The German newspaper Bild, Europe’s best selling newspaper, has put together an itemised ‘invoice’ of nearly €150 billion which it says China owes Germany for the COVID-19 pandemic. The list says that China owes Germany €27 billion for lost tourism revenue, €7.2 billion for the German film industry, and €50 billion for German SMEs. The […]
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 […]
In the week before Easter, Life Institute (for which I am a spokeswoman) launched a campaign seeking to ensure older people would not be denied life-saving care in this crisis, because decisions regarding the allocation of critical care should never be based solely on age. Events since then have given fresh urgency to the initiative. Disturbing […]
As of 17th April, 302 people have died from the virus in community care settings, which is 62% of all Covid-19 deaths, with 253 of those in nursing homes. Each day, we read on the news about how many cases and deaths there have been, how the curve is flattening, and whether we can ease […]
One of the most effective public service messages of the coronavirus pandemic must a musical number by Ugandan artists Bobi Wine and Nubian Li. The reggae-style “Corona Virus Alert” is so catchy it makes hand-washing and staying home seem like the coolest things to do. The latest stats on Uganda show that the country has […]
A Meath West TD says that flights bringing fruit pickers into Ireland should be stopped until the Covid-19 crisis ends. Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said he had submitted questions to the Minister for Enterprise in relation to the arrival of large amounts of agricultural workers to Ireland. He called on the government to end these […]
I remember reading headlines not too long ago, around the beginning of this year, that some virus had broken out in China and they were in the process of building a hospital to deal with the outbreak, and they built that hospital in three days! I remember being in awe at the thoughts of it, […]
Population density and the proportion of society that is elderly quickly emerged as significant factors in the spread of COVID-19. Social distancing has been widely used as an effective way to avoid transmission, but is complex to implement in a very densely populated city without draconian government action. More than 55 percent of the world’s population is thought to […]
The fresh produce company Keelings has been at the centre of controversy on social media for more than 24 hours after it emerged that 189 fruit pickers from Bulgaria had arrived on a Ryanair flight yesterday chartered by the company. https://twitter.com/FF_Grassroots/status/1251052199276355584 Keelings said that “a very important part of our workforce for many years has […]
With the Covid-19 pandemic dominating headlines, many important issues have been forgotten or shelved. One of those is the plight of Uyghurs and other persecuted minorities in Xinjiang in northwestern China. I’d like to clarify the often-conflicting reports on Xinjiang and drill down into the demographic statistics to give an accurate picture of the balance […]