Covid 19 Part XXXV-956,720 ROI (5,952 deaths) 452,946 NI (3,002 deaths) (08/01) Read OP

So if the Austrians can and have done it, why can't we organise EP or the Dublin marathon in c. 2 months time? I suppose in Ireland we frown upon antigen testing so it wouldn't be a runner here due to NPHETs anti science stance on antigen testing.

Also what was the level of cases out of the euros and how many died etc?

We really weren't. Leo hoped it would be for six weeks and it was about 8 weeks when we began easing things. Granted it took two months for it to unwind.

The only issue is that nobody has said what the way out is and when . It's all very vague .

From the noises they have been making, an announcement is likely this month. My guess is towards the end of this month.

Did Laois CC have any other choice? The power to grant licences for large outdoor events is a local government power however currently it is effectively ring-fenced to central government only as they have dictated a 500 limit on all outdoor events and the only way to circumvent that is to apply/lobby directly to central government for an exemption to get on to the "pilot" list. It's another example of central government over-reach, this time by undermining local government powers.

As there is no plan to change the 500 limit, at least not in the public domain, Laois CC had no choice but to decline the license.

They have in general got it right but were too slow introducing many measures like MQ. We are in a very good position now better than most.

@namloc1980 wrote:

Fair enough, I didn't know that. I assumed they had the powers to at least grant something conditionally or perhaps defer the decision to a later date. This may be a small bit of theatre on the part of LCC and EP to force the Govt to talk to them about it.

@Lumen wrote:

Yeah the DES flagged this last month that they would be going with the covid protocols as usual in September regardless of the prevailing guidelines. On one hand you get the feeling that they just didn't want to have to do any work over the Summer looking at ways to open up further vis-a-vis extracurricular activites, etc. But on the other hand, they made such an omnishambles of it last year that maybe they're just taking the safer option and are aiming for a return to normality for Term 2.

Thats the same point I'm trying to make, except that 12-18 are already such a miniscule amount of hospitalisations, we dont really benefit at all from vaccinating them, in terms of hospital stats. So waiting until we've vaccinated them is pointless really - we've hit diminishing returns already.

By all means let them choose to get vaccinated, but our reopening should not be dependent on it.

A number of years ago we passed a Children's Rights amendment into the constitution and we patted ourselves on the back about how amazing we are in Ireland and how considerate of children we are. And then we absolutely trampled all over them for the last 15 months with our children missing out on huge swathes of their education, closed play centres and playgrounds, cancelled their sports and telling them to stay away from their friends and family members. It'll be a long time before we see the extent of the damage caused to our young people.

Colm Henry pointed out today that the conversion rate from cases to hospitalisation has decreased due to the vaccination rates. all good news and in a few weeks we will be on a much better side of this pandemic says Paul Reid.

I know the sentiment is coming from the right place but I honestly do an eye roll every time I hear the phrase "just a few more weeks" at this stage. Easily my most hated phrase out of all this, even ahead of "wet pubs".

Hang on.

"if they havent caught covid by now they will never catch it"

That's not how it works unfortunately.

So now it's mid September before we can expect to see these restrictions "loosened". Which is another 6 weeks really.

6 weeks to flatten curve lads. Please forget the dozens of 2 week periods that led to this point, we really mean it this time.

6 million vaccines administered and still the same horseshit, you need to be a right clown to think anything is going to change.