Let’s get Ireland back in business for good of economy & our health
We need to talk about reopening the country because at the moment it feels like we are very slowly and really carefully walking off a cliff. It looks like we have done a very good job of containing Covid-19, unless there’s something we haven’t been told or this damn virus has yet another way of doing damage.
And we can be proud that as a country and in our communities, from our health experts and frontline workers to harassed parents and worried employees and business owners, we have seen unity and responsibility.
But we have to start talking now about what happens next with our economy – with jobs, with the mental health of people who have been isolated, anxious and fearful for months.
This is not just about jobs and the economy – although you could argue it’s not enough to survive, we have to be able to thrive.
It’s also about our national mental health, for the kids and parents who’ve been virtual prisoners, for the teens who’ve seen all semblance of normal life stop, for the grandparents who’ve been without family for so long.
The danger is we have become dependent on staying inside the cocoon, that fear will rule our decisions, that we become literally too scared to go outside.
And there’s also the danger that anybody who questions what looks like a very conservative and slow return to normality is shouted down, labelled a menace or a maniac.
It’s very easy to say: “If it saves one life, it will be worth it.” But what if we are condemning the country to yet another economic crash – the second in little over a decade – with austerity, emigration and the denial of the promise of yet another generation?
How many lives are ruined then? How many working communities are left struggling to build any kind of future?
Sure, you can call people – like me – Barstool Experts, although it’s hard to be a barstool expert when all the bars are closed.
But we can look at what’s happening across Europe, in the countries that were ahead of us with the spread of infections and what they are doing right now.
We are not a special case. We can be led by expert advice but also take the best examples of others – not our nearest neighbours, though.
The easy thing now is for Leo Varadkar and the politicians to take the lowest possible risk approach. You can’t make mistakes if you take no chances.
We have to be brave and get going again. This is about salvaging what we can from 2020 and giving us the chance to come fighting back hard in 2021.
We have to start talking now about what happens next