In fact, by the standards of western, English-speaking democracies, the Irish Government is in a very strong political position, relative to the main opposition.
The traditional case for Irish neutrality is very strong, but it is also based on an anachronism:
Once again, Ireland’s entire NGO and media establishment have shown themselves only too content to look the other way.
For two years, in this country, we let ourselves be blinded to bullshit by people’s titles and qualifications.
The sad thing, of course, is that this story will never, truly, be debunked.
It paints a picture, whether intentional or not, of a closed shop political class whose cultural and economic similarities overcome any superficial policy differences.
Relative obscurity should be the default setting for the Government’s medical advisors. We need to know that they are there in a crisis, but we also need to have the confidence to know that a crisis will pass.
The problem is what we tolerate as a country, repeatedly.
What value, in other words, do we get from RTE? In my own case, and I sorely doubt I am alone, the answer is none.
Yes, the Government could ignore NPHET, on paper. But why would they?
What we have in Ireland is a plainly political lockdown, not a scientific one.
Under President Trump, bad news for the American President was regularly amongst the top stories in Ireland. Under President Biden, who has just had one of the worst weeks in living memory for an American President, such news struggles to make it into the top twenty stories in the Irish media.