MANY Fermanagh natives have had their Christmas plans disrupted following annoucements from dozens of countries that they had blocked travel with Great Britain to prevent a new strain of Covid-19 from entering their respective countries.

This week, the Republic of Ireland has also banned all travel with Great Britain until December 31, subject to ongoing review, and has also banned inter-county travel from December 26.

Over the past few days, The Impartial Reporter understands that many people from Fermanagh living in Britain have changed their travel plans, choosing to travel from airports outside of London – currently under Tier Four restrictions, which ban domestic and international travel.

On Tuesday, a total of 32 flights from within Britain landed in Northern Ireland at Belfast International Airport, George Best Belfast City Airport and City of Derry Airport.

Other would-be passengers face travelling to Ireland by boat, sailing from Liverpool to Belfast – still allowed as the Northern Ireland Executive decided on Tuesday night not to ban incoming travel from Britain.

One Fermanagh resident who had her plans changed was Enniskillen Rotary Club President, Heather Ellis. She was very excited last week when she journeyed over to Scotland to meet her and husband Canon Ian Ellis’s new granddaughter, Phoebe Shearer, born on December 14 to their daughter, Naomi, and husband, Graham Shearer.

Heather said: “I was worried about flying over, but I felt very safe, My other children were concerned about my return travel plans, as I had planned to return to Enniskillen the week after Christmas, but now I don’t know when I’ll be back. We will see how things pan out.”

It is unknown how long it will be before Heather makes a return to Enniskillen, as Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon did not give an indication of when she would lift the ban on travel between Scotland and the rest of the UK. She strongly advised against international travel.

Heather added: “We watched Nicola Sturgeon make her announcement, and we are now trying to keep abreast of the situation. For now, I get to be a hands-on granny for a bit longer, which isn’t too bad; it’s a good reason to still be here.”

Heather was “really impressed”by the health staff in Scotland, and praised the healthcare workers who have been attending her daughter and granddaughter in the days following the birth.

However, she will miss Christmas and Advent celebrations in Fermanagh: “I will especially miss Christmas at Rossorry, in our last year in the parish. My duties helping Santa in Enniskillen with the Rotary Club as this years’s President [of the club] and a Rotarian have been neglected, so I will miss that too.”

Heather’s husband, Rossorry Parish Church Rector Ian Ellis, will be kept busy with his parish duties on Christmas morning while his wife is in Scotland.

There has been much debate and criticism regarding the handling of GB-NI travel restrictions, which culminated in a meeting on Tuesday evening that saw Stormont ministers advise against non-essential travel between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK after an outright travel ban was voted down.

A Sinn Fein proposal for a temporary prohibition on travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was defeated during an emergency virtual Executive meeting.