Lockdown rules must apply equally and to all

I UNEQUIVOCALLY condemn the murder of George Floyd because a police officer pressed a knee into his neck in Minneapolis, resulting in his death and witnessed by millions globally.

But I ask whether we should really be protesting in Dublin about police brutality and racism in the USA, at risk of widespread non-compliance with Covid19 prevention regulations.

Why didn’t gardaí intervene? Why did gardaí fail to enforce Covid-19 regulations on public gatherings? Who gave permission for this demonstration to take place?

Before we start protesting about racism and police brutality in the USA, we need to get our own house in order and stop putting the lives of Irish citizens at

risk with large public gatherings that threaten to assist the spread of the viral menace plaguing our times.

We seriously need to reflect. Do we have regulations to keep us safe during a pandemic? Are we all to abide with these regulations? If they are not enforced equitably, what’s the point?

If this type of disregard for the current efforts to restrain Covid-19 is to continue, we might as well just let the virus take its natural course and dispense with the regulations with the catastrophic consequences that may bring.

We absolutely need to continue to unambiguously condemn racism.

There is a certain incongruity at play here, however. Let’s all protest about one rancid social issue – racism – whilst not risking the health and wellbeing of many citizens at the same time.

Paul Horan

Trinity College, Dublin