They’re looking for volunteers: 1,112 volunteers, to be precise. Half will be given the vaccine, half won’t. They’ll check back in a few months and see how many from group A got the virus, compared to how many from group B. What’s interesting about this are the ethical questions involved. Obviously, the greatest good for […]
An absolutely astonishing report in the Irish Times this morning. No, scratch that. A report in the Irish Times that really should be astonishing, but of course, isn’t: Senior figures in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil believe they can progress to negotiations on a coalition government with the Green Party on the basis of the […]
“A change in scientific opinion”, trumpets the Irish Times: “Pressure has increased on the Government to require that face masks be worn routinely by the public to contain the Covid-19 virus, in line with a change in scientific opinion in favour of the measure. Scientists and TDs have called for the change based on indication […]
Just under a week after RTE’s veteran reporter, Tommie Gorman, told the viewing public that Ireland was doing so well compared to Britain because the English “lacked people of the stature of Tony Holohan and Paul Reid”, RTE is getting a treat from the Government. What a good boy: GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE of public service […]
Caution, Caution, Caution – pretty much how you should respond to any news about Coronavirus these days, because the simple fact is that there’s so much we don’t know. And probably the biggest thing we don’t know is this: How many people are actually infected, and don’t know, and have never been tested, because they […]
One of the stranger little Coronavirus culture wars that’s been ongoing in recent months has been the great struggle between those who are convinced that Hydroxychloroquine, a medicine usually used to treat Malaria, is an effective treatment for Covid 19, and those that aren’t. Much like all the great culture war fights of our time, […]
I haven’t written much about Keelings here mainly because I’m a bit of a heretic on the subject, and my views on the underlying issue are totally at odds with those of Ben, and, let’s face it, most of you, the readers. But my own views on the matter aren’t that important. What’s more important […]
77 deaths were reported in Ireland yesterday, comfortably our highest daily total, and, on a per capita basis, almost twice as many deaths per head of population yesterday as reported in the United Kingdom. Their death rate is slowing; ours is accelerating. Amateur statistician Keith Mills has the figures: Following today's awful Irish news, we […]
In light of the Irish media’s widespread praise for yesterday’s Sunday Times article outlining the failures of the British Government, it might be worth taking a look at events in a similar timeframe closer to home. “38 days when Britain sleepwalked into disaster”, was the headline of the Sunday Times piece. Here’s what was happening […]
Alcohol Action Ireland has a name that makes you think it’s run by, and operated by, concerned citizens who are worried about the public health risks of too much drinking. When it appears in the media, as it did yesterday, you, the ordinary person, are supposed to think that you’re hearing from a group of […]
The burdens of high office are great indeed. Yesterday, as the UK media were salivating over a hard-hitting report in the Sunday Times into mistakes made by Boris Johnson’s Government, Ireland’s flagship Sunday Newspaper was publishing this interview with Simon Harris. Behold, the standard of questioning Irish politicians can expect to face, these days: Two […]
They’re averaging 2000 deaths a day, and five million new job losses a week, now. Here are the numbers for this week alone: "The modest decline in initial jobless claims to 5,508,500 last week, from 6,615,000, means that the unemployment rate is now on track to hit somewhere between 15% and 20% in April, well […]