Au pays de la Guinness, les bars restent clos et le gouvernement irlandais joue la prudence. Un déconfinement en 5 phases, entamé lundi 18 mai, avec la réouverture de certains magasins et l’assouplissement des règles de regroupement.
Lisa Daly, est étudiante en ingénierie à l’université de Limerick. Pour elle, la réglementation irlandaise est plutôt stricte.
"We’re not allowed to travel 20km until June 8th. Everything is just moving so slowly. It is very strict but I think it is the right thing to do, and it’s because we want to open up very slowly and we are looking at the other European countries and seeing how it reacts for them."
Cependant elle reconnaît un relâchement dans le respect des règles sanitaires.
"It’s becoming very sunny in Ireland as well, and I think that’s having an effect on people wanting to do things outside. In my perspective, I’ve noticed men are taking it a lot less seriously. I know the cases have gone down but there is still no vaccine, so I think it is good that people are loosening up and can enjoy their lives a bit more. But, I still think people should maintain their hand-washing and their social distancing because it is still scary."
Avant la crise sanitaire, tous les regards irlandais étaient tournés vers la frontière entre l’Irlande du Nord et la République d’Irlande, véritable enjeu du Brexit. Mais Lisa nous explique que ce débat n’est plus pour le moment la priorité des citoyens.
"The Sinn Féin party didn’t talk about Brexit at all, they just focused on housing, retirement, healthcare and things like that. To us, Brexit seems like a faraway problem, which is wrong. Now though we hope that there won’t be a strong border and there will be travel. Irish people are proud to be European, I am personally am very proud to be European and I just hope that no other country leaves the European Union. I think it’s very strong if we can all work together, especially in times of crisis, during coronavirus. I’m optimistic for Europe. I think they mean well, and they’re aiming for a better future and have high sustainable standards, but also to take on everyone’s consideration. Europe is obviously making decisions from Brussels, but to take each country’s perspective into consideration is very important. I’m very proud we are European and very happy that Ireland is staying within the European Union."