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

completedit

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137530332_6

If only there was some sort of external event that would allow him to achieve his long-held objective to alter Irish drinking culture.

It's funny that the sectors that have been hit the most by restrictions have been cultural events which are just viewed as collateral damage, the one part of the economy that is intrinsically human. The other parts of the economy that just serve to exist for their own ends have flourished.

bokale

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118310584#Comment_118310584

Think our cultural events rely too much on alcohol to be viable anyway. Think a change there would be good.

ceadaoin.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118308228#Comment_118308228

And California "killed off" 75k, despite restrictions for the best part of 2 years, vaccine mandates and passports etc. It's almost like there's no controlling an airborne virus and the cases and deaths rate will be similar everywhere eventually 🤔

Marty Bird

I’m just back from another brilliant weekend on plaque island, no virtue signalling masks in hospitality, pubs and clubs out the door. I was doing the Omicron on the dance floor Fri/Sat, nobody mention the Rona and my team won.

Stay safe, brighter days ahead, are we fcuk in this together, wake the fcuk up people….

Richard Hillman

https://twitter.com/Lukewearechange/status/1470089268454477834?t=9Nn4EIgL4cEWYInMBLTa5A&s=19

Allegedly out of France over the weekend. There were videos last week of a police force throwing down their handcuffs.

You would wonder how long they can continue with restrictions/passports, if the police are turning up to work and are getting battered every weekend. Will they bother even turning up for work? The French armed forces most definitely won't be getting onto the streets. I think they take their vow to protect the nation as opposed to a government very seriously.

It's going to get even more violent when booster mandates come it.

Boris Johnson is in trouble within his own party for the vaccine passport. The British don't seem to be standing for it.

Major unrest to happen around Europe over the next 2 months. Rising fuel prices. Inflation. Potential Ukrainian refugee crisis.

The next 6 months are going to be wild.

PTH2009

Will we see new 'rules come it's for specific days/nights in the hospitality industry

7pm close for all establishments on Xmas eve/Stephens Day/NYE and NYD

NPHET can think up of an excuse for it. 'Blah blah variant emerges blah blah'

SusieBlue

According to a report shared by TD Michael McNamara, suicide figures for the second quarter of 2021 are up 192% on the same time period in 2020. 78% of these deaths were males.

192%. Those figures are absolutely frightening. Why is no one else talking about this, why am I only hearing about this on Twitter?

And the worst part is, this is probably only the start of it. The secondary deaths from these lockdowns and restrictions are going to far surpass the deaths with covid. And you can be damn sure that the majority of those deaths won’t be people above the average life expectancy either.

When the inevitable tribunals and investigations conclude on the management of the pandemic in the future, I will sleep well knowing I called this BS out for what it was from the beginning.

Meanwhile we will have to continue to suffer through this nightmare until Leo rides in on his white horse next year to save the day. I don’t even like him or FG but I recognise now that they are our only hope of getting out of this mess.

MM is the worst leader in the history of our country, and nothing will change about our approach of extreme caution until someone with the balls to stand up to NPHET takes charge.

Penfailed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118311974#Comment_118311974

I really can't see the need for you to make up random scenarios in your head and then share them with the rest of us. It's getting weird at this stage.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312024#Comment_118312024

Except it was misrepresentation, or lies in other words. 2020 was a low year in lockdown. 2021 was back where it was in the preceding years

Hellrazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312208#Comment_118312208

More lies from useless Ministers - Same quarter in 2018 was 63. In 2019 it was 104.

In 2020 there were 25 deaths and this year its 73.

These ministers will do anything to get publicity.

2020 was a blip in the figures and cant really be compared to 2021 - they should be comparing it with 2019 where the headline would read "Suicide rate keeps falling with suicides down 70% but thats not dramatic enough for him.

Real Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118311500#Comment_118311500

Indeed, the covid faithful go all silent when you present them with facts, they don't seem to like it very much.

Wolf359f

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312932#Comment_118312932

Guess you can always look at excess mortality to stop under/over reporting of covid deaths.

M_Murphy57

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312024#Comment_118312024

Agree word for word.

SusieBlue

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312208#Comment_118312208

The only articles I can find say suicides were down 20% over all last year. I actually distinctly remember certain posters on this thread triumphantly using it as proof there was nothing to see here regarding mental health issues caused by lockdowns and that it was much ado about nothing.

So if suicides were down 20% over all in 2020 and we’ve had a 192% increase since then, that’s still quite alarming.

And it’s still quite a bit higher than the 2019 figures and the years before that.

Surely if we’re interested in saving lives here, even a small increase on figures is worrying, and urgent action should be taken? Where is the abundance of caution for this issue?

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118314297#Comment_118314297

Was it not a 30% drop in 2021 based on 2019 figures, 2020 will always be taken out of any statistical data in the future (even Ireland death rates were down as the deaths from the Christmas wave occurred in January/February.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118311974#Comment_118311974

If they were smart they'd be trying to convince people to go to the pub instead of attending house parties... They ain't smart though are they?

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312024#Comment_118312024

I'm not a Micheal Martin fan by any stretch of the imagination but would you really consider him worse than Brian Cowen?

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118315862#Comment_118315862

Cowen was certainly no prize, but to be fair to him he was thrown under the bus by Bertie who has since managed to rehabilitate himself to the point of radio commentary fairly regularly on the likes of Newstalk.

Enda Kenny is certainly worse as he had a once-in-a-generation chance to actually reform politics in this country and a mandate from the electorate to do it - but squandered it for his lot's turn at the trough. We can also thank him for the current and previous Government - ineffectual and weak - because of his crusade to be the only FG Taoiseach to get (ie: negotiate in back-room deals with the likes of Zappone and Shane Ross) a second term.

Micheal is similar in that sense in that his only goal was to not be the odd-one-out FF leader NOT to be Taoiseach, but with no other plan or agenda beyond that. He is the classic bureaucrat who has failed upwards through inertia and no better options, but all 3 were disastrous for this country in their own ways.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118315925#Comment_118315925

Have to hand it to you... Good analogy

PTH2009

Will 2022 be a year of caution ?

Best Christmas present the Irish people will ever get would be the disbandment of NPHET with a new task force created incorporating other aspects ie Economics etc

Another Quarter/2 quarters of a year been disturbed is just not good enough anymore

tommybrees

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118308250#Comment_118308250

I'd rather have been in florida for the past 2 years than ireland.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118315862#Comment_118315862

Cut from the same cloth. Both had a huge hand in the crash and ruination of peoples lives. Martin has personally contributed to the **** show of the HSE. Martin now doing his best to drive the country into another financial meltdown.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118316465#Comment_118316465

I have a feeling we won't see any changes until Micheal steps down for the reasons I referred to above. He's a bureaucrat, an administrator, not a leader. His own party acknowledge his (over) reliance on reports and recommendations of others. It's why Holohan and NPHET has been so effective in controlling not just the approach but the narrative. Micheal has achieved his one and only goal. He won't run in the next election. He'll take the pension(s) and retire at our expense.

Leo of course is no leader either, but he is obsessed with and driven solely by what is good for Leo. He has no agenda either beyond furthering his personal profile and future prospects - but he is therefore more sensitive to the mood of the electorate and FG's business friends, and with the growing dissatisfaction there in both camps, Leo will do what he perceives will benefit him most and will push back against NPHET and Tony (who have embarrassed him enough in his favourite playground - the media - over the last 18 months) to curry favour with both groups - especially with recent polling results showing an alarming (for them) slump in FG support and Leo himself! Worse, this support is going to SF and no FGer wants that (which is about the only thing I agree with them on).

Until then though, I fear we have another 6-9 months of this ahead. Leo isn't due to take over until this time next year but will be readying the changes before that.

Richard Hillman

Looking like the below 40s will all be offered the booster before Christmas or around then. Government saying 1.5m will receive boosters before Christmas. Covering all vulnerable areas.

There can be no justifications for restrictions in January. Micheal Martin saying there was a lack of enthusiasm for the boosters sounded strategic. The HSE said that a couple of weeks ago but was debunked early. He still went with it, even though he knew their were massive issues in regard to People being double/triple booked for appointments. It was well highlighted. He couldn't have not known.

So in this case, all of the vulnerable cohorts will have their booster and will have kicked in before Christmas.

They cannot justify any restrictions in January, let alone increasing them. Unless they are waiting for the Over 80s to get booster 2. They should be due them in February.

There just doesn't seem like an out-plan. It was February last year when Leo Varadkar were telling us of this "Living with Covid" plan to be issued. Which I don't think was ever released.

I think the following things need to be addressed and addressed quickly:

1. The end of emergency legislation

2. The disbandment of NPHET

3. A target date for the end of vaccine passports

4. The day of zero restrictions

5. The deletion of any legislation in the background to be able to instantly impose restrictions again.

robfowler78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118316587#Comment_118316587

No chance of any of that happening anytime soon.

Whatsisname

So after many months of no restrictions here in England, they've reintroduced masks and introduced vaccine passports for large scale events. They also announced today that you will need your booster or else your pass expires. Theres been plans revealed for a permanent booster programme costing £5b per year. The glorified NHS has been told to put vaccinations as priority while cancer patients go on the back burner. This is absolutely lunacy. The acceleration and aggression in this vaccine push is out of hand. Articles are coming out about how the unvaccinated will need to "come clean" to employers if they need to self isolate. "Come clean"? what kind of deranged language is that? I would not be surprised if vaccines become mandatory here soon after the vaccine passports creep their way down into every establishment.

I just don't see how this ends anymore. People are too far gone. Openly calling for the segregation and punishment of others. Wishing death on those who won't do what they want them to do. I thought when boosters started becoming mandatory to keep passes people would start questioning the end goal here, some thankfully are, but it seems most are still going along with it. Will it be after the 4th? the 5th? the 6th? I don't know. Governments have done one hell of a divide and conquer job on us.

We're essentially trapped in a 6 month societal subscription service by governments bought out by big pharma.

robfowler78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118316694#Comment_118316694

And to think when this all started we wouldn’t under any circumstances segregate people as in isolate the vulnerable and elderly we were all in it together. Seems the 2yrs have changed a lot of peoples ideals. I’m double vaccinated and will get a booster but I still think we shouldn’t be segregating people and punishing people because the choose not to have a vaccination.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118316723#Comment_118316723

I genuinely don't see the point of a booster if it makes no change to how we live. It certainly makes no difference to me personally. I took the original 2 primarily on the basis of it being the road to normality. That didn't happen and now we're being asked to line up again - perhaps indefinitely.

The "vulnerable" need to take responsibility for their own welfare based on their individual level of risk and circumstances. Let's face it, anyone at real risk from CV-19 is likely also at risk from a host of other things they should be/likely are protecting themselves from. This notion of making everyone else responsible and/or shifting that responsibility/blame among different groups periodically needs to end.

But because the Irish people as a whole are among the most docile and servile on the planet (it seems), change certainly won't come easy!

Be in lockdown again from the 30th of December. Enjoy the Christmas folks.

850,000 expected from abroad.

M_Murphy57

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118316772#Comment_118316772

850000 people who are mostly vaccinated and have all tested negative for covid ?

What would I have to fear from anyone with a covid cert and a recent negative test?

Or do tests not work either?