# Taoiseach to address the nation tonight at 9 pm



## Eireog007 (17 Mar 2020)

Taoiseach to address the nation live at 9pm on RTÉ and Virgin Media.


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## noproblem (17 Mar 2020)

Maybe people need to hear the same thing repeated over and over again, but apart from a  warning for old people about "something" coming down the line it told me nothing I didn't already know. Some might even say it could be put down as a PR exercise by Leo. In any case it solves nothing.


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## NewEdition (17 Mar 2020)

What was the point of that???
No actions announced!
Need to take this by the horns and take actions.


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## Leper (17 Mar 2020)

Leo Varadkar needn't have addressed Ireland, but he did. That alone indicates that he has or is trying to have a handle on the whole Covid-19 situation. He didn't order a lock-down, however I feel he is preparing the nation for worse times ahead.

Certainly, I felt some reassurance from his leadership. Compare Leo Varadkar's efforts against Boris "Sitting on his hands" Johnson. Boris is keeping schools open and it appears the schools will close without his go ahead.


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## seamus m (17 Mar 2020)

I can't believe how naive English are and still comparing it to flu and 8000 deaths in a year. Do they not see nearly 1100 in 3 days from a similar population and then the fact that most are from one region .


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## DeeKie (18 Mar 2020)

It was timely and, given the day, appropriate to address the nation. Cultural tone and gravitas is important.

Also you might not appreciate the impact of the awful WhatsApp messages spreading fake news in the last three or four days . I’ve seen it in various family and community groups. Terror and anxiety.  So that message to ignore these emails was important. The “cocooning” of old people was new (not sure what that means but let’s see). Echoes of the UK proposals here? The call to those health care workers in retirement and abroad was new in it’s directness. The acknowledgment of the extent of expected deaths was also new to me in term of stark messaging.

The message had some flaws in delivery but it left me in tears and I felt it had more honesty and sincerity than anything else. I am not a supporter of Fine Geal in particular, but if you had to pick a leader in a virus crisis that he is a doctor with family on the front line adds to his credentials for me.

I agree he did not identify the issues regarding lack of equipment. References to plans rather than realities was concerning. Anyway, good luck to us all and to Leo.  I have no appetite for a change of government 


Those that hold people to perfection as a standard should consider what they are doing in this community themselves, what they would say. There was no populist sugarcoating., they are spending money, we are all going to hurt. I was cynical about it to start with but felt at the end felt that it might join us together. We all know people who are going to die in this virus, and we are vulnerable.


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