Ireland to temporarily close cultural institutions and schools

The government in the Republic of Ireland (www.gov.ie) has issued the following announcement concerning its response to the coronavirus outbreak:

Statement by An Taoiseach

The following measures will come into effect from tomorrow until 29 March:

• schools, colleges and childcare facilities will close from tomorrow (Friday)
• indoor mass gatherings of 100 people or more and outdoor mass gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled
• all State-run cultural institutions will close

Where it is possible to work remotely people should do so. Public transport will continue and shops will continue to remain open.

Mr Varadkar said we need the public and businesses to take a sensible approach.

(Source: https://www.gov.ie/en/news/7e0924-latest-updates-on-covid-19-coronavirus/#march-12)

If you are planning to attend any archives or museums in this period, it is perhaps best to check with them in advance as to whether they will be opening.

As a personal precaution, I have decided not to travel to Belfast tomorrow from Scotland to visit PRONI. The records will still be there in a few weeks...!

In Scotland, all gatherings of over 500 people are to be banned from next week; I suspect we will be seeing further developments here soon.

More as it emerges...

UPDATE 12.40: have contacted NAI and NLI to ask if they are affected. In the meantime, this has been posted by the Little Museum in Dublin:

"Special message. The Little Museum of Dublin will close at 6pm this evening until March 29th. Love and hope from all of us to all of you." (@littlemuseumdub)

UPDATE 13.45: And from the National Library of Ireland @NLIreland :

NOTICE: The National Library of Ireland’s sites will close this evening, Thursday 12 March 2020, until 29 March. This includes our buildings on Kildare Street, the Photographic Archive in Temple Bar, and @SeamusHeaneyNLI. #COVID2019IRELAND

UPDATED 13.53: The National Archives of Ireland has also issued the following announcement on its website at www.nationalarchives.ie

National Archives, Ireland will be CLOSED from Friday 13th March and will re-open to the public Monday, 30 March 2020 at 10am.


Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.