It is almost 100 years since the Money Lenders Bill 1929 was introduced in Dáil Eireann. At that time the practice of lending relatively small sums of money to low income or destitute families at extortionate levels of interest was described as “an evil that is almost ineradicable.” The same TD who made those remarks […]
Since the western world re-set its priorities following the Covid-19 outbreak, one of the most noticeable consequences was that the measures taken to stem the disease’s advance had some really interesting, positive, unanticipated, collateral consequences for the environment. It might have seemed that the climate agenda had been shelved in the face of a more […]
Paul Cullen, in the Irish Times, yesterday: There is no evidence to support the wearing of surgical masks by healthcare workers for close patient encounters and staff meetings, according to new official guidance. The guidance was issued by Health Service Executive clinical lead on infection control Prof Martin Cormican in response to moves towards routine […]
Look, that’s a tough headline. But it’s also objectively true. Do you remember this story we wrote here on Gript a few weeks ago? You probably don’t, so here’s a refresher: That was on March 10th. On that day, RTE’s Fergal Bowers reported the following: Department of Health has said that general visiting restrictions […]
There aren’t enough superlatives in the world to express our gratitude for the courage of healthcare professionals who are putting their lives on the line to save others during the Covid-19 pandemic. Doctors are coming out of retirement to work on the frontlines, and nurses and other medics are coming home to fight the good […]
If you’ve only been reading the Irish media, there’s a very good chance you won’t be aware of the mounting row in Brussels over whether or not the EU should issue so-called “Eurobonds” to help countries like Italy (and Ireland, indeed) get through the Covid-19 crisis. There has been some coverage, but not a vast […]
To be honest, after four abortive attempts at an opening paragraph for this story, and given the subject matter, it’s probably best to skip all the messing around and get right into the action: https://twitter.com/fintanwarfield/status/1243612777748594698 A confession: when Senator Warfield (that’s him on the right in the photo) sent that tweet on Friday, my fear […]
A senior Republican politician from Texas sparked a media firestorm this week after suggesting that older people should consider sacrificing their lives for the economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis. Dan Patrick, a former radio talk show host who is now Lieutenant Governor of Texas, made the comments on Monday night while talking to […]
People over 60 are more affected by the coronavirus and most deaths have been of people over 70. With this background, a new study on perceptions of the elderly in the UK makes interesting reading. Attitudes to ageing are overwhelmingly negative, according to a new study by the Centre for Ageing Better, with older people subject to […]
One of the myths being fostered during the virus crisis is that Ireland is pluckily standing on its own two feet, making all of the key decisions regarding protections, and with the economic resources to see us through. The truth is rather different. We are still dependent for some of the protections on items manufactured […]
Italy isn’t singing on the balconies anymore. As time in quarantine goes slowly on, marked by the ticking of our family clock, we are receiving fewer and fewer coronavirus jokes, funny videos, invitations to sing or clap our hands or whatever our fellow countrymen’s fantasy suggested in the first quarantine days. There is very little […]
What kind of mentality observes the global lockdown and horrifying death toll from the Coronavirus and acts as if the real problem is that there might not be enough abortions? At a time when heroic men and women on the frontline are making enormous sacrifices to save lives, abortion supporters are fretting that COVID-19 might be preventing […]