QUOTES OF THE WEEK
■ “First day with no reported Covid-19 deaths since March 21. This is a day of hope. We will prevail.” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the welcome news of no new fatalities as a “significant milestone”.
■ “Disregard for public health norms in a pandemic was unacceptable and there is no room for self-dispensation from or self-interpretation of the norms”.
Dr Diarmuid Martin warns churches not to jump the queue and put everyone at risk by breaking lockdown restrictions on public Masses.
■ “It has unfairly tarnished my reputation and good name. In the space of 48 hours after it hit the news last July, every show or concert I was booked for was cancelled.”
Comedian Sil Fox (87) tells of his ‘months of hell’ after he was cleared of sex assault on a woman in a pub.
■ “One-metre social distancing could result in up to four times more transmission because there will be a higher concentration of droplets which allow the virus to spread.”
Professor Samuel McConkey on reducing the social distancing guidelines.
■ “It’s very, very important that our medical officers and scientific advisers do not get dragged into what I think most people would recognise is fundamentally a political argument.”
Boris Johnson won’t allow advisers Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance to answer questions about Dominic Cummings.
■ “The only question that would’ve mattered to me as prime minister is ‘is this going to make it less likely that other people will comply with the rules?’”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer reiterates he would have sacked Mr Cummings if he was prime minister.
■ “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” President Donald Trump tweets about protests in Minneapolis after the death of a black man in police custody.
■ “This tweet violated the Twitter rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
Twitter’s warning label hiding the tweet from view.
■ “As we reopen the economy, there is broad consensus across the political and economic spectrum, the furlough scheme cannot continue indefinitely.”
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirms that employers must start paying towards the wages of furloughed staff from August.
■ “I’m not trying at all to cramp anyone’s fun this weekend, I really do want everyone to enjoy these changes, because all of you have more than earned it, but I am asking you to please do so responsibly.” Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the partial lifting of lockdown.