Plea to get flu jab over fears of burden to health system
■ Kinahan bagman Morrissey bragged about guns in video ■ Launderer and wife partied with TV stars in Spain
THE public “really need to worry” about getting their flu vaccines over fears the health service will buckle under the ‘twindemic’ expected to come, a top pharmacist has warned.
A combination of Covid-19 and the Winter flu will batter Ireland in the months ahead, trends suggest.
But three in five Irish adults claim they are not concerned about the winter flu season, a LloydsPharmacy research found.
It follows the latest trends in Australia where the winter flu combined with Covid-19 led to a difficult winter for the health service.
This year, Australia saw the flu virus affecting all age groups, and not just the elderly or vulnerable.
Risk
LloydsPharmacy research showed 71 per cent of Irish adults aged 35 to 44 intend to either not go for flu vaccination or are still unsure, despite the evidence of the flu vaccination playing a vital role in keeping people well and healthy during the tough winter months.
Rebecca Barry, supervising pharmacist with LloydsPharmacy, said:
“It is often observed that winter flu difficulties experienced in Australia are replicated across Europe in the months that follow.
“People really need to worry about getting their flu vaccines due to the noteworthy stress the health system in Australia has been under due to the twindemic. They shouldn’t be complacent.”
HERE is suspected Kinahan “enforcer” Johnny Morrissey bragging about his shooting skills in a series of videos made before his sensational arrest.
Footage seen by The Star shows alleged mobster Morrissey (62), who was arrested by Spanish cops last week, showing off for the camera with a series of handguns and an assault rifle — years before officers finally caught up with him.
In the videos, the man described by the US Treasury Department as one of seven of the main mobsters in the Kinahan cartel, tries to make himself look like a great gunman — as he fires off several rounds at his Spanish-based shooting range and brags about his knowledge.
“That’s with your Winchester magnum. Look at the size of them,” the bald gangster boasts as he holds up bullets to the camera.
Later in one of the videos he shows off a Glock, which he pulls from the front of his trousers to show how to “conceal” it.
“This is a concealed
Glock.
“That’s your conceal for close quarters,” he says.
The gangster, who
Spanish police say laundered a massive
€350,000 a day for the cartel, boasts that he fired off several rounds in just over a minute.
“All them weapons, the whole lot taking it easy that was just over one minute.”
And further footage unearthed of the thug, who sources say believed himself to be “untouchable” — give a rare insight into his life of luxury and lavish tastes.
The gang boss and Irish passport holder, whose Malaga-based mansion was adorned with sculptures, is also seen in a video speaking with well known sculptor Jonathan Wylder last year.
Praise
In the lengthy footage, a well-dressed Morrissey, who thought of himself like a Roman emperor, heaps praise on Wylder.
And the daft criminal, dubbed “Johnny Cash”, even asks the sculptor to make a bust of him.
But the vain mobster admits that he didn’t like a sketch drawn of him earlier on — as he feels he looks too fat.
“In the photo my face is always fatter and I’m trying to lose some weight and when you do a sketch it’s like my face is this big,” Morrissey moans to Mr Wylder.
Mr Wylder, who has no connection to crime, then suggests making a Romanlike bust of Morrissey — and praises him as a ”big” and “strong” man.
“Honestly you’re big and strong. Let’s do something with your strong face, bring in some jawline but you’ve got these massive big shoulders, just pump them up a bit.
“A bust with a big chest…and do it like the roman sculptures” he tells Morrissey in the video.
Never-before-seen pictures also show Morrissey’s champagne lifestyle as he hangs out with pals in a limousine and at parties across Spain and Scotland.
He and wife Nicola are also seen in snaps promoting their Nero vodka brand alongside
TV stars Michelle Keegan and Will Mellor.
Pictures also reveal
Morrissey’s flashy wedding at a five star castle near Edinburgh.
Morrissey, seen wearing a kilt, stands next to wife Nicola, who was also arrested last week — as they lived it up on their special day in Dundas castle in 2016.
Nicola was released after a court appearance on Wednesday. She is thought to have been freed on bail and remains under investigation.
Bolthole
But last week their empire came crumbling down — when Spain’s La Guardia Civil, accompanied by a Garda officer, arrested the couple at their bolthole in Malaga.
Spanish cops raided a total of 11 properties as part of their investigation — which also involved gardai and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). Morrissey had been hiding in the relatively small villa after fleeing his seaside mansion earlier this year — when he was formally named by the US authorities.
Morrissey’s arrest is believed to have dealt another blow to the already wounded cartel — and has likely set the Kinahans’ European operations back further.