A Message to Residents from our Chairperson, Councillor Charlie Casey

As Easter approaches I know this will be a difficult time for many of us as we spend it apart from families and friends.

I appreciate the efforts made so far by residents in Newry, Mourne and Down to stay at home and exercise social distancing. I understand how difficult this will become as time goes on. Please know that we are all in this together. 

We need to continue to get the ‘Stay at Home’ message out, listen to our health experts and trust that collectively we can all help to reduce the spread of Coronavirus. Therefore, please do not be tempted to travel to visit family and friends over the Easter period.

I also want to say thank you again to the people of Newry, Mourne and Down for their patience and support as we put in place new working practices to deliver essential services during this challenging time. Thank you to all staff, with particular mention to our refuse team who have received many compliments through our social media channels.

It is reassuring to know that our Community Hub is now in place to deliver essential supplies to the most vulnerable residents across Newry, Mourne and Down and South Armagh. Please note that if you have been in touch with the Freephone helpline for support that items will be delivered to you. Although our leisure centres are being used to process deliveries, these remain closed to the public. As the Council moves forward, it will redeploy staff to help with the delivery of the Council’s essential services and indeed to support the new Community Hub.

As we work through this ever-changing situation it is important to remember that we will come out the other side, this will pass, and the Council will have a major role to play in the recovery phase.  It is now more important than ever that we keep looking to the future.  Our Economic Development team is actively working on support arrangements for business and has launched new online programmes over the course of the last week.  All our services are considering how they can be ready to support the private sector to get off to a running start when the time comes.

Finally, I want to wish you all a very happy Easter.  I know these are stressful and worrying times for everyone, but I know we will also continue to work together to support each other with the community spirit that characterises Newry, Mourne and Down.