QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” President Michael D Higgins recalled the battlecry of Corkborn activist Mary ‘Mother’ Jones during a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of the frontline workers who have paid the ultimate price in the Covid-19 epidemic.
“I didn’t have any great difficulty in leaving politics. I was leader of Fine Gael for 15 years... I was an absent husband for all of those years, so now you have a much greater opportunity as a family to appreciate those things and I think that’s really important.” Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny on his decision to leave politics and what prompted his decision to retire.
“So it wasn’t that I was trying to hide my head in the sand and not read bad stuff about myself. It was just that I feel that being so exposed to how my work is received just isn’t good for me as a human being or as a writer.”
Novelist Sally Rooney on the reaction to her novel being turned into a TV drama, Normal People, on RTE and BBC.
“We have good evidence from the genomics research that the virus is not manmade, and the scientific world has very much moved on from this idea. It is unhelpful for high-profile individuals to repeat the debunked conspiracy theories, as it undermines the public health response.”
Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, reacts to Donald Trump’s claim that the coronavirus outbreak could have originated in a Chinese laboratory.
“Heartfelt congratulations @BorisJohnson and @carriesymonds on your wonderful news today. Sam and I are thrilled for you both! Sorry we didn’t leave the cot — but the climbing frame should still be in the garden!”
Former prime minister
David Cameron sends his congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds on the birth of their baby boy.
“The charisma you brought to everything you did was pure magic. Your talent forged the way for so many in so many avenues.” Priyanka Chopra pays tribute to Slumdog Millionaire actor Irrfan Khan after his death at the age of 53.
“In these places, the situation is desperately grave. Some 70 million refugees and displaced people are vulnerable in ways few of us can imagine. Just think for a moment: how do you socially distance in a crowded, sprawling refugee camp? How do you protect yourself, and your family, from this virus when you don’t have basic access to soap and water?”
The Prince of Wales raises concerns for refugees in a video for the International Rescue Committee (IRC)
“If they (the EU) continue to insist on their position on a so-called level playing field and on continuing the Common Fisheries Policy, for example, we are never going to accept that. Draw your own conclusion from that but I hope they will move on.”
A source close to the UK’s Brexit negotiating team.