Sinn Fein? They have gone away, you know.

[Angelo]

Michelle O'Neill was badly wrong in deciding on going on a solo run a few hours after standing with Foster and smacks of political opportunism. John O'Dowd was out of order in what he said. We need so called leaders to show a level head and a degree of calm here and act as if they can (at least publicly) work together to lead us through this. Going off on solos or ranting on social media isn't good.  People need leadership more now than ever.

I tell you what is wrong, people is that silly little statelet getting annoyed over a word and talking about leadership framed around a word when the biggest danger in their life time is knocking on their door. Michelle O Neill was wrong alright, she was wrong to stand with Foster in the 1st place and agree anything. She is right now. You are committing suicide north of the border.

I'm not saying that the current position here is right.  Squabbling in public about what to do doesn't help the situation. Unfortunately like a lot of places (including some of the biggest economies on the planet) we've got terrible leadership when we need it most.

Staying silent when terrible leadership and inaction a global crisis will actually exasperate the problem, never mind not helping it.

[93-DY-SAM]

Where is Boris? No sign of him in days. Self isolating?

[RadioGAAGAA]

Where is Boris? No sign of him in days. Self isolating?

Hopefully the useless **** is on his death bed.

Not often I would say that, but between him and Trump, if both them were dead by the end of the week an awful lot of lives might be saved.

[Armamike]

Where is Boris? No sign of him in days. Self isolating?

Indeed.

[LeoMc]

I'm not a big fan of O'Dowd or Sinn Fein in general, but it's hard to disagree with what he is saying. The British government seem to be content to have what will amount to a cull of the elderly and the sick. For all their faults, Leo and Co. are trying to save lives here in the south.
We need a joint approach on this Island, but unionists in the north just cannot see the bigger picture.

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-03-14/elderly-to-be-quarantined-for-four-months-in-wartime-style-mobilisation-to-combat-coronavirus/

Could be/within the next 20 days. They could also be dead within the next 20 days.

Or Boris's Herd Immunity might actually work and I might win an All Ireland with Down before I'm 60.

It may work, it may not. Time will tell. They have a strategy they think will minimise the impact. Do you have a strategy or plan for winning that 6th one.

Define work. Is say 50k dead old people and an immune remaining population to be defined as a good outcome?

50k out of a population of 65m?
I would say 0 deaths is a good outcome. What number of deaths do you count a success?

I am not an expert so I don't know which strategy will minimise deaths, the UK going for a manageable infection rate and hoping the NHS is not overwhelmed. The alternative , a lockdown to minimise infections now and hope to find a cure or vaccine before a second outbreak after the lockdown ends (or a second lockdown).

[Taylor]

Has anyone the link to Brolly on Talkback this morning?

Cant seem to find it

[Dabh]

Has anyone the link to Brolly on Talkback this morning?

Cant seem to find it

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000gdhq

[Taylor]

Has anyone the link to Brolly on Talkback this morning?

Cant seem to find it

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000gdhq

Cheers Dabh

[RadioGAAGAA]

I am not an expert so I don't know which strategy will minimise deaths, the UK going for a manageable infection rate and hoping the NHS is not overwhelmed.

Sorry, please stop this narrative from spreading - it is giving the impression of competence at the top.

Because Boris et al are talking about a manageable infection rate, doesn't mean they are actually taking action to cause that manageable infection rate.

Already, it is too late. In 2 weeks, the NHS will be completely overwhelmed because they have not taken action now.  They probably needed to act at the very latest this time last week.

You can see articles today where they are talking about instructions for over 70s isolating being imparted in a couple of weeks - in two weeks that point I conservatively reckon virus will already be in somewhere like half a million people - and thats going by semi-official numbers which are stinted by the reduced testing; chances are its 10 times that.

But, being optimistic in 2 weeks, best case scenario is 50,000 cases, 10,000 of which need acute care. I believe there are ~5,000 ventilators in the UK. 2 weeks to find an additional 5,000 ventilators? Aye, no bother.

Worst case scenario is in 2 weeks there are 5,000,000 cases - of which ~100,000 need acute care. I'm sure I don't have to explain the impossibility of finding 95,000 additional ventilators do I?

[LeoMc]

I'm not a big fan of O'Dowd or Sinn Fein in general, but it's hard to disagree with what he is saying. The British government seem to be content to have what will amount to a cull of the elderly and the sick. For all their faults, Leo and Co. are trying to save lives here in the south.
We need a joint approach on this Island, but unionists in the north just cannot see the bigger picture.

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-03-14/elderly-to-be-quarantined-for-four-months-in-wartime-style-mobilisation-to-combat-coronavirus/

Could be/within the next 20 days. They could also be dead within the next 20 days.

Or Boris's Herd Immunity might actually work and I might win an All Ireland with Down before I'm 60.

It may work, it may not. Time will tell. They have a strategy they think will minimise the impact. Do you have a strategy or plan for winning that 6th one.

Define work. Is say 50k dead old people and an immune remaining population to be defined as a good outcome?

50k out of a population of 65m?
I would say 0 deaths is a good outcome. What number of deaths do you count a success?

I am not an expert so I don't know which strategy will minimise deaths, the UK going for a manageable infection rate and hoping the NHS is not overwhelmed. The alternative , a lockdown to minimise infections now and hope to find a cure or vaccine before a second outbreak after the lockdown ends (or a second lockdown).

And it seems we have got our answer a lot quicker than expected. The model on which the UK government was basing its strategy was fundamentally unsound.

"The latest evidence suggests that 30 per cent of patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 will need critical care in an intensive care unit, he said. Previous estimates, based on experience with viral pneumonia, were too low."

https://amp.ft.com/content/249daf9a-67c3-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3?__twitter_impression=true

[Armagh18]

Lads f**k a-levels, f**k gcse's f**k Paddys day and all the rest. Need to cop on and get schools closed. Education will still be there in a year when this virus is gone. Every major sporting event in the world is off and pubs are closed on the busiest few days of the year, costing billions.

There's plenty more money in the world, theres plenty of time for studying and there's plenty of time for sport. None of it matters without your health and if stopping everything is what it takes to save lives then thats what needs to happen.

[Itchy]

Boris Johnson and his government have etched their names in history as the most incompetent most clueless and most reckless government of them all. People in the 6 counties, you need to follow the advise of the WHO and the irish government NOW.

[balladmaker]

UK government have fecked this up massively, and unfortunately we will see the outcome in the coming couple of weeks.  Arlene and the other Boris cheerleaders ... hang your heads in shame. 

[armaghniac]

They've started testing the first vaccine in the US. Perhaps we'll have a  Paddy's day next year.

[ardtole]

Lads f**k a-levels, f**k gcse's f**k Paddys day and all the rest. Need to cop on and get schools closed. Education will still be there in a year when this virus is gone. Every major sporting event in the world is off and pubs are closed on the busiest few days of the year, costing billions.

There's plenty more money in the world, theres plenty of time for studying and there's plenty of time for sport. None of it matters without your health and if stopping everything is what it takes to save lives then thats what needs to happen.

My sentiments exactly, Arlene, Steve Aiken and Naomi Long have backed the wrong horse. I'm living in the south but I'm from the north and the contrast in reaction of the respective governments is stark. I'm genuinely worried how this is going to pan out.