Cathaoirleach and council CEO cancel Paddy's Day NY trip

The Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council and the its chief executive have cancelled their trip to New York for St Patrick's Day.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent, Cllr Peter Ormond said that he and chief executive Anna Marie Delaney decided to cancel their trip to America this week due to “a number of factors around the coronavirus”.

“We didn't travel to New York as we felt that it wasn't necessary to put ourselves, our families or the people we work with at risk.

“We were also worried that if the virus broke out in Offaly, we'd need the emergency team to be in place and the chief executive is a part of the emergeny team. We didn't feel that it would be appropriate to be out of the country in case this did happen,” he said.

“I don't want to be alarmist, there has been no outbreak in Offaly and these are just precautionary measures.”

Cllr Ormond also urged members of the public to follow the advice given by the HSE and do everything they can to slow the spread of the virus.