Next government faces being most unpopular in history of State
THE community spirit and national solidarity that has emerged in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic may have clouded our judgment as a country.
Yes, it has been heart-warming to see the nation come together to battle what Simon Harris calls the “disgusting virus”. And it is good to hope for a chink of light at the end of the dark Covid tunnel. But the reality is we are nowhere near returning to normality.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said one of the things he misses most since the country went into lockdown is a nice cold pint.
But Varadkar knows this will not be happening any time soon and when he does it will probably cost him around €10 a drink and it will be served to him by an employee on a very low wage who has seen most of their colleagues laid off.
The Government’s roadmap for reopening the country charts a path out of lockdown leading up to August or September. At this point, people will be freer to move around their communities and possibly further a field. But the economic damage of the lockdown will continue for years to come.
Unemployment will remain high until a vaccine is produced and administered to most of the population. Some estimates say it could be around 15pc for years to come.
Meanwhile, the science behind producing these vaccines takes time and there is no timetable for when one will be safe enough to be rolled out.
Even when there is, who knows how fast pharmaceutical companies will be able to produce it. There will also be global competition for the vaccine and, just as we have seen with personal protective equipment, countries will outbid each other to ensure their citizens get it first. There is no doubt we are looking at a national crisis far worse than the financial crash or even the 1980s recession.
The main reason being there is no escape route. Practically every other nation is facing into the same economic cesspit meaning there is nowhere for our young people to emigrate to. After the crash our friends and relatives started new lives in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.
This time they will remain here and compete for the few opportunities available to them while the world recovers from the pandemic. They will naturally feel aggrieved that their futures have been paused after they made sacrifices to protect older generations.
Even before the virus, young people felt disenfranchised due to the lack of housing and the cost of living in our cities. They will now become downright angry and you can be sure there will be political parties waiting with open arms to capitalise on that fury.
The next government will be one of the most deeply unpopular administrations since the foundation of the State.
They will face waves of protest and discontent as the public lashes out. This time around we didn’t all party or buy apartments in Bulgaria.
Everybody actually pulled together and did as much as they could to stop the spread of the virus by shutting down their businesses and staying indoors. Those who are courageous enough to try to govern this country over the next five years must be fully aware of what they are facing into and how unpopular they will be by the end of it.
The next government will not have the luxury of introducing policies aimed at making ideological changes to society. Instead it will be a constant fire-fight. It will have to restore our economy by getting people back to work while making sure we do not succumb to another wave of the virus.