WEDNESDAY 6TH JANUARY 2021
As we know since Christmas the problem with covid-19 has spiralled out of control. The numbers are now worse than anyone in NEPHET projected and we are in danger of our health service being overwhelmed altogether. Despite a lot of the rubbish that we are seeing on Twitter and other social media the blame lies squarely with the people themselves because it is clear that there are many who have totally ignored the guidelines.
Anyone who reads my posts regularly will know that I have a serious problem with the way this pandemic has been handled by the authorities and indeed the national media, but the blatant disregard that many people have shown for the rules to prevent the spread of this virus is to blame for the situation we are in at the moment. It is very frustrating for the rest of us who have been trying hard to comply with the regulations.
I am aware of scores of shebeens that have been set up in recent months which are doing a roaring trade and I know of stories of people being in packed public houses right up to Christmas Eve. Not alone that, but there have been many birthday parties, get-togethers, and piss-ups in various houses throughout the country over Christmas too. All you have to do is look at Facebook to see what has been going on.
There is no one who enjoys a few pints and the craic more than I do and some of my work, is related to the pubs being open, has been lost. But we are now paying the price for people ignoring the pleas of the authorities. It will be April at the earliest before we will get out of this chronic situation. I don’t know about the rest of the population but I want things to return to normal as soon as possible.
Blaming the politicians is also a total waste of time. They are in a complete no win situation. On one side we had NEPHET who want the entire economy closed down while on the other side every lobby group in the country were dragging out of them to leave things open. No matter what they did they were going to be wrong. By the way I do not support any political party nor hold a torch for any politician. The politicians were trusting the people to do the right thing and in a lot of cases they were let down.
Now the hospitals and the frontline staff will be under severe pressure as a result of the massive rise in cases. I just hope that we can all survive without catching the virus and even worse ending up in hospital. It’s a desperate situation at the moment.
The big hope for us all are the vaccines. However I would be very fearful about the roll-out of that programme given that it is being run by the HSE. Their record in administering national programmes is not good over the years but let’s not be too critical before this programme gets a chance to get going. So far it looks painfully slow.
Remember if the people who are not following the guidelines are costing people their health and their lives (which they are), the slow roll out of the vaccination programme will also cost people their health and their lives to it is imperative that we get it right.
People have got to stay at home for four or five weeks until we get a handle on this virus.
RTE ON NEW YEAR’S EVE
On a completely separate issue, the controversial sketch on the New Year’s Eve show on RTE (which I was watching) was probably the lowest of the low I have ever seen on any TV station in terms of bad taste.
I am certainly no ’Holy Joe’ and have been as critical of the Catholic Church and what they have done in Irish society over the decades, but this totally unfunny sketch went way too far.
Accusing God of sexually abusing Mary and being hauled away to serve a jail sentence? RTE are lucky that we are living in Ireland. If that sketch was shown in any other country (I’m thinking about France, the USA or even in the UK) and particularly in the Middle East heavens knows what the repercussions would have been for those responsible.
The bright spark that came up with that sketch should be shown the door and asked not to come back. There are also serious questions to be answered for the programme editors who thought that that it was good enough to be shown to the nation on New Year’s Eve.