.

To all those who yearn for the life of an expatriate, I wish you well. I also stress how carefully you should plan your journey. If you don't, you might bite off more than you can chew.

Mind you, I never planned and looked what happened to me?

A Survivor's Guide to Living in Ireland, 2021 Edition is out now on Amazon. Just click here.

(If the link doesn't work, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Survivors-Guide-Living-Ireland-2021-ebook/dp/B08YRP3Z9N/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+survivor%27s+guide+to+living+in+ireland+2021&qid=1615887557&s=books&sr=1-1)

My best to all.

Tom