The people of Belmullet are more than resilient enough to come through the current Covid-19 crisis - an Erris-based councillor said this week.
Speaking at the first Mayo County Council meeting to be held virtually, Fine Gael Cllr Gerry Coyle said "Belmullet is resilient and the people of Belmullet are resilient and we will overcome this and come out of it the other side."
He also defended the reputation of the area, saying: "Belmullet did nothing different from any other area, there are people who did not go outside their door who have got this and I would ask people not to not to be sharing comments about Belmullet."
Cllr Coyle added that when it came to sympathising with people who had lost loved ones: "The best way to sympathise with people is to stay inside your home, that is a simple message."
The Belmullet Local Electoral Area is the worst hit area in the country when it comes to the latest wave of the pandemic, with 760 cases confirmed in the LEA in a two-week period up to January 11; and when broken down by population, it shows one in every 17 people in the LEA having a confirmed case of the virus.
