An Garda Siochana are continuing to carry out checkpoints along the border as part of Operation Fanacht, and will turn back northern residents who can’t show they are travelling south for essential purposes. However it was revealed last week they do not actually have any power to enforce the guidelines to those from the North. This is due to a loophole in the emergency legislation that was passed in the Dail at the beginning of the lockdown.

For example, while those in Donegal can be fined for walking on a local beach if it is more than 2km from their home, if someone from Fermanagh manages to cross the border without encountering a check point, they can walk on whatever beach they wish without legal consquence.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill has called on residents here not to exploit the loophole.

Speaking on Highland Radio, First Minister O’Neill said: “We all need to stay at home, that’s what the public health message is telling us to do and that’s what we need to be doing. So this is not a time for us to be travelling to a beach, we have to very strictly follow the rules because we’re trying to save lives.

“So, can I ask people not to be travelling to Donegal, not to be travelling to anywhere else, and just to stay at home and follow the public health advice.”

The news about the loophole comes after it was revealed one of Fermanagh’s next door neighbours south of the border has the highest rate of Covid-19 infection in Ireland. According to the data, Cavan has an incidence of 753.5 per 100,000 of population.

Being branded the ‘border effect’ by the Dublin press, cases are also rising fast in Monaghan, where the infection rate is 570.2.

With significantly more testing being done in the South than in the North, the figures raise questions over what the true rate of infection is here in Fermanagh.