In the beginning, there was a confidence and supply Government, caught unawares by a global pandemic for which there was no data. They did the best they could. I had thought that the introduction of a new and stable government would be a catalyst in starting a new discourse in how to correctly manage a situation like coronavirus, for which we now have ample data.
Instead, we have Covid-evangelists all over the regular and social media demanding that we all wear masks, stay at home indefinitely, never go out for a meal, never take a flight again, never congregate.
Even more bizarrely, we now cannot send our children to school 5 days a week under the latest guidelines.
The new Government seems intent on covering itself in the face of this. I haven’t heard anything from them that is not a continuation of the “we’ll do whatever the CMO says” routine.
Meanwhile the rest of the EU trundles on, knowing deep down that cases will spike as they do so but willing to try to manage it as they go.
There is a real danger that the evangelists will win here by driving the public mood to the point where the Government will see more political capital in keeping the country closed than having the courage to keep the re-opening process moving.
I see the new school year as a litmus test of this. The consequences of not allowing children back full time will be catastrophic for the workforce, for the nation's mental health and most importantly for the educational prospects of the next generation.
A state that cannot be accessed, that cannot provide the conditions for employment, that cannot educate it’s children, is a failed state.
Capital, be it financial or intellectual, will flow to where it is treated best. We are setting ourselves up for decades of failure by not keeping up with the rest of the EU and telling ourselves that we’re great for doing so. Nobody owes us a living. Ireland needs to start getting real very quickly.
Instead, we have Covid-evangelists all over the regular and social media demanding that we all wear masks, stay at home indefinitely, never go out for a meal, never take a flight again, never congregate.
Even more bizarrely, we now cannot send our children to school 5 days a week under the latest guidelines.
The new Government seems intent on covering itself in the face of this. I haven’t heard anything from them that is not a continuation of the “we’ll do whatever the CMO says” routine.
Meanwhile the rest of the EU trundles on, knowing deep down that cases will spike as they do so but willing to try to manage it as they go.
There is a real danger that the evangelists will win here by driving the public mood to the point where the Government will see more political capital in keeping the country closed than having the courage to keep the re-opening process moving.
I see the new school year as a litmus test of this. The consequences of not allowing children back full time will be catastrophic for the workforce, for the nation's mental health and most importantly for the educational prospects of the next generation.
A state that cannot be accessed, that cannot provide the conditions for employment, that cannot educate it’s children, is a failed state.
Capital, be it financial or intellectual, will flow to where it is treated best. We are setting ourselves up for decades of failure by not keeping up with the rest of the EU and telling ourselves that we’re great for doing so. Nobody owes us a living. Ireland needs to start getting real very quickly.