What exactly is the price of accepting this Nphet advice?
I had intended writing this week about the decapitation of Samuel Paty and asking whether in a republic such as ours, constitutional, charitable and legal status and protection should be afforded to any religion which does not condemn outright the killing or punishment of apostates and heretics by state or non-state actors wherever in the […]
Six months wasted since last lockdown
Dr David Nabarro of the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) has stated that governments should not regard lockdowns as the primary means of controlling Covid 19. The only justification for lockdowns, he said, is for “buying time” to reorganise your health service and resources. He also pointed out the massive damage by lockdowns globally […]
Policy monopoly conferred on NPHET and the HSE was hardwired to fail us on non-Covid public health matters
It was inevitable, in some respects, that the relationship between NPHET and the Government would reach a point of crisis. It was inexcusable for the Government and the nation to learn on the Sunday evening 9.00 news that the move to level 5 was being mooted for the following day. It was, no matter how […]
Powers of state are exercised with little or no democratic accountability
Every year in Ireland about 30,000 of us die. That is about 2,500 people every month. Of those people, approximately 30% (770 monthly) are attributed to cancer and another 30% (about 750 per month) are attributed to heart disease. In the last month for which official data is available, there were 25 Covid-related deaths. The […]
Public is getting the mushroom treatment on Covid regulations
It is fair to say that we are living in an emergency where hugely important decisions for the economy, public health and social conditions are being made by Cabinet decree through the medium of statutory instruments under the Health Act 1947 immediately effective unless and until cancelled by the Houses of the Oireachtas. You might […]
HSE is gambling with ICU capacity
Tempting though it might be to add here to the condemnations concerning Boris Johnson’s perfidious Internal Market Bill, I will repose my hope (if not my trust) in the House of Lords to prevent “Britannia Waives The Rules” from becoming the finale sung at next year’s BBC Proms. We have more immediate problems on hand […]