Relaxation of Restrictions, Part IX Read OP For Mod Warnings

RobitTV · 11-03-2021 05:01PM

Irish Times: Sources say the Government will adopt a “minimalist approach” for the next six-week plan, which will last until May 23rd, and would not bow to sectoral interests.

FintanMcluskey · 11-03-2021 05:06PM

Deleted User wrote: »

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40240598.html

There is not a single chance that after a year of restrictions "to save the old and vulnerable" I'm going to sit at home like a chump while the old and vulnerable go about their normal business. Not a single ****ing chance.

Hold on a minute.

We have crashed the economy, seen record numbers unemployed because we couldn’t expect the vulnerable to cocoon, but now those very vulnerable will be out and about living under less mitigation then the rest of us

Ah come on

Boggles · 11-03-2021 05:06PM

Padkir wrote: »

Will post back if I get any meaningful replies.

Or what you mean is you don't give a shít what anyone thinks unless they agree with you?

Padkir wrote: »

I'm not particularly shocked you don't agree with it, based on your posting in here.

Which is fine, because I didn't write it for you Mod snip: no need for this

That's my point, neither will the TD you send it to.

muddypuppy · 11-03-2021 05:06PM

Deleted User wrote: »

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40240598.html

There is not a single chance that after a year of restrictions "to save the old and vulnerable" I'm going to sit at home like a chump while the old and vulnerable go about their normal business. Not a single ****ing chance.

Honestly, the rational part of me can see how it make sense IF the vaccine also prevent the spread. Which seems to be the case, from the studies we have seen lately. Assuming that's the case no big deal in making several vaccinated people meet, or allowing visits to care homes with the due precautions.

But the irrational/emotional part of me is so pissed that it's even being discussed. Where's the "we are all in this together"? The vast majority of young people (40/50 or younger, in gold health) could get covid with no problem but they're locked in because of the older generation, and because of that they're going to be the last in getting a vaccination.

TonyMaloney · 11-03-2021 05:07PM

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

Hold on a minute.

We have crashed the economy, seen record numbers unemployed because we couldn’t expect the vulnerable to cocoon, but now those very vulnerable will be out and about living under less mitigation then the rest of us

Ah come on

It would be good for the economy and their mental health.

I thought those things were important to you lot.

Boggles · 11-03-2021 05:12PM

TonyMaloney wrote: »

It would be good for the economy and their mental health.

I thought those things were important to you lot.

It swings from

'it's a national scandal grandparents cannot interact with their grand kids'

'cocooning over 70s was a crime against humanity'

to

"lock them all up and everyone else who may have an adverse reaction"

"bloody coffin dodgers out living it large".

paw patrol · 11-03-2021 05:18PM

Boggles wrote: »

Or what you mean is you don't give a shít what anyone thinks unless they agree with you?
That's my point, neither will the TD you send it to.

well they do care about his vote every few years.

In fairness TDs are useless.
I wrote to my 5 TDs in Fingal . 3 wrote back with generic waffle - well thought out replies but you know it's a cut and paste effort cos they don't answer any of your points.
Kinda like many a boards reply tbh - they answer the point they wished you raised to suit their prepared response .

I don't mind that tbh , what annoyed me is the illusion that you matter to them bar your vote. I spent a while writing an individual email to each tailored for their stances on things. Then get a fcuk off email in reply.
I'm actually more annoyed at myself for thinking it was a worthwhile exercise.

Then like a punch drunk boxer/moron i went back for more punishment :eek:

later I wrote to every TD in the country . Neasa Hourigan - Greens was the only one who wrote back and it actually was pretty decent and hit off a number of points I raised. hats off to her genuinely.
she disagreed with me but felt my pain and promised sunshine in the future.

Pity for her - I'm an ex- Trevor Sargent voter who is now totally disillusioned with the Greens and would rather vote for Hitlers favourite German Shepard at this stage than them.

All that is left is protest (or Rebellion :pac:).
I wonder if I stormed the Dail would the Wolfe Tones sing ballads about me?

Compo82 · 11-03-2021 05:19PM

Padkir wrote: »

I wrote the below email to my local TD's today.

I don't really expect anything other than a token response, but I feel better having written it.

I'm sure people will pick holes in parts of it, but it at least attempts to articulate my frustration at a number of areas, which I'm sure I'm not alone in.

Will post back if I get any meaningful replies.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am emailing to express my disappointment and dissatisfaction with the government’s ongoing handling of the COVID-19 situation, particularly with regards to the extreme, over-cautious approach to re-opening of society and easing of restrictions, as well as the poor standard of communication over recent months.

In relation to communication, there is conflicting information coming from various senior ministers on a regular basis, via interviews, leaks from party meetings, etc. The relatively recent example of news of a significant extension to severe restrictions being provided to to a tabloid journalist reflects the perceived disdain in which Micheal Martin holds the people of Ireland. If there is a plan, it is not being communicated effectively to the people of Ireland and there is a constant moving of the goalposts as to what is required in order to remove certain restrictions. Consistent focus on variants are being used as an excuse for being over-cautious, delaying re-opening, etc. However, while they warrant acknowledgement, they should not be a key determinant in policy. Scientists and medical professionals are always going to be worried about things like this – that is their job. The government needs to consider the wider issues, with this advice being just one of the inputs.

Constant negative media and sensationalising of potential issues, have conspired to strike fear into a not insignificant portion of the population. Anyone who is seen to go against the party line in relation to restrictions is portrayed negatively. This means that a number of people who would like to protest are dissuaded from doing so, at the risk of being labelled a “conspiracy theorist” or “anti-vax” or whatever other buzzword is in fashion this week. However, that does not mean that dissatisfaction with the current situation is not growing in the general population.

In relation to the ongoing restrictions and the plan (I use the word loosely) for reopening, there seems to be a complete deferral to NPHET and public health advisors, to the complete detriment of all other aspects of our society and economy. I don’t think many people disagreed with the restrictions in January and early February as the significant spike in numbers in our hospitals needed to be controlled. However, as hospital numbers are declining rapidly, and the most vulnerable are being vaccinated, we are not seeing any benefit from this whatsoever. All we hear is that we need to get the numbers lower, we aren’t where we need to be, etc. Extremely severe restrictions just continue to be rolled over, all the while costing us billions, for minimal return. A decision seemed to be made in February that no significant easing of restrictions would take place until May at the earliest and it looks like, regardless of the progress made between now and then, that is going to be the case. This is a poor approach and flies in the face of the supposed “data-driven approach” we have been promised.

There are certain restrictions where I just can’t fathom how they are still in place. This includes, but is not limited to, construction, retail (even just click and collect), outdoor activities. We were in the midst of the worst housing crisis in my memory prior to the pandemic, and will be in a worse position when it ends. Construction is essential and needs to be reflected as such – it should never have closed. Non-essential retail is only non-essential for a short-term period, not for months at a time. There is significant evidence that outdoor transmission is negligible, yet for some reason we are not yet allowing outdoor sport, group activities, etc. We are in the farcical situation where 25 children can sit in a room together all day, but then 5 of them can’t go and kick around a ball together after school.

This is before even looking at the ridiculous restriction that is the 5km exercise limit. This is one of the most unreasonable measures in place and needs to be removed immediately. Rightly or wrongly, this is seen as one of the most oppressive restrictions and is difficult to justify in any way. Micheal Martin, back in early summer 2020, stated “there is no remaining serious justification for the 5 kilometre limit” and “the public health concern is how people behave around others – not how far they are from their home. In fact, the research shows that this limit may in fact be forcing people in urban areas into more crowded situations”. Arguably, it may have been deemed acceptable at the start, when we didn’t really know what we were dealing with. It is not acceptable now. This on its own I believe would go a long way to getting people back on side and focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, or at least tie people over for the next number of weeks while the next steps are being agreed.

Other areas such as hospitality have been continuously undermined throughout the pandemic. In current circumstances, I think there is a general acceptance that this will be one of the last areas for restrictions to be relaxed, which in my opinion is fair. However, these businesses need a target in order to plan for their reopening, and the people in general need a target for this in order to have some hope. These businesses were open for much of last year (with some restrictions) without major impact; they should be allowed to re-open in advance of the summer months, as the most vulnerable will now be vaccinated. There is no reason the hospitality sector can’t open with limited restrictions in early summer, with the restrictions to be removed completely once a critical mass of the country is vaccinated later in the year. A major concern that I have is no one in government is talking about a situation where we will no restrictions at all. Our plans don’t seem to envisage such a situation, and is giving rise to a lot of concern that some measures are here to stay, or will now be in the government’s arsenal to deal with flu spikes in years to come. This needs to be addressed, and clear measures as to when all restrictions will be lifted provided to the people.

I’m not going to get into my personal circumstances, but I feel those who are making these decisions are heavily shielded from the negative aspects of their choices, and will be protected from the inevitable economic pressure to pay for over a year of restrictions. This is not the case for many hundreds of thousands of people in our country, who are bearing the brunt of restrictions, and will also bear the brunt of the economic fallout. Health officials and politicians are still going about their daily business – going to meetings, travelling for work, etc. I suspect if they had to spend a several months effectively locked up in their own house with a routine of work, eat, sleep (except for a weekly trip to the shops and a local walk down the road) the perspective would quickly change.

The worst thing is that all of this is for a disease which, while potentially dangerous for a sub-section of people, is not as deadly for the general population as we would be led to believe. In retrospect, I would argue that there has been a significant overreaction to this pandemic on a worldwide basis, with little consideration given to the detrimental impact that extended restrictions are having on society, economies and people. Whether or not you agree with this does not mean that we should continue to make the same mistakes now. As the old saying goes, we shouldn’t throw good money after bad.

I’m disillusioned with this government at the moment and have no faith in our leadership to appropriately bring us out of the current lockdown, as I believe there is an over-conservative approach being taken, with the hard decisions being deferred to NPHET. I accept that there have been periods over the last year where restrictions were necessary. For a significant portion of the last year, however, the restrictions were excessive. Several months of the prime of my life have been wasted, with seemingly many more to come with little to no progress. I feel I am far from the minority in this line of thinking. I have largely voted for FG or FF candidates since I have been of voting age. However, the performance of this government over the last year will be remembered the next time that you or your colleagues stand at my door looking for a vote.

Regards,

This is very well written and agree with this 100%. It reflects my views exactly, I'm not some conspiracy theorist about covid but our approach is way too cautious. We will end up paying for these mistakes for years to come.

ypres5 · 11-03-2021 05:21PM

Graham wrote: »

because it worked out so well over Christmas?

amazing I've never seen you or other posters mention the government chartering flights from the uk during Christmas bringing the new variant here you just bash the public instead

Pepsirebel · 11-03-2021 05:21PM

Not to make light of this s***show but if we sent our lot to wuhan the minute this all started, the virus would have given up and died out if they were in charge of spreading it

TonyMaloney · 11-03-2021 05:21PM

Boggles wrote: »

It swings from

'it's a national scandal grandparents cannot interact with their grand kids'

'cocooning over 70s was a crime against humanity'

to

"lock them all up and everyone else who may have an adverse reaction"

"bloody coffin dodgers out living it large".

Travellers are high up the vaccine priority list. Can you just imagine this place if the Travelling community and the old folks were at large while we were still indoors. Oh boy.

I'd love to see it

RGS · 11-03-2021 05:30PM

TonyMaloney wrote: »

It would be good for the economy and their mental health.

I thought those things were important to you lot.

I have no issue with vaccinated people meeting indoors or visiting nursing homes.

They suffered a lot in the early stages last year.

However they cant help an economy that's shut tighter than fort Knox.

RebelButtMunch · 11-03-2021 05:35PM

Jackman25 wrote: »

How is it that the most annoying posters, when they get too unbearable for the main thread, take up permanent residence in this thread.
Very annoying for those who read the thread only every couple of days to have to read through the reams of scutter and pedantry.
They seem to be here all day every day.

Add them to your ignore list.

FintanMcluskey · 11-03-2021 05:35PM

TonyMaloney wrote: »

It would be good for the economy and their mental health.

I thought those things were important to you lot.

Can you stop using derogatory language and refer to us as what we are.

The working class

Thanks

TonyMaloney · 11-03-2021 05:43PM

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

Can you stop using derogatory language and refer to us as what we are.

The working class

Thanks

You've gone up in my estimation, Fintan.

That was funny as ****

robbiezero · 11-03-2021 05:44PM

TonyMaloney wrote: »

Travellers are high up the vaccine priority list. Can you just imagine this place if the Travelling community and the old folks were at large while we were still indoors. Oh boy.

I'd love to see it

Have they not been "at large" all through this?

Eivor · 11-03-2021 05:54PM

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Add them to your ignore list.

Is there a way to do that on mobile?

ypres5 · 11-03-2021 06:03PM

Eivor wrote: »

Is there a way to do that on mobile?

click full site at the very bottom of the page it'll bring you to the desktop version of the site it's a bit clunky but you can block whoever and revert back to mobile when you're done

Pepsirebel · 11-03-2021 06:04PM

RobitTV wrote: »

Irish Times: Sources say the Government will adopt a “minimalist approach” for the next six-week plan, which will last until May 23rd, and would not bow to sectoral interests.

What happened to their "DATA NOT DATES" policy

ypres5 · 11-03-2021 06:06PM

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

Can you stop using derogatory language and refer to us as what we are.

The working class

Thanks

a lot of people on boards do seem to have a stick up their arse when it comes to the working class or at least those whom they deem as 'lesser' than their esteemed selves you can see it with things like 'de gubbermint' and it's many variants as an example

titan18 · 11-03-2021 06:10PM

Pepsirebel wrote: »

What happened to their "DATA NOT DATES" policy

Never was one, just them lying to us as usual

Kermit.de.frog · 11-03-2021 06:12PM

titan18 wrote: »

Never was one, just them lying to us as usual

No one is lying to you and no one is out to get you.

Everyone's just doing their best.

RebelButtMunch · 11-03-2021 06:12PM

ypres5 wrote: »

click full site at the very bottom of the page it'll bring you to the desktop version of the site it's a bit clunky but you can block whoever and revert back to mobile when you're done

Small edit: revert back by clicking 'Touch Site' when you're done.

I'm only adding it because I couldn't figure it out the first time.

titan18 · 11-03-2021 06:13PM

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

No one is lying to you and no one is out to get you.

Everyone's just doing their best.

If this is their best, we're rightly fcuked. They're incompetent.

Monster249 · 11-03-2021 06:13PM

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

No one is lying to you and no one is out to get you.

Everyone's just doing their best.

My god you're relentless. They're not doing their best, they've made a complete balls of their communication and are acting like weak cowards.

Kermit.de.frog · 11-03-2021 06:16PM

Monster249 wrote: »

My god you're relentless. They're not doing their best, they've made a complete balls of their communication and are acting like weak cowards.

To you because you are not getting your way.

I think they are doing a good job atm and this is shown in the trajectory of the virus in the country.

It's results that matter.

wakka12 · 11-03-2021 06:19PM

Leftwaffe wrote: »

“Covid cases need to fall below 200 per day before country can reopen, says Nphet”

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40241999.html

We’ve been in lockdown for god knows how long and there was 600 cases yesterday. We will be in lockdown for years if this is the plan. We are in deep trouble. Very concerning news this morning for me.

I'm honestly terrified for the country. This is starting to feel like a kamikaze mission . How has Ireland managed to not implode these last few decades with such ineptitude at the helm

BringBackMick · 11-03-2021 06:21PM

wakka12 wrote: »

I'm honestly terrified for the country. This is starting to feel like a kamikaze mission

With the amount of testing we do, there is no way we will be seeing 200 cases per day even after 80% take up of the vaccine!

This virus will be endemic.

We need to measure it by hospitilisations and death.

Arghhhhhhhh this is so frustrating to read such blinkered view by the ultra conservative NEPHET.

People are dying all around us from non COVID stuff.

Mental health is on the floor people need to wake up.

wakka12 · 11-03-2021 06:35PM

BringBackMick wrote: »

With the amount of testing we do, there is no way we will be seeing 200 cases per day even after 80% take up of the vaccine!

This virus will be endemic.

We need to measure it by hospitilisations and death.

Arghhhhhhhh this is so frustrating to read such blinkered view by the ultra conservative NEPHET.

People are dying all around us from non COVID stuff.

Mental health is on the floor people need to wake up.

All sense of perspective is gradually being lost..first it was to protect the health system becoming overwhelmed, then to prevent unacceptably high mortality rates(both of which most people would agree were important goals to reach )..but then it was to save every vulnerable person who will eventually benefit from the new vaccine as rollout began, now it's to just stop anybody in Ireland from ever contracting covid ever again..at the same point int he timeline that vaccine will be there saving anybody who was actually at risk of dying from it. Absolute madness I actually cannot believe so many people are still supporting it. I played along a long time but the fact we've been in this a year now with likely many more months of this to go if NPHET had their way is the wakeup call to reality a lot of people might need.

wakka12 · 11-03-2021 06:40PM

https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1370063314642931716

So it seems NPHET still feel the need to dictate these poor old people's lives just for the sake of it, it seems completely arbitrary and limiting for absolutely no reason. Surely if they are protected from serious illness then there is no need for limits to people coming to see them.

And if vaccine doesn't protect them well then there's some explanations that need to be given, but the positivity rate in nursing homes is 0.2%, which makes me think it is indeed a load of bull**** and just rules for the sake of rules without rhyme nor reason but massively negative side effects and other consquences to people's lives.

These people are in their 80s and 90's and are living their last few years on earth, and will be gifted 2 hours per week of contact with the outside world for the foreseeable . after a year of immense loneliness and hardship . Absolutely cruel, vaccine is supposed to be a saviour, but they're still being treated like caged animals.

Relaxation of Restrictions, Part IX *Read OP For Mod Warnings*

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Relaxation of Restrictions, Part IX Read OP For Mod Warnings