We can’t win this war without bringing everyone on board
MARY LOU MCDONALD needs to stop the blather and the blatant fluttering of her political charms in the direction of young people. This week, she accused the Government of treating the young as a ‘nuisance, a threat and a problem’, following its decision to maintain the ban on indoor dining and drinking.
She railed against the suggestion that would have young people serving meals to their fully-vaccinated elders while not being able to sit down themselves at the end of their shifts and enjoy a bite to eat, and maybe a scoop to wash it down.
The Sinn Féin leader said young people had been treated in a dismissive manner, their style cramped by having to study via Zoom in their bedrooms and their entertainment trimmed by lack of facilities and amenities, despite being promised an ‘outdoor summer’.
Obviously, Mary Lou hasn’t seen how young people have been letting rip in places like Killarney over the past few weekends – not the carry-on of the downtrodden and that’s for sure.
While concerned about discrimination towards the young, she didn’t mention how older people had been forced to cocoon, separated from the families and grandkids and, most egregious of all, suffered the vast majority of the deaths – away from loved ones in their final moments and zipped up on-the-double in body bags.
McDonald’s opposition for opposition’s sake has characterised the fractured political response to this dreadful Covid disaster that has already claimed 5,000 lives.
Blame for that absence of a unified political reaction does not, however, rest solely, or even mainly, with McDonald – that distinction goes to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and his two amigos.
It was obvious from the start of this pandemic that the State, for all practical purposes, had to be put on a war footing. Since then vast sums of money have been spent and by the time this crisis ends about €40bn will be added to our national debt.
Despite all that, Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar failed to see the need for a formal involvement of the opposition in the State’s campaign against Covid. McDonald, Alan Kelly, representatives from the Social Democrats, left TDs and independents (if they could agree) should have been invited to join a properly resourced, high-powered group with the leaders of the Coalition to fine-tune the State’s initiatives and responses as the virus made repeated attacks. This would have included NPHET briefings.
SUCH structured opposition ‘buy-in’ would have avoided this week’s the self-maiming, carping criticisms of the Government’s Covid strategy arising from NPHET’s overwhelmingly pessimistic forecasts as the more infectious Delta variant becomes dominant.
McDonald, Kelly and Roisín Shorthall would, if involved properly in shaping policy, have had to confront the risk of another 2,000 deaths in a matter of weeks. They would have been forced to balance that horrifying prospect against a few more weeks of pubs remaining shut as the vaccine programme races to head-off a spike in infections, as is happening in Scotland.
Despite over 50% of its population being fully vaccinated (about 5% more than us) Scotland recorded the highest number of daily infections, 4,234, this week since the start of the pandemic. All the indications are that we are in for the same torment.
A few extra weeks will allow for up to one million more jabs in arms but crucially, also, it will make clear – from experience in Scotland and elsewhere – whether vaccines have broken the link has between infections and hospitalisations.
The signs are good. This week Scotland had 275 Covid patients in hospitals despite the surge in infections. If that trend continues then vaccinations will be proven to have provided our pathway to freedom.
McDonald’s constant picking of holes in Government strategy is an irritation that could and should have been avoided by Mr Martin pulling her and others into the tent. It isn’t the way to manage a war.