Letter from the Editor
ONE of the things I’ve always liked about the Sunday Independent is that it is a paper that reaches into all parts of Ireland - and it sells accordingly. When I read Breandan Mac Suibhne’s fascinating account of a 1961 encounter between a priest and a shopkeeper in Ardara, Co Donegal, it made me wonder how many copies of the paper we send each week to that fine little heritage town. I suspect the answer this week will be, “not enough”, such is the vividness of Breandan’s piece. You’ll find it on page 27.
Lucinda O’Sullivan is another writer who has always found stories of splendour beyond the Pale. There is nobody, surely, who has a greater knowledge of the Irish food industry in all its guises. When she suggested a new column that could highlight how restaurants and food producers are stepping up to the plate at this terribly challenging time, there could only be one response — “Go ahead and write it!” The result is Foodies Fight Back, a rallying name for a new weekly feature that celebrates innovation. Lucinda will bring you the best of the latest offerings all around the country — see page 18.
On Friday evening, finally, we were given the Government’s road map out of the coronavirus crisis. Before Leo Varadkar stepped up the microphone, there had been plenty of leaks about a two-week extension of almost all aspects of the lockdown, so the detailed, five-stage plan that followed came as something of a surprise. What happened behind the scenes, before the announcement was made? Read the in-depth report by Hugh O’Connell and Maeve Sheehan on pages 10-11.
The response to the plan was always going to divide public opinion and our writers have plenty to say about it across this week’s news section. Suffice to say they’re very much divided too — that’s as it should be.
Conor Skehan, who wrote compellingly in these pages three weeks ago about how to press the restart button, gives his verdict on page 8. He urges caution and says we will distinguish ourselves if we’re among the last to leave the lockdown. That view is challenged by other writers. Dan O’Brien, for one, warns that extending the lockdown will only deepen an economic collapse that threatens to make 2008 recession look like a blip. There’s more of course, much more. Thanks for reading and take care.
Alan English, Editor