Professor Nolan, Tony Holohan etc and our country

trapp

I think this is something that needs to be discussed.

Professor Nolan from Maynooth, Tony Holohan, Cillian De Gascun have been working extremely hard for the country and deserve much credit.

They are doing great work.

But.

Their ideas and opinions seem to be given a lot of weight in the media without any questioning.

Nolan appeared on national television last week and made a statement along the lines of ''Best not to think of lifting restrictions but to find a new way to live''

I found that he could make such a comment absolutely outrageous without it being discussed at government level.

That people must stay within 2km of home for 18 months?

Even if he believes it to be true, those kind of comments can't be simply thrown around. That is not his decision to make.

And De Gascun has done likewise also.

I'm not debating whether they are right or not, more whether they have the right to make enormous decisions like that.

There are absolutely huge decisions about the future of this country to be made in the next few months.

The government need to make these decisions, listening to the academics, but not being hiding behind them.

In no way do I mean to slight them but Prof Nolan, De Gascun, Dr. Henry and Dr. Holohan are not elected members of a government and people need to remember their role.

They have done and are doing great work. They deserve much credit. But they are not in elected positions..

Blazer

Actually I find it very reassuring that the government are listening to academics and doctors. You think those locally elected idiots suddenly all knew how to control a pandemic outbreak off their own bat?
For once for a long time a government in this country has listened to expert advice and acted accordingly on it.
You look at Britain and any half intelligent person could see that their plan was incredibly wrong and they really need to ensure their so called experts learn basic maths and risk assessments.

trapp

Blazer wrote: »

Actually I find it very reassuring that the government are listening to academics and doctors. You think those locally elected idiots suddenly all knew how to control a pandemic outbreak off their own bat?
For once for a long time a government in this country has listened to expert advice and acted accordingly on it.
You look at Britain and any half intelligent person could see that their plan was incredibly wrong and they really need to ensure their so called experts learn basic maths and risk assessments.

You're missing my point.

It is right to listen to the experts.

But the experts opinions if they are as drastic as Nolan's need to be debated at government level before becoming policy.

He can't be throwing comments like that around on television.

ChewChew

How do you know they're not debated at government level?

I would entrust this to be appropriate as the government are being kept well informed of the NTHET's thought processes, maps, data and findings. I belie e if they weren't then maybe they would not be giving their free reign to address the public without a member of government present.

Yurt2

I would tend towards agreeing with the OP. Their role is to advise and provide guidance to the government in navigating the crisis.

Ultimately, it's the government bearing the seal of office with a democratic mandate from the people that make the calls.

I'm not saying Dr Holohan et al have lost the run of themselves, but I'm sure their equivalents in various other countries may be enjoying their time in the spotlight and could be in danger of doing so.

It's an interesting one as governments worldwide have tended to put 'the experts' front and centre, as if there is any screwups they can point at them and say: 'don't look as us, we were listening to the experts!'

But what happens when they go rouge?

trapp

ChewChew wrote: »

How do you know they're not debated at government level?

I would entrust this to be appropriate as the government are being kept well informed of the NTHET's thought processes, maps, data and findings. I belie e if they weren't then maybe they would not be giving their free reign to address the public without a member of government present.

Harris has suggested lifting restrictions if possible.

Nolan has suggested keeping all restrictions in place.

Those press conferences often sound like Dr. Holahan makes the decisions about lockdowns etc.

Personally I think he should bat off those questions and keep his recommendations for the government.

He should be advising but if citizens can't go 2km beyond their homes the government needs to own that type of decision because at the moment it's clear these restrictions are being placed by the academics and the doctors.

dePeatrick

trapp wrote: »

I think this is something that needs to be discussed.

Professor Nolan from Maynooth, Tony Holohan, Cillian De Gascun have been working extremely hard for the country and deserve much credit.

They are doing great work.

But.

Their ideas and opinions seem to be given a lot of weight without any questioning.

Nolan appeared on national television last week and made a statement along the lines of ''Best not to think of lifting restrictions but to find a new way to live''

I found that he could make such a comment absolutely outrageous without it being discussed at government level.
That people must stay within 2km of home for 18 months?

Even if he believes it to be true, those kind of comments can't be simply thrown around. That is not his decision to make.

And De Gascun has done likewise also.

I'm not debating whether they are right or not, more whether they have the right to make enormous decisions like that.

There are absolutely huge decisions about the future of this country to be made in the next few months.

The government need to make these decisions, listening to the academics, but not being hiding behind them.

In no way do I mean to slight them but Prof Nolan, De Gascun, Dr. Henry and Dr. Holohan are not elected members of a government and people need to remember their role.

They have done and are doing great work. They deserve much credit. But they are not in elected positions.

Holohan has been wrong so many times he should not be brought into this, he is a disgrace!

trapp

Yurt! wrote: »

I would tend towards agreeing with the OP. Their role is to advise and provide guidance to the government in navigating the crisis.

Ultimately, it's the government bearing the seal of office with a democratic mandate from the people that make the calls.

I'm not saying Dr Holohan et al have lost the run of themselves, but I'm sure their equivalents in various other countries may be enjoying their time in the spotlight and could be in danger of doing so.

It's an interesting one as governments worldwide have tended to put 'the experts' front and centre, as if there is any screwups they can point at them and say: 'don't look as us, we were listening to the experts!'

But what happens when they go rouge?

I don't think the restrictions and recommendations should be discussed so openly at these media briefings.

These are questions for government to answer.

The comments made by Nolan on television last week were out of order completely in my opinion. Not his role at all although I'm sure he meant well.

s7ryf3925pivug

trapp wrote: »

Nolan appeared on national television last week and made a statement along the lines of ''Best not to think of lifting restrictions but to find a new way to live''

I found that he could make such a comment absolutely outrageous without it being discussed at government level.
That people must stay within 2km of home for 18 months?

I really hope that's not what they're planning. Can you find a recording or an exact quote?

What I heard was that they suggested social distancing would need to stay in place until a vaccine was found. I didn't take that to include the 2km restriction.

I find it unpleasantly restrictive. In my area it seems counter-productive because it limits a large enough population to one place to walk, which is largely paths, and leaves other more open spaces relatively empty. 2km is not far at all in rural areas.

trapp

Iliana Purring Loop wrote: »

I really hope that's not what they're planning. Can you find a recording or an exact quote?

What I heard was that they suggested social distancing would need to stay in place until a vaccine was found. I didn't take that to include the 2km restriction.

I find it unpleasantly restrictive. In my area it seems counter-productive because it limits a large enough population to one place to walk, which is largely paths, and leaves other more open spaces relatively empty. 2km is not far at all in rural areas.

Nolan's exact words were ''it's best not to think of lifting restrictions but to find a new way to live''

Easy for him to say when restrictions don't apply to him.

He is not in an elected position to make a decision like that and shouldn't be making comments like that on national television given he has a role in the policy deciding process.

In my opinion.

Blazer

trapp wrote: »

Nolan's exact words were ''it's best not to think of lifting restrictions but to find a new way to live''

Easy for him to say when restrictions don't apply to him.

He is not in an elected position to make a decision like that and shouldn't be making comments like that on national television given he has a role in the policy deciding process.

In my opinion.

He’s hardly swanning off to his local is he or going on a holiday abroad while the plebs stay indoors is he??
What’s so different about him staring his opinion as much as you’re stating your opinion here?
Apart from a bigger audience.
I’d much rather he’d put it out their in people’s heads rather than glibly telling them ah it’s all grand lads. In another 2 weeks you can get back to your boring pedantic lives and not giving 2 ****s about each other again.

trapp

Blazer wrote: »

He’s hardly swanning off to his local is he or going on a holiday abroad while the plebs stay indoors is he??
What’s so different about him staring his opinion as much as you’re stating your opinion here?
Apart from a bigger audience.
I’d much rather he’d put it out their in people’s heads rather than glibly telling them ah it’s all grand lads. In another 2 weeks you can get back to your boring pedantic lives and not giving 2 ****s about each other again.

He's not just giving his opinion though.

He's part of the committee making these recommendations.

A decision to lockdown for 18 months as he has suggested would need to be debated before becoming policy.

And like it or not the restrictions wouldn't apply to him.

In any case it's not his decision to make and his comments were at odds to Harris who has suggested removing restrictions but now seems to be backtracking on this.

Who is running the country??

Because it shouldn't be the CMO and a few academics.

Blazer

trapp wrote: »

He's not just giving his opinion though.

He's part of the committee making these recommendations.

A decision to lockdown for 18 months as he has suggested would need to be debated before becoming policy.

And like it or not the restrictions wouldn't apply to him.

In any case it's not his decision to make and his comments were at odds to Harris who has suggested removing restrictions but now seems to be backtracking on this.

Who is running the country??

Because it shouldn't be the CMO and a few academics.

We’re in a global pandemic and you want Harris and Leo to make decisions?
The only reason both of them are looking good is because they’re doing what their experts are telling them.
I’d much rather Holohan made the decisions than some cute hoor from a parish who got into power because he fixed a few potholes.
You can bet that Leo is listening to the economic experts as well who no doubt will be telling him that tanking the economy isn’t worth the lives of 200-1000 people.
Because the repercussions are far worse long term.
There’s a delicate balancing line and you’ve have experts from both sides putting their opinions across.
In another few months it will be someone from Finance giving the speeches and saying “we’ll need to tighten our belts etc”.

Beasty

trapp wrote: »

That people must stay within 2km of home for 18 months?

Still peddling this crap?

Provide me with a reputable source for this and I may consider reopening the thread