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

Boggles

Sobit1964 wrote: »

Although they are Americans in this article - it echos your words - it's true that some in ireland can't let it go either - have a rest you will recover from exhaustion quicker than covid.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/05/liberals-covid-19-science-denial-lockdown/618780/

Surely it echoes Fintans words as he is claiming he has been in lockdown for 14 months.

But TBF, neither me or Fintan could be labelled "Liberals" I'd wager.

Boggles

Boggles wrote: »

Any Irish person living under "severe suppression" for 14 months was doing it by choice.

Also the fact that a survey has suggested we will have a high uptake on the vaccine is a wonderful thing, a wonderful thing you have managed to spin into a negative.

Exhausting.

By choice?! Try telling that to all the businesses who were forced to close due to the restrictions. Choice was taken out of their hands. Thankfully those businesses are slowly reopening and will experience a bounce in trade in the next few weeks and it will be more than well earned. They deserve a good start back,

Bit cynical

Bit cynical wrote: »

We still have very stringent measures in place according to the stringency index compiled by Oxford researchers. I've highlighted Ireland in red and the grey lines represent other EU/EEA countries. We have tended to be at the top of the index throughout the pandemic and continue to be so after the recent relaxations, other countries having also relaxed restrictions.

There is a fatal flaw in the stringency index if Ireland has only gone from 87 to 80 since February.

_Kaiser_

Deleted User wrote: »

There is a fatal flaw in the stringency index if Ireland has only gone from 87 to 80 since February.

How so?

- "non-essential" retail still closed
- pubs still closed
- county travel limit is still in effect
- limits on meeting up remain in effect
- no concerts/spectators at sporting events etc
- limits remain on public transport occupancy
etc etc

Very little has changed in the last 12-ish weeks despite the rhetoric and constant ads about "the next phase" on the radio

Sobit1964

Deleted User wrote: »

There is a fatal flaw in the stringency index if Ireland has only gone from 87 to 80 since February.

There's a fatal flaw in Ireland's strategy if the stringency index has only gone from 87 to 80 since February.

Fixed that for you

Penfailed

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

How so?

- "non-essential" retail still closed
- pubs still closed
- 20km travel limit is still in effect
- limits on meeting up remain in effect
- no concerts/spectators at sporting events etc
- limits remain on public transport occupancy
etc etc

Very little has changed in the last 12-ish weeks despite the rhetoric and constant ads about "the next phase" on the radio

The emboldened text is incorrect.

_Kaiser_

Penfailed wrote: »

The emboldened text is incorrect.

Fair point - fixed, but for many in commuter counties it may as well be as their friends/family would be elsewhere. I'd be one so 5/20/county makes no difference to me.

At least that (officially) ends on Monday

0lddog

Boggles wrote: »

Any Irish person living under "severe suppression" for 14 months was doing it by choice..

Rubbish

gansi wrote: »

By choice?! Try telling that to all the businesses who were forced to close due to the restrictions. Choice was taken out of their hands. Thankfully those businesses are slowly reopening and will experience a bounce in trade in the next few weeks and it will be more than well earned. They deserve a good start back,

Its clear that many will never reopen

_Kaiser_

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

How so?

- "non-essential" retail still closed
- pubs still closed
- county travel limit is still in effect
- limits on meeting up remain in effect
- no concerts/spectators at sporting events etc
- limits remain on public transport occupancy
etc etc

Very little has changed in the last 12-ish weeks despite the rhetoric and constant ads about "the next phase" on the radio

Look out your window

Dempo1

Genuine question, what's got into Tony Holohan , gone is the Grim Reeper image, he's gone all sweet and nice in the past week, apart from that little Donegal sillyness, leaving Ronan Glynn to apologise.

Extraordinary turn around even telling us to plan our summers. I've no doubt this Watt Fella has taken control of proceedings. Also have NPHET Briefings ended, maybe I've missed it, but one last week and none I'm aware of this week.

FintanMcluskey

Deleted User wrote: »

Look out your window

Ah here, I knew were persistent but standing outside the chaps bedroom window is gone to far

FintanMcluskey

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

Ah here, I knew were persistent but standing outside the chaps bedroom window is gone to far

Unfortunately I don’t think he’s in my county, but next Monday..,,

_Kaiser_

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

How so?

- "non-essential" retail still closed
- pubs still closed
- 20km travel limit is still in effect
- limits on meeting up remain in effect
- no concerts/spectators at sporting events etc
- limits remain on public transport occupancy
etc etc

Very little has changed in the last 12-ish weeks despite the rhetoric and constant ads about "the next phase" on the radio

All indoor recreational activity still closed as well, things in the community like bingo, cards, clubs/ groups of all kinds, music, dance, acting, etc. etc.There’s a whole lot to come back yet. Ordinary things that people enjoyed and things that were good for people as well, gave them something to look forward to.

Bit cynical

Deleted User wrote: »

There is a fatal flaw in the stringency index if Ireland has only gone from 87 to 80 since February.

It probably seems that way because we've been heavily restricted for so long that objectively comparatively minor relaxations which still keep us close to the top of EU levels seem more significant than they actually are.

Even by world standards, Ireland has been close to the top for most of the pandemic.

MOR316

Boggles wrote: »

Any Irish person living under "severe suppression" for 14 months was doing it by choice.

Tell ya, I dare you to go to the faces of all the musicians, all the artists who are out of work and struggling so badly financially that they have to sell their instruments and equipment as they have been given no hope for the forseeable future, all the bar staff, the publicans, all the families and friends who have been cut apart, all the people who have fell into a mental black hole and are struggling to get out of bed due to this "work from home" craic...

Go to their faces and say that to them and see how long you last before one of them throttles you and makes you eat your words!

It's one thing saying it on the Internet, it's another saying it to someone's face, someone who has had their life stripped away.
You'll have your chance on June 7th. Please let us know how you get on

EDIT: Actually, better yet...There were many on here, trying to make people feel guilty over going 1km over the 5km rule or meeting a family member. One example was at Christmas, some dude turned his table to the front window so he could watch how many people went into his Neighbours' house so he could come on here and give a holier than thou rant about it...Could arrange to say it one of those people?

Double EDIT: Anyone know if that poster is still about? Jesus Christ...

hatrickpatrick

Boggles wrote: »

Sorry, if you can't go to a wedding with 300 people your life is joyless?

Absolute nonsense.

Wedding, concert, nightclub, sporting crowd, cinema whatever. For some people, life without crowded spaces is extremely unsettling. Personally, my own mental health took a f*cking nose-dive between Christmas and Paddy's Day, and it was only with the good weather returning and therefore the return of crowds to outdoor spaces in Dun Laoghaire that I realised why. Normally I'd fill that time of year with social events, this year everything was just horribly quiet and lonely.

Some people like being surrounded by other people, and very much despise being alone. Some people like the hustle and bustle of a busy urban environment and find the background quiet of the last year utterly soul destroying. Honestly for me, it wasn't even being able to see people I know again which lifted the dark cloud which had settled over me for the first three months of this year (and I really do mean dark, without going into detail) - it was just going outside and hearing the sound of an undiscernable chorus of voices because the park next to where I live was full of people and places like Dun Laoghaire Pier and Sandycove Seafront had dozens of little bubbles of friends again.

Not having those things crushed me psychologically in a way I couldn't have anticipated. And I'm still absolutely yearning for the moment I can dance in a nightclub that's packed wall-to-wall on a Saturday night, or in the mosh pit up near the front at a concert in Croker or Stradbally.

I know from many, many conversations over the last year that I'm not the only one who is experiencing this. Some people are so far along the extroverted level of the myers briggs scale that the absence of crowds has really f*cked them up. Nobody's saying you have to participate, but to celebrate the fact that nobody can do these things anymore is unimaginably f*cked up. If you don't like crowded occasions then just don't go. You don't have to celebrate the fact that those for whom such occasions are the single most enjoyable aspect of living are currently also prohibited from doing so.

aziz

MOR316 wrote: »

Tell ya, I dare you to go to the faces of all the musicians, all the artists who are out of work and struggling so badly financially that they have to sell their instruments and equipment as they have been given no hope for the forseeable future, all the bar staff, the publicans, all the families and friends who have been cut apart, all the people who have fell into a mental black hole and are struggling to get out of bed due to this "work from home" craic...

Go to their faces and say that to them and see how long you last before one of them throttles you and makes you eat your words!

It's one thing saying it on the Internet, it's another saying it to someone's face, someone who has had their life stripped away.
You'll have your chance on June 7th. Please let us know how you get on

EDIT: Actually, better yet...There were many on here, trying to make people feel guilty over going 1km over the 5km rule or meeting a family member. One example was at Christmas, some dude turned his table to the front window so he could watch how many people went into his Neighbours' house so he could come on here and give a holier than thou rant about it...Could arrange to say it one of those people?

Double EDIT: Anyone know if that poster is still about? Jesus Christ...

If I could thank a post twice
👌👌👌👌👌

Penfailed

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Wedding, concert, nightclub, sporting crowd, cinema whatever. For some people, life without crowded spaces is extremely unsettling. Personally, my own mental health took a f*cking nose-dive between Christmas and Paddy's Day, and it was only with the good weather returning and therefore the return of crowds to outdoor spaces in Dun Laoghaire that I realised why. Normally I'd fill that time of year with social events, this year everything was just horribly quiet and lonely.

Some people like being surrounded by other people, and very much despise being alone. Some people like the hustle and bustle of a busy urban environment and find the background quiet of the last year utterly soul destroying. Honestly for me, it wasn't even being able to see people I know again which lifted the dark cloud which had settled over me for the first three months of this year (and I really do mean dark, without going into detail) - it was just going outside and hearing the sound of an undiscernable chorus of voices because the park next to where I live was full of people and places like Dun Laoghaire Pier and Sandycove Seafront had dozens of little bubbles of friends again.

Not having those things crushed me psychologically in a way I couldn't have anticipated. And I'm still absolutely yearning for the moment I can dance in a nightclub that's packed wall-to-wall on a Saturday night, or in the mosh pit up near the front at a concert in Croker or Stradbally.

I know from many, many conversations over the last year that I'm not the only one who is experiencing this. Some people are so far along the extroverted level of the myers briggs scale that the absence of crowds has really f*cked them up. Nobody's saying you have to participate, but to celebrate the fact that nobody can do these things anymore is unimaginably f*cked up. If you don't like crowded occasions then just don't go. You don't have to celebrate the fact that those for whom such occasions are the single most enjoyable aspect of living are currently also prohibited from doing so.

I completely 'get' your post. The emboldened text though...he didn't say that.

_Kaiser_

Dempo1 wrote: »

Genuine question, what's got into Tony Holohan , gone is the Grim Reeper image, he's gone all sweet and nice in the past week, apart from that little Donegal sillyness, leaving Ronan Glynn to apologise.

Extraordinary turn around even telling us to plan our summers. I've no doubt this Watt Fella has taken control of proceedings. Also have NPHET Briefings ended, maybe I've missed it, but one last week and none I'm aware of this week.

I have a feeling that the scale of the financial issues ahead (which have quickly been downplayed), coupled with the increasing public anger over the slow reopening, and the fact that factions in his own party are planning to push him out, has backed Micheal into a corner insofar as his being able to defer all the decisions to Tony.

Add to that the reopening in NI and the UK, and the EU vaccine passport plan, and I think some very uncomfortable conversations have been had in the last few weeks as economic and political events have finally overtaken them.

Hence, just as they've spent a year scaring people into staying home/apart, now that need to start the process of encouraging them back to work and spending their new savings so that when the tax hikes come in a few months, they'll have a workforce to tax.

Happydays2020

Come September and October, businesses will be insisting that workers come back into the office. Some sectors will have hybrid but many US businesses have already started this. There will be an element of hybrid working and greater flexibility, but a lot of people are dying to get back into the office for various reasons.

Boggles

MOR316 wrote: »

Tell ya, I dare you to go to the faces of all the musicians, all the artists who are out of work and struggling so badly financially that they have to sell their instruments and equipment as they have been given no hope for the forseeable future, all the bar staff, the publicans, all the families and friends who have been cut apart, all the people who have fell into a mental black hole and are struggling to get out of bed due to this "work from home" craic...

Go to their faces and say that to them and see how long you last before one of them throttles you and makes you eat your words!

:rolleyes:

They weren't locked down for 14 months either.

As for working from home and availing of financial supports, there is a certain cohort on here that believe they are raking it in and never want restrictions to end.

Boggles

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Nobody's saying you have to participate, but to celebrate the fact that nobody can do these things anymore is unimaginably f*cked up. If you don't like crowded occasions then just don't go. You don't have to celebrate the fact that those for whom such occasions are the single most enjoyable aspect of living are currently also prohibited from doing so.

Blatant falsehood.

is_that_so

Pedestrianisation about to get under way in Dublin to help with outdoor dining.


https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2021/0506/1214255-dublin-pedestrianisation/

paw patrol

Boggles wrote: »

:rolleyes:

They weren't locked down for 14 months either.

As for working from home and availing of financial supports, there is a certain cohort on here that believe they are raking it in and never want restrictions to end.

People have massive debts to pay , like 9 months mortgage arrears (for 2 I know in the bar game, construction fellas aren't much better) which will take years to pay off.

The other day the PUP payment dipped under 400k claimants for first time in 2021.

Thousands of families are in severe distress - many are dead from suicide - and you sit here internet hero-ing away playing "gotcha" over counting days open or closed.

Pathetic

FintanMcluskey

I must say Tony’s new media manager has transformed him recently

Plan for the Summer he said, some change in a fortnight

blowitupref

I see from next Saturday Knock Basilica can host indoor mass to the attendance of 200 people, meanwhile outdoor sports aren't allowed to have any supporters attend and it looks like July at the earliest for that to change. Where is the logic in those restrictions?

is_that_so

FintanMcluskey wrote: »

I must say Tony’s new media manager has transformed him recently

Plan for the Summer he said, some change in a fortnight

“When facts change, I change my mind"
A good number of people vaccinated by July is that change.

Boggles

paw patrol wrote: »

Thousands of families are in severe distress - many are dead from suicide

There has be no evidence of an increase in suicides, here or in the UK.

Again the people tasked with running services and dealing with mental health are asking people not to spread falsehoods as it can cause harm.

It is a rare, relatively positive note in media coverage of the issue, but important to highlight, says Prof Ella Arensman, chief scientist with the National Suicide Research Foundation at University College Cork.

She says “sensational” headlines – especially in the British press – claiming a “tsunami of suicides” can be harmful.

“Those kinds of headlines could be really harmful for people who are struggling, and who may not be getting their usual, intensive kinds of psychological or psychiatric treatments. If they see again and again the statements about increased suicides on top of so many Covid deaths, it could have a harmful effect on them.”

Whatever about gutter tabloids trying to make money from sensationalizing lies, people doing it to score "internet points" are just as nefarious.

is_that_so

blowitupref wrote: »

I see from this Saturday Knock Basilica can host indoor mass to the attendance of 200 people, meanwhile outdoor sports aren't allowed to have any supporters attend and it looks like July at the earliest for that to change. Where is the logic in those restrictions?

People go to mass and go home, supporters on the other hand ...

kieran26

Boggles wrote: »

Blatant falsehood.

To be fair you often take other posters posts out of context or only quote a snippet of it, then put your own spin on it and then put it back to them as a question with a :rolleyes: at the end.