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

Pat Kenny banging the "keep the masks on" drum again this morning.

He's the chief medical officer, the only way out of that job is retirement, he's likely to be part of the new smaller group in his capacity as CMO

I thought I imagined that he actually said that! Comparing it to the last soldiers killed in WWI before the Armistice. Idiot.

I thought I was the only one who got that......thanks

Indeed it was just a piece of cloth.

Funny that just a piece of cloth inspired a load of bed wetting over a purported "loss of freedom" and other nonsense about ruined lives etc.

When it was required to wear a mask, I wore one. When it no longer is I won't. I didn't go around like an entitled arse without one when they were required but equally I'll be happy when they are gone. If anyone wants to continue wearing one after the emergency, then they can feel free to do so.

If there is no longer a public health rationale then it is right that they should go. They shouldn't be retained to address the anxieties of the few. It is the same logic that saw them introduced, that bullshit notions of "liberty" and "freedom" should have prevented their use as a public health measure.

It's a bit of a strange one as the position lacks logic. If the person has been unable to interact with others due to the pandemic, particularly over the last 6 months, then the retention of public health measures wouldn't change that. They would still feel the need to shield.

The only argument is that it makes these people 'feel' more left out. A small number of people's feelings however are not a good rationale for broad public health measures imo.

The fixation on the €9 meal and it's misrepresentation has been a real low-light of the pandemic. It shows up the level of understanding, the ability to comprehend something slightly more complex than a basic idea or ignorance that many people have. Then there were those that understand but wilfully misrepresent.

As has been explained countless times it was a threshold limit that sets apart the so called "wet-pubs" and pub-restaurants. It was implemented so that pubs couldn't start selling plates of tayto and calling themselves restaurants to get around the rules. That's it. That simple. It was a crude measure that was used to allow the more controlled settings such as restaurants to open while keeping less ones, like pubs that just serve drinks and light refreshments closed.

Ah yes cause its well know you couldn't catch Covid in a pub that served food but you could in a pub that served just alcohol. Hence why certain rules they made up were just nonsense

Whats the difference between tables 2 metres in apart in a pub and tables 2 metres apart in a restaurant?

Superficially nothing. However if you even interrogate the idea at any depth public health felt that in a pub setting that with the consumption of alcohol that adherence to the public health measures would be reduced.

The measure must also be considered in the context of the overall goals of the restrictions. The idea was to reduce the number of contacts that everyone had. While the measures may have seemed arbitrary, the idea was that not all contacts have equal value. It was obvious that industries that were less important to the overall functioning of the country were closed for the longest in order to keep contacts suppressed. IE pubs were closed so schools could open.

This shouldn't need to be explained to you, this was discussed in depth for months.

More likely to catch it in an uncontrolled setting, so they closed the controlled settings and pushed people into uncontrolled settings. Thats NPHET for you.

Mental gymnastics? The point of all the restrictions on socialisation was to reduce the number of contacts. There is an argument about the fairness of the measures but the simple fact is the €9 requirement resulted in the closure of half of pubs. This consequently reduced socialisation. And no, not everyone went to house parties instead. Most just didn't go out.

If we learned anything, is that there are a cohort of people out there that believe that the government is out to get them and that they are incapable understanding policy at any level - no matter how much it's explained to them. What they will take and accept though are glib Facebook posts by people with an agenda. oh they have it right...

You were less likely to be falling about the place off your head if you were forced to buy a €9 meal and be out in 1h45m. Also you were less likely to go on a pub crawl. Sadly you were more likely to go to a house party after the pub, at 11 o clock etc etc

Back in May 2020 NPHET wanted restaurants to open but the govt pushed ahead with the €9 meal in any pub to appease publicans. In hindsight they might have not delayed the reopening of pubs 3 weeks later (6 weeks, 9 weeks, 12 weeks etc etc) if the govt stuck to the plan