The wave against lockdown - the censored, the silenced, the ignored.

[trailer]

This is it in a nutshell

We should have gone for Zero Covid/aggressive suppression last summer - we had four cases on July 1st, and for a good month in June/July we were bumping around in single figures/very low double figures

It would have been very hard to do that, not easy at all - but what has actually happened since has been far harder and far more extreme than what would have had to be done then to achieve Zero Covid/aggressive suppression

The government chose to let Covid back in and that, unfortunately, was supported by the majority of the Irish people amidst a media environment of manufactured consent for letting Covid back in

We were told that schools or pubs or construction don't spread Covid, these were lies that were obvious lies

So that was a massive failure and ever since, the government have been totally petrified about admitting to any mistakes

On the other end, the anti-lockdown narrative now is the most extreme of all, far more extreme again than the failed extreme policies of the Irish government and other governments across the west

We have to keep lockdown now because we didn't put in the hard yards last summer - we tried to cut corners, and government gave in to business vested interests

The problem with the current lockdown is it hasn't been hard enough, it hasn't been a proper lockdown, it was another half measure, for sure it was better than than what the anti-lockdown extremists want but it was only partially effective

Half measures don't work with Covid

Half measures are the result of the failed belief that we can "live with Covid"

You couldn't "live with Covid"

Refusing to recognise that one big thing has us where we are now

A few weeks ago I said Level 5 needed to stay until June and was met with a furious reaction here

That now looks optimistic, September might be more realistic

The most important report I've seen lately was a PrimeTime report on Public Health teams a few weeks back

They are totally under resourced, under staffed and often have to work with pen and paper

That is a farcical situation

NPHET are no more than a mudguard for government at this stage, they aren't prefect but I feel deeply sorry for them, and for people like Ronan Glynn who are thrown out for public consumption and savaged

NPHET wanted hotel quarantine last May but they are not the government - it's the government who are to blame for NPHET not being listened to

NPHET have always had both hands tied behind their back

You can make an argument that NPHET maybe should have resigned in protest at government inaction last summer but they are public servants who genuinely want to help

It's the government who have put them in the horrible position they are now in

When you have ppl traveling to and from the UK for essential reasons zero covid is a pipe dream. The Kent variant would have arrived anyway. It's far more transmissible. I get the zero covid argument and the look at Oz or look at NZ but for Ireland it would have been impossible.

[sid waddell]

This is it in a nutshell

We should have gone for Zero Covid/aggressive suppression last summer - we had four cases on July 1st, and for a good month in June/July we were bumping around in single figures/very low double figures

It would have been very hard to do that, not easy at all - but what has actually happened since has been far harder and far more extreme than what would have had to be done then to achieve Zero Covid/aggressive suppression

The government chose to let Covid back in and that, unfortunately, was supported by the majority of the Irish people amidst a media environment of manufactured consent for letting Covid back in

We were told that schools or pubs or construction don't spread Covid, these were lies that were obvious lies

So that was a massive failure and ever since, the government have been totally petrified about admitting to any mistakes

On the other end, the anti-lockdown narrative now is the most extreme of all, far more extreme again than the failed extreme policies of the Irish government and other governments across the west

We have to keep lockdown now because we didn't put in the hard yards last summer - we tried to cut corners, and government gave in to business vested interests

The problem with the current lockdown is it hasn't been hard enough, it hasn't been a proper lockdown, it was another half measure, for sure it was better than than what the anti-lockdown extremists want but it was only partially effective

Half measures don't work with Covid

Half measures are the result of the failed belief that we can "live with Covid"

You couldn't "live with Covid"

Refusing to recognise that one big thing has us where we are now

A few weeks ago I said Level 5 needed to stay until June and was met with a furious reaction here

That now looks optimistic, September might be more realistic

The most important report I've seen lately was a PrimeTime report on Public Health teams a few weeks back

They are totally under resourced, under staffed and often have to work with pen and paper

That is a farcical situation

NPHET are no more than a mudguard for government at this stage, they aren't prefect but I feel deeply sorry for them, and for people like Ronan Glynn who are thrown out for public consumption and savaged

NPHET wanted hotel quarantine last May but they are not the government - it's the government who are to blame for NPHET not being listened to

NPHET have always had both hands tied behind their back

You can make an argument that NPHET maybe should have resigned in protest at government inaction last summer but they are public servants who genuinely want to help

It's the government who have put them in the horrible position they are now in

When you have ppl traveling to and from the UK for essential reasons zero covid is a pipe dream. The Kent variant would have arrived anyway. It's far more transmissible. I get the zero covid argument and the look at Oz or look at NZ but for Ireland it would have been impossible.

You never know if something is impossible unless you try it  - and only human decisions make it impossible

It would likely at worst have resulted in a much more lax set of restrictions

Drastic changes in the way we live/organise society have been enacted in the last year - and thus nobody can tell me the drastic changes needed to implement Zero Covid/aggressive were impossible

The way we live now was thought impossible, if somebody had said in January 2020 that the way we have lived for the past year would come to pass, that would have been laughed at

If people think Zero Covid is impossible, they should probably shut up moaning about the Irish government's Covid policies

[clarshack]

https://twitter.com/mccormack_tara/status/1375473535548854272?s=21

This Nurse should be held accountable.

[Baile Brigín 2]

If Ivan Yeats, Kevin Myers and Ewan McKenna are the intellectual powerhouse of your movement its a shit movement

It's all about Gary Dempsey now

Ranting into your phone in a parked car in the dark is all the rage now, with the emphasis on rage

Don't know is it road rage or roid rage

Being an anti-lockdown gym owner is a very fashionable grift at the moment

This is the same Gary Dempsey  who was banned for betting on his tea to lose?

[sid waddell]

If Ivan Yeats, Kevin Myers and Ewan McKenna are the intellectual powerhouse of your movement its a shit movement

It's all about Gary Dempsey now

Ranting into your phone in a parked car in the dark is all the rage now, with the emphasis on rage

Don't know is it road rage or roid rage

Being an anti-lockdown gym owner is a very fashionable grift at the moment

This is the same Gary Dempsey  who was banned for betting on his tea to lose?

He must have read the tea leaves

[trailer]

This is it in a nutshell

We should have gone for Zero Covid/aggressive suppression last summer - we had four cases on July 1st, and for a good month in June/July we were bumping around in single figures/very low double figures

It would have been very hard to do that, not easy at all - but what has actually happened since has been far harder and far more extreme than what would have had to be done then to achieve Zero Covid/aggressive suppression

The government chose to let Covid back in and that, unfortunately, was supported by the majority of the Irish people amidst a media environment of manufactured consent for letting Covid back in

We were told that schools or pubs or construction don't spread Covid, these were lies that were obvious lies

So that was a massive failure and ever since, the government have been totally petrified about admitting to any mistakes

On the other end, the anti-lockdown narrative now is the most extreme of all, far more extreme again than the failed extreme policies of the Irish government and other governments across the west

We have to keep lockdown now because we didn't put in the hard yards last summer - we tried to cut corners, and government gave in to business vested interests

The problem with the current lockdown is it hasn't been hard enough, it hasn't been a proper lockdown, it was another half measure, for sure it was better than than what the anti-lockdown extremists want but it was only partially effective

Half measures don't work with Covid

Half measures are the result of the failed belief that we can "live with Covid"

You couldn't "live with Covid"

Refusing to recognise that one big thing has us where we are now

A few weeks ago I said Level 5 needed to stay until June and was met with a furious reaction here

That now looks optimistic, September might be more realistic

The most important report I've seen lately was a PrimeTime report on Public Health teams a few weeks back

They are totally under resourced, under staffed and often have to work with pen and paper

That is a farcical situation

NPHET are no more than a mudguard for government at this stage, they aren't prefect but I feel deeply sorry for them, and for people like Ronan Glynn who are thrown out for public consumption and savaged

NPHET wanted hotel quarantine last May but they are not the government - it's the government who are to blame for NPHET not being listened to

NPHET have always had both hands tied behind their back

You can make an argument that NPHET maybe should have resigned in protest at government inaction last summer but they are public servants who genuinely want to help

It's the government who have put them in the horrible position they are now in

When you have ppl traveling to and from the UK for essential reasons zero covid is a pipe dream. The Kent variant would have arrived anyway. It's far more transmissible. I get the zero covid argument and the look at Oz or look at NZ but for Ireland it would have been impossible.

You never know if something is impossible unless you try it  - and only human decisions make it impossible

It would likely at worst have resulted in a much more lax set of restrictions

Drastic changes in the way we live/organise society have been enacted in the last year - and thus nobody can tell me the drastic changes needed to implement Zero Covid/aggressive were impossible

The way we live now was thought impossible, if somebody had said in January 2020 that the way we have lived for the past year would come to pass, that would have been laughed at

If people think Zero Covid is impossible, they should probably shut up moaning about the Irish government's Covid policies

To get from a few cases everyday to "Zero Covid" it would take an extremely strict lockdown for at least one month.. possibly longer. No travel at all out of the state even for essential purposes. Lorries stopped, Garda and Army on the street enforcing the stay at home message. You close the country to all from the outside and deal with any flare ups extremely harshly. Even with this approach Aus still have some outbreaks. I don't think a country like Ireland that relies so much on food imports from the EU and UK could take this approach. There is also a lot of ppl who work in GB Mon - Fri in construction and other industries. I'd love to see zero covid but you have to realistic in what is achievable.

[sid waddell]

This is it in a nutshell

We should have gone for Zero Covid/aggressive suppression last summer - we had four cases on July 1st, and for a good month in June/July we were bumping around in single figures/very low double figures

It would have been very hard to do that, not easy at all - but what has actually happened since has been far harder and far more extreme than what would have had to be done then to achieve Zero Covid/aggressive suppression

The government chose to let Covid back in and that, unfortunately, was supported by the majority of the Irish people amidst a media environment of manufactured consent for letting Covid back in

We were told that schools or pubs or construction don't spread Covid, these were lies that were obvious lies

So that was a massive failure and ever since, the government have been totally petrified about admitting to any mistakes

On the other end, the anti-lockdown narrative now is the most extreme of all, far more extreme again than the failed extreme policies of the Irish government and other governments across the west

We have to keep lockdown now because we didn't put in the hard yards last summer - we tried to cut corners, and government gave in to business vested interests

The problem with the current lockdown is it hasn't been hard enough, it hasn't been a proper lockdown, it was another half measure, for sure it was better than than what the anti-lockdown extremists want but it was only partially effective

Half measures don't work with Covid

Half measures are the result of the failed belief that we can "live with Covid"

You couldn't "live with Covid"

Refusing to recognise that one big thing has us where we are now

A few weeks ago I said Level 5 needed to stay until June and was met with a furious reaction here

That now looks optimistic, September might be more realistic

The most important report I've seen lately was a PrimeTime report on Public Health teams a few weeks back

They are totally under resourced, under staffed and often have to work with pen and paper

That is a farcical situation

NPHET are no more than a mudguard for government at this stage, they aren't prefect but I feel deeply sorry for them, and for people like Ronan Glynn who are thrown out for public consumption and savaged

NPHET wanted hotel quarantine last May but they are not the government - it's the government who are to blame for NPHET not being listened to

NPHET have always had both hands tied behind their back

You can make an argument that NPHET maybe should have resigned in protest at government inaction last summer but they are public servants who genuinely want to help

It's the government who have put them in the horrible position they are now in

When you have ppl traveling to and from the UK for essential reasons zero covid is a pipe dream. The Kent variant would have arrived anyway. It's far more transmissible. I get the zero covid argument and the look at Oz or look at NZ but for Ireland it would have been impossible.

You never know if something is impossible unless you try it  - and only human decisions make it impossible

It would likely at worst have resulted in a much more lax set of restrictions

Drastic changes in the way we live/organise society have been enacted in the last year - and thus nobody can tell me the drastic changes needed to implement Zero Covid/aggressive were impossible

The way we live now was thought impossible, if somebody had said in January 2020 that the way we have lived for the past year would come to pass, that would have been laughed at

If people think Zero Covid is impossible, they should probably shut up moaning about the Irish government's Covid policies

To get from a few cases everyday to "Zero Covid" it would take an extremely strict lockdown for at least one month.. possibly longer. No travel at all out of the state even for essential purposes. Lorries stopped, Garda and Army on the street enforcing the stay at home message. You close the country to all from the outside and deal with any flare ups extremely harshly. Even with this approach Aus still have some outbreaks. I don't think a country like Ireland that relies so much on food imports from the EU and UK could take this approach. There is also a lot of ppl who work in GB Mon - Fri in construction and other industries. I'd love to see zero covid but you have to realistic in what is achievable.

Compared to what we've had, that would have been a doddle

Australia gets occasional tiny outbreaks, so what, they're able to shut them down immediately

They also got 51k at the MCG for Carlton v Collingwood the other night

The main argument against Zero Covid/aggressive suppression is that we do not have functioning public health teams, the discipline is woefully underfunded and under staffed