When will it all end?

ujjjjjjjjj

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

Rather slate Leo on their social media pages than have the cop on to see he was trying to offer an alternative to endless lockdowns and misery.

Biting off their nose to spite their face.

Agreed, encouraging what Leo said. A glimmer of hope that maybe he at least understands what is going on here.......Thanks to whoever posted that.

A politically careful version of O'Leary !!

But like everything since this crap started it could just be another false dawn.

Mr. Karate

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

Ah who cares.

He's talking sense and did when he put it up to NHPET.

But Irish people didn't have the balls to back him up so we're back to been under NHPETs rule.

True, but like people about O'Leary from Ryan air there is a bit of self interest is involved.

Hector Savage

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/04/even-vaccine-unreformed-nhs-may-force-us-back-lockdown/

Behind a paywall, but good article ...

To sum up ...

The bottom line is that the NHS has broken under the weight of our expectations. Thus, further winter lockdowns remain a serious possibility. In this scenario, the choice is simple and devastating: either society accepts the lower life expectancy of a world with endemic coronavirus, or we suffer limitless ruin to our quality of life, in the pursuit of Zero Covid.

ujjjjjjjjj

Hector Savage wrote: »

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/04/even-vaccine-unreformed-nhs-may-force-us-back-lockdown/

Behind a paywall, but good article ...

To sum up ...

Thanks for posting. Plenty of good articles in the Telegraph gently hinting at the damage being done with lockdowns. Also keep your eyes on Spiked-online and Unherd.com as they occasionally run strongly argued articles on our failure to accept real life and try to protect people from every danger......at immense cost.

I think the one very unpalatable and politically unacceptable thing to even begin to talk about is that we have an extremely elderly population and it was somewhat inevitable that a bug would come along that would be dangerous to this population base. With an average age of death in Ireland at 84 this entirely proves this point. For an average age of death to be at this point it clearly shows that huge numbers of the dead are well into borrowed time. Yes I know it's a controversial thing to say. But a 90 odd year old dieing from a respiratory disease is not a tragedy. A 20 year old dieing from suicide due to social isolation is a tragedy.

We all want to live old, we all want to look after our elderly and we all want people to be healthy and comfortable. We could have put in reasonable measures to protect the old without shutting down society but politically it became easier to 'big up' this virus as a dangerous killer that is a clear and present danger to the entire population, which it isn't. Life is great but it is also cruel and nature rebalances, it is an inevitable and unavoidable. In recent years the flu (which we have good immunity to and we control with vaccinations but still kills millions) has year in year out in recent decades been a major killer in the very weak and elderly but we are used to it and don't pay any attention to it. Take a new virus emerging such as our unwelcome friend Sars-Cov-2 mix in our health and safety hyper aware world, hysteria, media driven panic and politicians and health officials who had a massive panic group think moment and we end up where we are. They now need a cliimb down and the vaccine is that............I hope.

We would all love if this virus never existed but then I'd like to be married to Cate Blanchet, own a Ferrari F50 and spend my time heli skiing in the Alps. We all need to grow up a bit.

JDD

I think the one very unpalatable and politically unacceptable thing to even begin to talk about is that we have an extremely elderly population and it was somewhat inevitable that a bug would come along that would be dangerous to this population base.

Look, I agree with the jist of your post, which is that we may seriously have to look at what sort of restrictions we are willing to put up with, beyond the middle of this year, if we are willing to put up with restrictions at all once a vaccine has been offered to the majority of people.

I would be a little reluctant to go onto UnHerd or Spiked for my news, as I lean left and both sites are right wing (despite UnHerd's protestations that they take ideas from both left and right). Any website that has articles about patriotism as a virtue on their front page can't really paint themselves as having a centerist agenda. And the Torygraph, well...

Now, that's not to say that we should not listen to what people with views on the opposite side of the political spectrum have to say. Sometimes they will have a very good point. There's no point in living in a bubble. But if a view is right or left wing it should be called out. A political viewpoint that disagrees with laws that make the majority sacrifice something (rights, money) for the protection or betterment of a minority is a right wing view. It doesn't necessarily make it wrong, just that it should be defined for what it is.

I don't necessarily agree that it was inevitable that a virus would come along that would target the elderly. If Mother Nature wanted to reduce the worlds population, it would make more sense for the virus to kill the young, not the old.

And yes, elderly people have less immunity to most diseases, hence why covid has dispropotionately affected them. But thinking back to when I was young, you were considered elderly if you were over sixty. Most people didn't live much past retirement. I think it is a massive benefit for us, as younger people, that we get an extra 20 or so years over our grandparents. And I do think that should be protected - not just by me cocooning at home from the age of 70, because I may as well stick my head in the oven on my 70th birthday if that was the case. If the virus is still circulating widely in the community, and vaccines for whatever reason don't significant reduce the risk of elderly people catching covid, then I think we would need a certain level of restrictions. What that certain level is is up for debate. But I don't think everyone under the age of 65 goes back to behaving like it was January 2020, whereas everyone over the age of 65 has to cocoon at home.

accensi0n

Micky 32 wrote: »

He said half of the adult population will be vaccinated by the end of June

These vaccination commitments seemed to just be based on the delivery numbers from what I have read.
Has there been any reports confirming that the vaccine administration can actually match the delivery numbers?

200k doses were given in Jan. Completely made up increases from myself, but if that increases by say, 100k per month until end of June (700k doses in June), that would be 2.7m doses. 1m less than half the adult population.

It just seems unbelievable that we could administer say 1m doses in a single month, or say an average of 800k per month from start of March. Or is it?

munchkin_utd

accensi0n wrote: »

<snip>
It just seems unbelievable that we could administer say 1m doses in a single month, or say an average of 800k per month from start of March. Or is it?

its like any other problem or project, you just need to divide and delegate to make it managable

If you need to issue 800k in a month, thats 33k per day (presuming 24 working days in a month) and spread over say 1000 GPs, chemists and vaccination centres that'd be easily achieved.

Itll be an effort, but doable once the couriers and backend stuff is working without a glitch.

Hector Savage

ujjjjjjjjj wrote: »

The deeply concerning thing happening in front of our eyes is the movement of goalposts by our public health 'experts' and our politicians. We are moving to endless if's and buts about virus strains which could be vaccine resistant....I stress could be.......

The recent travel restrictions show this is now the latest panic and the media are manipulating this as the next thing to stress about. Was listening to some hysterical presenter on Newstalk earlier (drivetime) who had created an imaginary Paris Strain which hasn't even been discovered yet and could bypass our vaccines and that is why we need to stop travel........

The goalposts are shifting folks, not only are we in a perpetual panic over the actual virus but we are getting into a lather about a virus which doesn't even exist but could......

I keep saying this: This is now an endemic virus and no one seems to be understanding the significance of this. It isn't going away and while vaccines will hugely reduce mortality if we endlessly worry about what might happen sure we may as well just stay in lockdown forever.

We need a line in the sand and we need it now and we need it being discussed, the O'Leary approach of say lifting all restrictions once the over 50's are vaccinated is where the discussion must go.

I don't think any of the medical experts / politicians etc have the slightest comprehension of the damage they are causing. They are busy all day listening to each other convincing themselves of how serious things are and how dangerous things are and are in a self perpetuating loop of drama and crisis.

We have to move on and clearly define an exit strategy and also accept that post vaccine this virus will still be around.....

Great post.

From the telegraph, I got a subscription one of the few papers that isn't pro hiding under our beds for the next 500 billion years ...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/03/rishi-sunak-concerned-scientists-moving-goalposts-covid-lockdown/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-covid-vaccine-uk-south-africa-variant-lockdown/

And yet we were called conspiracy theory nutcases for saying they would shift the goalposts on the metrics used to justify restrictions...

The Chancellor is concerned that the original target of protecting the NHS and saving lives has been replaced by scientists with a focus on getting case numbers down, potentially delaying the end of restrictions.

When this was put to Prof Andrew Hayward, who advises the Government, asked what was the key to getting out of lockdown, he said: "I think we would want to see a continual decline in community cases. So really that's the most important measure.

"It's the number of community cases that drives the number of deaths - that's fairly straightforward."

He also said that "we would be more or less back to normal in the summer, I'd imagine".

Well at least he ended on a positive note, but it;s the same with NPHET - these people are enjoying their power, they are on their 6 figure salaries and will not suffer AT ALL during all this.

Put them on the PUP and see them keep spouting this.

ujjjjjjjjj

JDD wrote: »

Look, I agree with the jist of your post, which is that we may seriously have to look at what sort of restrictions we are willing to put up with, beyond the middle of this year, if we are willing to put up with restrictions at all once a vaccine has been offered to the majority of people.

I would be a little reluctant to go onto UnHerd or Spiked for my news, as I lean left and both sites are right wing (despite UnHerd's protestations that they take ideas from both left and right). Any website that has articles about patriotism as a virtue on their front page can't really paint themselves as having a centerist agenda. And the Torygraph, well...

Now, that's not to say that we should not listen to what people with views on the opposite side of the political spectrum have to say. Sometimes they will have a very good point. There's no point in living in a bubble. But if a view is right or left wing it should be called out. A political viewpoint that disagrees with laws that make the majority sacrifice something (rights, money) for the protection or betterment of a minority is a right wing view. It doesn't necessarily make it wrong, just that it should be defined for what it is.

I don't necessarily agree that it was inevitable that a virus would come along that would target the elderly. If Mother Nature wanted to reduce the worlds population, it would make more sense for the virus to kill the young, not the old.

And yes, elderly people have less immunity to most diseases, hence why covid has dispropotionately affected them. But thinking back to when I was young, you were considered elderly if you were over sixty. Most people didn't live much past retirement. I think it is a massive benefit for us, as younger people, that we get an extra 20 or so years over our grandparents. And I do think that should be protected - not just by me cocooning at home from the age of 70, because I may as well stick my head in the oven on my 70th birthday if that was the case. If the virus is still circulating widely in the community, and vaccines for whatever reason don't significant reduce the risk of elderly people catching covid, then I think we would need a certain level of restrictions. What that certain level is is up for debate. But I don't think everyone under the age of 65 goes back to behaving like it was January 2020, whereas everyone over the age of 65 has to cocoon at home.

Sorry yes you are right - health warning required and you need to be very selective on sites like Spiked and Unherd but at times some very interesting articles crop up. Telegraph yes is well established in terms of it's political bias so care needed but I have read some good articles relating Covid in recent months. Like anything it's a case of dipping in and out of many news sources and trying to read different sides of the fence. The Guardian a case in point for example, lots of good stuff there too but sometimes I lose the will to live reading articles there as well as they are entirely predicatable in terms of political direction. Totally agree with you though on the care needed.........and political agenda always to be looked at.

I do think however it was inevitable that something was going to come along which was going to cause problems in our aging population. In a younger population like India for example the virus has spread like absolute wildfire with very low mortality levels, our sensitivity and reaction has entirely been due to mortality in our very elderly. Viruses or nature so to speak is a numbers game, they hop species, they mutate and if they happen to mutate to the point where they transmit easily and aren't very lethal they can become endemic and this one I really believe is well past that point now. It ain't going anywhere.

It's perfectly clear (no matter what my rose tinted view of how this could have been handled) that we ain't getting out of this until vaccines are widely distributed. It really is a question of where we draw that line in the sand. Mortality statistics suggest once the over 65's and clinically vulnerable (regardless of age) are vaccinated that mortality is going to drop hugely. By all means let's push a safety blanket past this perhaps as O'Leary suggests - so shoot for 50 years and older and then open up. I do think we have to look at real mortality implications - if mortality rates in the under 50's are absolutely tiny as they are we should move on at that point. (Well three weeks after they have been vaccinated to ensure immune systems are primed...)

Personally I think waiting until the entire adult populations is vaccinated is overkill and far outweighed by the damage being done by lockdown but we may end up in that place and if so then that is the situation and I just hope we hurry up with the vaccination program by hook or by crook.....

I have elderly parents and of course it's not a case of writing off the older generations and yes it's lovely that a reasonable aspiration of living until you are well into the 80's now is entirely achievable but there is a point where physiologically humans systems will weaken and they will not be immune to relatively mild viruses etc (mild in people with healthy immune systems). So while modern medicine and lifestyle will continue to improve life expectancy our basic core genetics (which take millenia to change significantly) effectively have our systems beginning to degrade quite rapidly once we move through our 70's. I think some level of accepting that we can all going well happily live into our 70's and perhaps early 80's and that anything else beyond that is really just a bonus is probably just a pragmatic viewpoint.

I have no doubt Sars-Cov-2 ain't going to be the last new virus or bug which will be able to thrive and be lethal at times to the very old and weak. We have to learn how to manage though as this last year is going to leave a legacy of problems for a generation of people in the prime of their lives. I am certainly not in my 80's, if I am lucky enough to get there I won't expect society to close down to save my skin from a pathogen that might kill me but not really be that dangerous to the bulk of the population. I would like to get health advice and make an informed decision as to the level of risk I am taking.......

Aging populations are really a core part of this problem and as this is probably going to continue to happen & we have to become realistic as to how we can handle this going forward.

ujjjjjjjjj

Hector Savage wrote: »

Great post.

From the telegraph, I got a subscription one of the few papers that isn't pro hiding under our beds for the next 500 billion years ...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/03/rishi-sunak-concerned-scientists-moving-goalposts-covid-lockdown/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-covid-vaccine-uk-south-africa-variant-lockdown/

And yet we were called conspiracy theory nutcases for saying they would shift the goalposts on the metrics used to justify restrictions...




Well at least he ended on a positive note, but it;s the same with NPHET - these people are enjoying their power, they are on their 6 figure salaries and will not suffer AT ALL during all this.

Put them on the PUP and see them keep spouting this.

Good post and good spot on the Rishi article, goalpost moving is a good way to describe the focus shifting to mutant strains etc and certainly I think he is beginning to freak out at the UK borrowing figures if things go on much longer & he is obviously nervous about certain directions conversations are going in terms of maintaining restrictions.

I think we are going to have to somehow bite our lips for another couple of months and then hopefully we can see some clear exit paths taking shape but we need to start banging the drums as if we wait for NPHET we will be waiting for hell to freeze over !! Line in sand time folks.....

And yes you are right - if every politician and NPHET member had moved to the PUP payment I can assure you right now none of this would ever have happened and we'd have cracked on and lived with a few thousand deaths, they have literally no idea of what so many people are coping with :eek:

Hector Savage

Btw anyone wants full Telegraph articles on covid PM me .... I'm happy to share good balanced non fear mongering hysterical news on the subject

not sure if this is strictly legal ... mods feel free to delete if so ..

PTH2009

The current vaccine situation with the over 70s will once again slow things up with our leaders been even more cautious

ujjjjjjjjj

PTH2009 wrote: »

The current vaccine situation with the over 70s will once again slow things up with our leaders been even more cautious

Yes don't think it will help matters but in the next while there will be more ironclad data on AZ and it's efficacy on over 65's and I suspect they will turn back on this. We shall wait and see. Unfortunately right not don't think it makes much difference as they ain't looking outside of the EU supply lines so supplies coming through are very limited. Patience is a virtue and we will need lots of it !!

UK just cracked through 20.5% of their 51.2 million adult population - about 10.5 million jabs or jags as they seem to call them in Scotland ?? Though that was a car.....anyway - Don't care about national pride and Brexit - can anyone just pick up the phone to Boris and say 'pretty please' !! :) And yes you can all lambast me and tell me 'not over my dead body'......:):)

hynesie08

ujjjjjjjjj wrote: »

Yes don't think it will help matters but in the next while there will be more ironclad data on AZ and it's efficacy on over 65's and I suspect they will turn back on this. We shall wait and see. Unfortunately right not don't think it makes much difference as they ain't looking outside of the EU supply lines so supplies coming through are very limited. Patience is a virtue and we will need lots of it !!

UK just cracked through 20.5% of their 51.2 million adult population - about 10.5 million jabs or jags as they seem to call them in Scotland ?? Though that was a car.....anyway - Don't care about national pride and Brexit - can anyone just pick up the phone to Boris and say 'pretty please' !! :) And yes you can all lambast me and tell me 'not over my dead body'......:):)

For what, do they have a couple of million doses hidden in the tower of London?

El_Duderino 09

hynesie08 wrote: »

For what, do they have a couple of million doses hidden in the tower of London?

As it goes, Ireland is doing about as well as anyone in Europe with 4.1% of the adult population vaccinated (first dose). They can’t make them fast enough so the fairest way to distribute them roughly evenly. That’s all we can do.

It’s frustrating but we’re doing all we can for now. It’s just a matter of manufacturers manufacturing the vaccine and getting it out to member states.

Mr. Karate

ujjjjjjjjj wrote: »

Yes don't think it will help matters but in the next while there will be more ironclad data on AZ and it's efficacy on over 65's and I suspect they will turn back on this. We shall wait and see. Unfortunately right not don't think it makes much difference as they ain't looking outside of the EU supply lines so supplies coming through are very limited. Patience is a virtue and we will need lots of it !!

UK just cracked through 20.5% of their 51.2 million adult population - about 10.5 million jabs or jags as they seem to call them in Scotland ?? Though that was a car.....anyway - Don't care about national pride and Brexit - can anyone just pick up the phone to Boris and say 'pretty please' !! :) And yes you can all lambast me and tell me 'not over my dead body'......:):)

Ofcourse not. Michael and Leo wouldn't be able to show what obedient lapdogs they are to the EU then.

bluescat

Yes, an old person dying IS normal; any young person killing themselves IS a tragedy.

Am 55 soon, and DO NOT want to get old-er, since I had a "fun filled"[so called] childhood.

At this stage I resent any one who feels entitled enough to "demand" protection, simply because they survived this long, esp. if they are the sort of humanoid like the female who popped me out, and then post-birth tried to abort me via torture.

The "stay safe" hysterics should do a dive into the average childhood, to see who REALLY needs protection.

Here is a hint: it's NOT old people.

beachhead

Lots of odd thinking postings on this thread.Just of 2022 or maybe 2023 to see reduced mask wearing/distancing

Strumms

ShineOn7 wrote: »

What exactly is "essential retail" now?

Harvey Norman is still open ffs

True, but they sell fridges, freezers, cookers...

bluescat

Who wear muzzles...barking MAD.

Baggly

Mod

bluescat, i dont think this thread is for you. Best stay out of here. Thanks.

Hector Savage

So was thinking, if these vaccines require a booster after x year(s), does that mean restrictions could be a yearly thing -- indefinetely ?

Or, I am thinking since it's done in stages, one group that is due their booster means other groups that got it later will still be immune - so we;d have an overlapping coverage of immunity deal ... if you get me ...

landofthetree

Micky 32 wrote: »

I think Varadkar is copping onto this:

“ He said that coronavirus will probably be with us for “eternity” and that vaccines will help society to live with the virus in the same way it lives with the flu.

He said half of the adult population will be vaccinated by the end of June and that 70 or 80pc will be vaccinated by the end of September which the Government believes will confer herd immunity.”

He also thought the pandemic would only last a few months.

A qualified doctor didnt think we would have problems in the winter.

El_Duderino 09

Hector Savage wrote: »

So was thinking, if these vaccines require a booster after x year(s), does that mean restrictions could be a yearly thing -- indefinetely ?

Or, I am thinking since it's done in stages, one group that is due their booster means other groups that got it later will still be immune - so we;d have an overlapping coverage of immunity deal ... if you get me ...

Hard to know at this stage. It’s possible. Restrictions like masks and distancing, limits on crowds, are very likely in the medium term. The only people who are suggesting masks and distancing will be finished this year are the ones who make it up based on what they want to happen (one notable poster: be no restrictions by June numbers be low in May restrictions 5 4 3 2 1 no restriction by first July).

The health experts are predicting the low level restrictions to stay for the medium term future with very little certainty beyond that. We can all hope that things go to plan and vaccinations are taken up by the vast majority of the population. We also need to how that vaccination is effective for a long time eg 18months rather than 8 months, but only tile will tell at this stage. And we need to hope that vaccinations can keep ahead of the virus as it mutates.

Lots of uncertainty at the moment, unfortunately.

completedit

Are people just happy to sleepwalk into years of restrictions to protect the vulnerable? Who has the power to decide when it is feasible to return to normal? Who gets to decide when it's safe that we get back to normal. The curtain twitchers when the wolf comes to the door and they realise there is trade-offs. They'll be the ones bashing the government once the dust settles.

Like the telegraph article alluded to, there's nothing stopping perpetual lockdowns now. I am honestly shocked by how childish people are about death. To me, death has always been something that has to happen. You don't run away from it. In general, when your time comes your time comes. It is utterly bizarre that we have all had to endure year long restrictions so that somebody in their 80s can live a couple more years. Especially given that if the old people took responsibility for themselves they could remain out of potential harms way. Some would die but in general it wouldn't create a huge disruption on healthcare.

One thing that has confused me from the start is the way healthcare workers are portrayed. We are all meant to geneflect to them for doing their job. It obviously must be emotionally exhausting but there were times when the hospitals werent even full but the healthcare workers were talking about how exhausted they were. It's strange but there seems to be some correlation between anxiety and hysterics and those who work as health professionals. Maybe tied in with the empathy you need to work in the field.

Pdoghue

I think the reason why we're in these rolling lockdowns is because government has determined that we need to do so to prevent the medical system being overwhelmed. It's not primarily because of wishing to protect the old and vulnerable at such an extreme cost of shutting down public life. There's a subtle difference. Once we get to a point where vaccinations have been administered to a sufficient number of the population, it will be determined that the medical system can cope and things will be opened up. Covid-19 will still be around and as someone said previously, it will dawn on people that it is an endemic instead of a pandemic. People will still get very ill and die from Covid-19 but as a society we will have determined that balance between accepting that, but the medical system being able to cope, and letting everyone else get on with it. That's why the zero Covid talk is so dangerous in my opinion and not realistic.

mcsean2163

completedit wrote: »

Are people just happy to sleepwalk into years of restrictions to protect the vulnerable? Who has the power to decide when it is feasible to return to normal? Who gets to decide when it's safe that we get back to normal. The curtain twitchers when the wolf comes to the door and they realise there is trade-offs. They'll be the ones bashing the government once the dust settles.

Like the telegraph article alluded to, there's nothing stopping perpetual lockdowns now. I am honestly shocked by how childish people are about death. To me, death has always been something that has to happen. You don't run away from it. In general, when your time comes your time comes. It is utterly bizarre that we have all had to endure year long restrictions so that somebody in their 80s can live a couple more years. Especially given that if the old people took responsibility for themselves they could remain out of potential harms way. Some would die but in general it wouldn't create a huge disruption on healthcare.

One thing that has confused me from the start is the way healthcare workers are portrayed. We are all meant to geneflect to them for doing their job. It obviously must be emotionally exhausting but there were times when the hospitals werent even full but the healthcare workers were talking about how exhausted they were. It's strange but there seems to be some correlation between anxiety and hysterics and those who work as health professionals. Maybe tied in with the empathy you need to work in the field.

I remember an expression when traveling around the world, "when your time is up your time is up".

However, I think you need to talk with a frontline worker. If you think working 30 days straight while dealing with huge amounts of death is fair, then consider also that due to covid19 medical doctors and nurses cannot deal with their normal patient lists. Patients with conditions that are not life threatening are not getting seen and those conditions can worsen seriously if not treated.

I think in general it's fair to say the over 80s are not being intubated and if the situation worsened younger people might not get oxygen etc. and simply die.

The public has become less accepting of death and that puts further demands on frontline staff.

So doctors and nurses are working in an extremely stressful almost wartime environment at the moment, the frontline staff have no control over policy but according to you we should spit in their faces?

Tazz T

completedit wrote: »

Like the telegraph article alluded to, there's nothing stopping perpetual lockdowns now. I am honestly shocked by how childish people are about death. To me, death has always been something that has to happen. You don't run away from it. In general, when your time comes your time comes. It is utterly bizarre that we have all had to endure year long restrictions so that somebody in their 80s can live a couple more years. Especially given that if the old people took responsibility for themselves they could remain out of potential harms way. Some would die but in general it wouldn't create a huge disruption on healthcare.

Of course, the perspective on that narrative changes when the 'somebody in their 80s' is someone you know.

Thespoofer

I'm beginning to wonder will life 'go back to normal' without being officially announced by government, if you get me.

I dont think we're generally the type of people to take to the streets and protest like other European nations but I do think Irish people would protest in their own, non violent, peaceful way.
I see it going the way of people/businesses deciding themselves we've done enough and trying to get back to some sort of normality by opening up, going back to work on the side etc and eventually the dogs on the street will know what's going on and it'll be a case of majority rules.
Even the Gardai , whom I have to say have been fair at checkpoints are only human themselves and they too could eventually side with the majority, common sense approach when that time comes.

Bit cynical

Thespoofer wrote: »

I'm beginning to wonder will life 'go back to normal' without being officially announced by government, if you get me.

I don't think there will ever be an announcement by government that the restrictions are basically over due to the fact that in this country the government tends to be politically extremely cautious and hates the possibility of embarrassment.