It is remarkable what politicians and political campaigners can get away with, when journalists fail to call them to account – and nowhere is this more evident than around the issue of abortion. In the abortion referendum in 2018, pro-choice campaigners were allowed to create the impression that legalising abortion was a women’s health issue, […]
What is ‘Excess Deaths’? The Excess Deaths statistic estimates the total mortality impact of a disease on a society. Excess Deaths tells us how many people died in excess of the number we would normally have expected over the same time period. It’s like the ‘real’ metrics that remove the effect of inflation from the observed economic […]
The government has now introduced a return to many Covid-19 restrictions. But what do the numbers actually show about how deadly Coronavirus has been for Ireland? On July 3rd, the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) acknowledged that Coronavirus fatalities in Ireland were overestimated by 60%. A Central Statistics Office report published on the same day proved […]
They’ve all gone mad, haven’t they? Just think: there’s an alternative universe out there somewhere in which Fianna Fáil members had sense and told Micheál Martin that going into coalition was a dumb idea. In that universe, Dara Calleary is presently leader of Fianna Fáil, and leader of the opposition, watching his poll numbers grow […]
On Tuesday, the Irish government, at the recommendation of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), announced a series of new measures to limit the spread of Covid-19 and to minimize its impact on vulnerable groups. Few would dispute that Covid-19 poses a serious threat to our health and well-being, and that an intelligent and […]
In a combative RTÉ drivetime interview today, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has called on the Irish government to include countries like Germany and the UK in its “Green List” for international travel. “We’re talking about adding countries to Ireland’s Green List that have lower covid case rates than Ireland. You’re in greater danger of contracting […]
Five months ago as the coronavirus pandemic kicked into swing I wrote that the narrative around flattening the curve or getting to zero versus herd immunity provided no clarity on where Ireland was going with its response. Five months later we are none the wiser. The government introduces new measures, a knee-jerk reaction, to an […]
They should really have extended this invitation to the Taoiseach, too, since he’s the one who made the decision: Following this evening’s unexpected announcement the GAA invites Dr Ronan Glynn and NPHET to present the empirical evidence which informed the requirement for the Association to curtail its activities. The Association will tonight be issuing an […]
I do not recall hearing of any Bacchanalian scenes at the many sports events held over last weekend, but it would seem that the outrage expressed at such behaviour in the Berlin Bar on Dame Lane has been one of the factors in a notable tightening of restrictions connected to the Coronavirus panic. Of course, neither the […]
If you’ve been on Irish Twitter in the last week or so, you may have seen the viral clip of Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan pillorying Fine Gael senator Barry Ward for his gender and skin colour, like the true anti-racist, non-sexist, egalitarian socialist that she is. While debating the wording of a government bill on […]
Two places, two very different situations, and it’s worth talking about. First, Ireland: Nphet recommendations ahead of today’s cabinet meeting: 🔸Older people asked to limit time outdoors, avoid congregated settings. 🔸Family gatherings reduced to six per house indoors, 15 outdoors. 🔸People asked to work from home if they can. https://t.co/4kGSr0MRkQ — Philip Ryan (@Philip_Ryan) August […]
Save it from what, exactly? Former RTE reporter Charlie Bird has made an impassioned plea about the future of the national broadcaster, saying it is time people ‘got up off their backsides’ to highlight its precarious state. He was commenting after the publication of a briefing document to Catherine Martin, the Minister for Media, which […]