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

The government will be forever grateful to Omicron. They had dug themselves into such a hole they just couldn’t get out. So when Omicron came, they grabbed it for all it was worth.

Still a fair few folk here wearing them in retail but plenty aren’t.

Lad in a convertible car with roof down on his own wearing a mask today ,haha!

Reddit's Ireland page is best ignored generally seems to be the consensus

I've no problem though with anyone wearing a mask if they want to - my problem is with forcing everyone else to wear one too for something that is of even less threat to them than it ever was.

It's not normal, I won't get used to it, the regulations never made sense anyway, and there's no justification for it at this stage - if there ever was - beyond acting as a visible reminder that there's a "crisis" and means for some of virtue-signalling compliance (something we're very good at in this country)

Infuriating,yes...Inevitable..CERTAINLY.

It's the first of many such inside track developments which is now the priority of the Irish Administrative Establishment.

The entire pandemic fixture has been about re-entrenchment,with those principled Medical/Scientific/Political practioners heavily vilified and sanctioned within their fields,leaving numerous positions potentially available to the "Right Sort of Fellow" which Prof Nolan undoubtedly is.

The fact that his output has been,at best,open to debate,if not challenge,appears to matter not a whit as he has been consistently 0n-message throughout all the episodes of the Pandemic script.

Ireland is not alone in this,as the crackdown on professional dissent has been Worldwide,leaving sensible folk to scratch their heads,as all avenues of protest are CLOSED !

Prof Nolan is incidental in all of this,it might as well have been Agnes Brown who got the gig,what matters is that entities such as the SFI have no risen another notch on the stairway to heaven.

We have 95% Voluntary Vaccination with 50%? Voluntarily boosted.

We are not in the same situation as France or other countries. Who give generalised advice but every country is in a different position.

Honestly, I just can't see the rationale to keep the mask in place when stadiums can be full to the brim and you don't need a mask to go in.

If we keep the vaccine program up then surely there won't be any excuse at the end of February to have them still in place, considering that 3 weeks later there will be parades all around the country and the influx of tourists.

Going from one of the most locked down and restricted countries to one of the most open in Europe is some turn of events.

Some people are very quick to use mental health to argue in favour of ending the restrictions. But the other side of the coin is that some people's mental health problems and anxiety goes through the roof when they are in close proximity to unmasked people in places where they should be wearing them, especially people at high risk or living with a high risk person. People who choose to not wear a mask in shops and transport simply don't have consideration for other people. Mask wearing is not a hardship.

People can easily avoid pubs and restaurants but shops and public transport may be a necessity. I'm guessing that is one consideration why those restrictions have remained for the moment.

Fair amount of confusion/uncertainty out there about this sudden change by nphet

Lot of ppl are saying this ain’t over yet by a long shot

If people want to wear them. It's there own personal choice no need to ridicule them