Local Lockdown Approach - Cache Publication - Events & CITOs - Archiving Caches
21st October 2020
The Ireland Reviewer Team is committed to following government directives.
In response to the ongoing situation re Covid 19 and the stricter travel restrictions across the island, we have made the hard decision to stop publishing all new caches anywhere in Ireland until such time as all travel restrictions have been lifted.
Any affected caches in the queue during the lockdown will be disabled with a note to resubmit when the situation improves.
We will keep a close eye on the situation and post updates as they occur.
There is no immediate need to disable caches, but it is of course up to each CO. We see no need to lock all caches, etc. If you are having problems with a particular cache/s please contact us to discuss.
Your understanding is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Inishanier & Cuilcagh.
12th October 2020
The Ireland Review Team continue to analyse the various Governments advice in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, especially with the recent changes to lockdown for the Republic (Level 3)
Effectively as of 6th October 2020 - every county in the Republic is on Level 3 Lockdown.
The Ireland Reviewers will continue, for now, to publish caches during Local Lockdowns, as we believe that Geocachers will respect any localised lockdown and take responsibility for their own actions and behaviours, by not going to an area that is locked down for caching and that those cachers within the lockdown area will respect only essential travel to be made and not leave the lockdown area.
This is the spirit of the guidelines for lockdown, which we hope everyone will follow to prevent the spread of the virus.
Please refer to the Government Website for the Country that you live in to see if you are affected by Local Lockdown Restrictions and the rules regarding that lockdown.
No Events or CITO's will be published at the moment.
19th July 2020
As the publishing of caches has now recommenced in Ireland, I plan, from the 29th July, (one month on) to start looking at long term Disabled caches and caches with poor health scores.
There were many caches that had a Reviewers Note placed on them prior to COVID-19 but which were not actioned due to the sudden implementation of the lock-down on 25th March. Owners of these caches will receive a new Reviewers Note asking that they sort out the issues with their cache or give an indication on when it may be sorted.
I am aware that some cachers are still "cocooning” or “shielding" or do not feel it is safe to go out or go caching and may not be in a position to maintain their caches at the moment. I would ask that these cachers add a note to their cache pages indicating they still intend to maintain or enable their cache when they feel safe to do so. I DO NOT require cachers to give specific reasons why they cannot maintain their cache. I would further request that cachers provide monthly updates so I can withhold taking any action where it is the intention to maintain the cache at a future date.
As previously stated, I plan to start this work on 29th July, so if cachers are able to enable/maintain their caches before then or update the cache page where maintenance cannot be carried out, that would be appreciated as it will reduce my workload! For your information there are over 400 caches currently disabled for two months or more.
29th June 2020
Ireland - Resuming Cache Publication - (No Events or CITOs)
The Irish Government has confirmed that the 20k / own county travel restriction will be lifted on Monday 29th June 2020, subject to the Virus remaining under control. The Northern Assembly have previously lifted travel restrictions.
As a result of this we are pleased to advise that the publishing of caches, with the exception of Events and CITOs, can resume in the whole of the island from Monday 29th June.
The advice from 16th March re events still stands.
Your patience will be much appreciated as we work through the Reviewing Process.
Many thanks,
Inishanier & Cuilcagh.
HQ re: Covid-19 Information and deadlines.
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Geocaching HQ have rolled out a new web page "Geocaching HQ Updates". This page lists deadline changes and geocaching updates related to COVID-19. The page will be updated with new information as it becomes available. The new page can be found here https://www.geocaching.com/sites/updates/en/
Adventure Lab
New deadline: August 31, 2020
In response to COVID-19, Geocaching HQ is extending the deadline to 31st August 2020, for all Adventure Labs to go public. HQ will monitor changes over the next few months to see if further adjustments are needed. There is no need to write in to request an extension.
Virtual Reward 2.0
New deadline: 31st December 2020
In response to COVID-19, Geocaching HQ is extending the deadline for all unpublished Virtual Reward 2.0 Caches to be submitted for publication to 31st December 2020.
Locationless Cache
New deadline: December 31, 2021
Since many Mega- and Giga-Events are postponed in 2020, Geocaching HQ will extend logging the Find Signal the Frog® - Locationless in 2020 until December 31, 2021.
Community Celebration Events
New deadline: December 31, 2021
Geocaching HQ wants to allow flexibility for geocachers who schedule their Community Celebration Events, since this is a unique Event type. Event hosts will be allowed to host these events until December 31, 2021.
Cache In Trash Out® Season 1
New dates: March 1 - August 31, 2020
Cache In Trash Out® Season 1 will be extended until August 31, 2020, so that Event owners can have more flexibility on when to host their Events and so cachers can earn the Season 1 souvenir. Season 2 will remain September 1 - November 30, 2020.
13th May 2020
The Ireland Reviewer Team is committed to following government directives and advice and are monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis.
As you are probably aware, due to the Covid 19 pandemic we put a hold on publishing any new caches anywhere in Ireland until such time as these restrictions have been lifted.
We look forward to starting to publish new caches again when the time is right, and there are no restrictions on travel. The plan is to publish caches again only when it is possible to do so in BOTH jurisdictions simultaneously.
If all goes to plan ROI would be ready to start publishing caches on 20th July, when freedom of movement comes in, and events on 10th August when gatherings are permitted – the Northern Ireland Assembly has put in place similar phases to their plan (without dates) & it is likely that the two would be fairly near in time.
This could lead to one part of the region having to wait on the other - at this point, we can't even guess which way around that will be, but we hope everyone will support us in our decision that it is better for everyone to do it this way. Hopefully, it will all line up.
This is the plan, but obviously, nothing is written in stone & plans have to be changed sometimes depending on events unfolding
We are looking forward to getting back to business as usual.
Your understanding is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Inishanier & Cuilcagh.
25th March 2020
The Ireland Reviewer Team is committed to following government directives and advice and are monitoring the situation on a daily basis.
In response to the Taoiseach's announcement effective at midnight last night, we have decided to stop publishing all new caches anywhere in Ireland until such time as these restrictions have been lifted. Any affected caches in the queue during the lockdown will be disabled with a note to resubmit when the situation improves.
We will keep a close eye on the situation and post updates as they occur.
There is no immediate need to disable caches, but it is of course up to each CO. We see no need to lock all caches, etc. If you are having problems with a particular cache/s please contact us to discuss.
Your understanding is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Inishanier & Cuilcagh.
23rd March 2020
The Ireland Reviewer Team is committed to following government directives and advice and are monitoring the situation on a daily basis.
The UK is now in lockdown due to the pandemic. As such we have decided to stop publishing all new caches in Northern Ireland until such time as these restrictions have been lifted. Any affected caches in the queue during the lockdown will be disabled with a note to resubmit when the situation improves.
We will keep a close eye on the situation and post updates as they occur.
There is no immediate need to disable caches, but it is of course up to each CO. We see no need to lock all caches, etc. If you are having problems with a particular cache/s please contact us to discuss.
Your understanding is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Inishanier & Cuilcagh.
16th March 2020
Ireland - Community First - Event/CITOs, new caches and Social Distancing (COVID-19)
In response to the ongoing situation & the directives recommending that social distancing be practised to aid in the control of COVID-19, the following has been implemented :
Events/CITOs and any type of caches will not be Published in Ireland until further notice.
At the time of writing, upcoming Events/CITOs in Ireland scheduled to be hosted during the next 3 weeks (up to April 6th 2020) have been Archived or Retracted/Unpublished.
While the heightened state of caution continues, future Events/CITOs already Published in Ireland will be re-assessed on a monthly and rolling ongoing basis.
If you are an Event/CITO host and you wish to cancel your activity - please post an Announcement log (to inform your Will Attends) and then Archive your cache page.
If you are an Event/CITO host and you wish to reschedule your activity - please contact your Reviewer (via their Profile Page) and request your page be Retracted/Unpublished.
To view Geocaching HQ's blog post regarding COVID-19, click here.
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