The coalition needs to do better, or we’re in for a long 2021

In November, we were asked to endure a lockdown to ensure as normal a Christmas as possible. This Christmas will be anything but normal. The country is open, yes, but the promise of a threeweek window hangs in the balance while the infection numbers inexorably rise yet again. But for some reason our leaders have decided dilly-dallying is a better response than calling a cabinet meeting and giving an anxious nation the certainty they deserve.

Put plainly, and as we’ve said before, lockdown is a failure of policy. It is not just us who say this, but also the World Health Organisation. It means our health services are at, or are fast approaching, a point where they cannot adequately treat all those who are sick.

When Covid struck from out of nowhere - a once in a century occurrence - the country banded together and staved off the horror we witnessed in Italy in February. Having succeeded beyond all predictions, the nation believed that they had put the ball squarely back in the court of those charged with organising our defence of any second wave. We expected the sacrifices of the early part of the year to be followed with determined action and dedicated policy responses.

This didn’t happen. Despite us now having lived with this killer virus for the past nine months, he reality is we are less prepared now than we were in March. What has been done in that time to make our system more robust - to increase capacity in the public health system, in contract tracing, and in ICU?

The most recent Level 5 restrictions were imposed in response to rising numbers of Covid cases. In mid-November, the Taoiseach acknowledged that lockdown could not go on interminably, telling RTÉ: ‘The fact that we are doing well gives us flexibility… I want a meaningful Christmas, we can’t be at Level 5 forever.’

The previous Levels 2, 3, 3+, or whatever you’re having yourself, failed to sufficiently slow the spread of the virus, so we were returning to Level 5, lockdown on par with March to

June. Those early days now seem like a golden era, when sunshine and heat kept us going.

Now, for most people, the levels have become meaningless – we are either in lockdown or we are not. For those whose businesses are shut, a lower level is little comfort. For everyone else, we are either allowed visit friends and relatives, or we are not. We can shop, or we cannot. We can eat out, or we cannot. We have been infantilised into this stop/go mentality - and as a result the last lockdown saw compliance drop to a level that undermined its entire effectiveness.

The good news is that a vaccine is coming, very likely within days. All healthcare workers are to be vaccinated before the end of February. But even with a successful roll-out - a goal of course that is not guaranteed - we are told the country will not be able to reopen fully until at least the middle of next year.

Now more than ever is the time for leadership. A tired nation wants to do its best - but it must believe in the direction it is being brought. And that its leaders too are pulling their weight. To put it in sporting parlance, the dressing room has been lost. The Covid Coalition in word - and action - must improve or 2021 will be as long, or longer than 2020.

We wish all our readers a safe and happy Christmas. It may be shorn of the usual comforts - but the sentiments of the season mean more this year than others. To those who have lost loved ones, please know we mourn with you - your pain will be forever etched on the soul of the nation.

Nollaig shona daoibh.