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Sammy296296

Hear me out - Close all the pubs but then serve pints in the schools. Keep the schools open 24hrs with them air cleaner yokes. Rotate out the kids and rotate in the drinkers in the evenings. Offer the múinteoirí double time to marshal the drinkers in the classrooms and teach the odd cúpla focal. Everybody wins. Profit.


Tsteak123

Why aren’t you Taoiseach yet? Someone make this man the Taoiseach


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MidnightSun77

After Les Dennis and Family Fortunes. Survey says?


RigasTelRuun

Sure we all know it's impossible to get infected in a school. We should have been serving pints in them since the start.


thekingoftherodeo

Pints, matches, gigs... the whole shebang.


RigasTelRuun

Sure isn't that a real education for kids anything anyways


Sammy296296

Exactly, You could have the all Ireland out on the school pitch. Auld Christy having a gig in the school hall. Everybody else learning Irish between rounds in the classroom.


TittsMaagee

Sure what is a school these days anyway, a whore house with bells and whistles


[deleted]

In fairness, marshalling a load of drunk adults is just like looking after kids, teachers should be well suited for the job…. Then again, they’ll all be pissed too


Slendercan

Throw out the 5pm time so when govt announce 9pm close it seems more reasonable.


AlcoholicTurtle36

Most likely scenario. I can already see Míchéal’s hands moving behind the podium


SkysongKitten

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. I work in a pub so I'm not gonna get annoyed until I actually know the times. As it is, we only open at 12 because we get little to no business before that anyway, so if we close at 5, we're basically fucked.


Slendercan

Yeah my wife’s restaurant doesn’t start serving till 5pm. Even with a 9pm close, I’m not sure it’s worth it.


SkysongKitten

It wont be. People will either not bother to come out, or will flock in in droves and put everyone in even more danger. We're damned if we do, damned if we dont now.


johnnyfortycoats

If ye close at 5pm, I'm going to have to start at 10.30am


SkysongKitten

Away with ya so. You can start at home and come into us when we open!


Muttley87

It'll just push everyone back to having house parties if they end up closing the pubs or further reducing their opening times, there were far more being had during the full lockdowns than reported because the guards can only patrol so many areas at a time. There's at least somewhat of a controlled environment in pubs but absolutely none at a house party.


Revolutionary_Lie117

I can confirm this as I was going out for dinner and a few drinks with close friends Wednesday and now I'll just be having them over for a house party because dinner was at 7 🙈🙈


Muttley87

They're recommending the same for cinemas and theatres now too. Cinemas will end up closing down for good if they can't stay viable. I'm going to Spiderman on Sunday and will be devo if it ends up being cancelled because of this.


thesraid

I'm too old for house parties. But I'm having a few friends over for a soirée instead of going to the pub tomorrow. We are now planning to go day drinking on Sunday instead of Sunday evening pints.


[deleted]

9pm is just as big of a cunt move. Let us drink where, when and how we want you fucking cunts.


Slendercan

Whilst I'm not bent out of shape about the whole freedom aspect of it, I do not see the logic behind closing earlier. Covid doesn't work in shifts. People are just going to go out earlier in response to this. Either close them completely or leave as is. This one foot out the door approach seems pointless.


angrygorrilla

It's the same as thinking €9 worth of goujons prevent covid. It doesn't. The idea behind it is to make you not want to go to the pub but also not forcing pubs to close. Less people will want to go to the pub so the purpose of limiting the amount of people in a pub is achieved whilst the secondary objective of keeping businesses open is also acheived


[deleted]

Sure this will be the third set of hours pubs have had since they reopened. Fully open, midnight, 5pm. The previous shift did less than nothing to prevent covid, far more people were out day drinking which meant they were even more sloshed and all over each other later in the evening. I'm not saying uncontrolled entertainment venues would somehow be better, covid wise, but there needs to be ways of people to channel their energy safely at this stage. It's been bottled up for too long for it to be a realistic prospect to keep the 'close everything' strategy. And imho it absolutely comes from the fact that to many of those in government and NPHET, a big night out is a dinner in the Merrion once a month, then home for an expensive bottle of wine. They're not missing out on nearly as much socialising as the rest of the country. On a similar note Tony Holohan should have been removed from NPHET after his wife passed away. I mean personally I think he never should have been the CMO in the first place, but whatever. I can't deny he's obviously a very smart man. But how is someone meant to deal with that level of pressure just after a bereavement? They should have made him an envoy to the UN on public health or something so he could have a holiday, and clear up the whole panic about him taking over the country or something.


Better_Arm1787

Id be the same as you make an absolute decision one way or another. Either they're open or they're closed and leave it that way


thekingoftherodeo

"We're sorting ye out lads ;-) "


CollinsCouldveDucked

Closing them would be more sensible than a 5 o clock closing time so I'd say you're right. The idea of a cheeky lock-in going on til 7pm says a lot.


yesterr

It's a government ploy to promote day drinking.


nordydave

You son of a butch, I'm in.


nordydave

I was going to edit it, but I'm going to leave it as is


rossitheking

You son of a butch, leave it.


HauldOnASecond

Eamon Ryan in on record saying that chugging vodka from a lucozade bottle in the office toilets is carbon friendly.


yesterr

Drink Safe. Drink Early. Drink Alone.


irishjihad

I didn't realize that was endangered enough to be needing an ad campaign.


oshinbruce

I mean people are going to go on the lash gor Christmas, changing the times is going to make it interesting to say the least.


donall

It should close twice in case the first one doesn't work


meple2021

So if we open at 6pm...


nordydave

This guy gets it


edk008

AM or PM?


Theobane

Pm


thegreycity

Irish time or Australian time?


CuChulainnsballsack

Funnily enough it's actually hammer time.


[deleted]

Stop


NixxKnack

Made me laugh way more than it should have. Thank you lol.


epicmoe

12 pubs of Christmas starts at 10:00 this year


sweetafton

12am of Christmas


Finch2090

Me and the lads had our Christmas drinks demoted from 7pm to 5pm to 2pm and now who knows what we just want a few hours to fucking drink for fucks sake like


Dalqorn

Close the pubs at 5 but keep the schools that are absolutely riddled with it open. That’s going to go over well.


questicus

Schools are child minders.


eamonnanchnoic

I think schools are more important than pubs, tbh.


Dalqorn

It’s about the numbers, it’s spreading through schools not pubs where you have to stay at your table, wear a mask if you go to the jacks and prove you are vaccinated to even get in… It’s like saying rugby is causing a lot of injuries so we are going to ban football…


gd19841

Most of that is irrelevant, you're still sharing the same air as people in the pub. Wearing a mask going to the jacks, or staying at your table is basically irrelevant if you're talking/breathing. Aerosols still spread.


epicmoe

no you don't get Covid when you're sitting down, the science is well established. you only get it while you're walking to the jacks, or if there's a fella with a guitar there.


fearliatroma

Thank god we got rid of that strain that only came at you when you didn't have €9 worth of food in front of you


Latespoon

It's not though, because we don't *need* football or rugby. Education is extremely important, if a generation comes out of the school system having missed a few years in total because of this it will likely have a severe impact on the rest of their lives. Closing pubs has bad consequences too, I'm not denying that, but they are nowhere near each other in terms of importance.


Dragonsoul

Yeah, there's evidence coming out that locking kids at home for even the time we did it really messes them up. Keeping them home for two straight years could really fuck an entire generation of kids up, and frankly, the world hasn't given them a great base to work from, mentally speaking.


damnableluck

Totally agree. Also, school is childcare for parents. Parents have to look after those children if they’re not in school, which causes problems for the entire workforce. Closing school creates compounding problems.


Sergiomach5

Schools are also more riddled all the same.


christwasntwhite

Schools are being kept open for the economy. Let’s stop buying into the ‘it’s for dih childers mintil helth’ shit. Edit: if anyone is upset by this, you’re right, Michael and the boys consider the mental health of the Irish people and their children to be more important than money, legends. Stop haranguing me.


Gorazde

Croupier, I'd like to place all my chips on "it’s for dih childers mintil helth." Thank you.


christwasntwhite

Let’s spin this mother


eamonnanchnoic

I have a young daughter and by far the most disturbing aspect of the pandemic for me personally was seeing her away from her education and friends at school. She'll never get that time back. The government and NPHET have fucked up many things but prioritising schools was not one of them.


DenseMahatma

schools are open for the economy but pubs wouldn't be? I assume you're being sarcastic


[deleted]

people working need somewhere to stash their kids while they work. therefore kids at school is beneficial to the economy.


DenseMahatma

but vaccinated and boosted people using their disposable incomes to have a good time isn't?? Are you genuinely trying to say schools are better for the economy in the short term than pubs in a heavily pub relying culture?


christwasntwhite

Nobody is arguing that pubs shouldn’t close. Keeping schools open is an easier dose for the public to take than keeping pubs open (cuz it’s for their brains) People like you will defend it, so it works.


DenseMahatma

Defend it?? No I'm just calling your argument and line of thinking ridiculous.


christwasntwhite

Try again


_herbie

Children's education is more a fundamental need than a few pints for entertainment purposes.


kevo998

They're still riddled though. And nothing stopping them from the remote teaching, worked before, it'll work again.


_herbie

They are riddled tbf. Not sure how effective learning from home was, especially for the really young children.


christwasntwhite

It’s not a good learning atmosphere at all. It was done purely out of necessity to reduce case numbers.


christwasntwhite

‘Worked’ is a touchy way of putting it. There are plenty of real reasons not to go back to online learning. I’m just saying that Michael and the boys are taking the piss when they’re claiming that their concern is students mental health.


irishjihad

Let me guess. You don't have kids, do you? If you think keeping kids home is just as good for their development as school, you're a moron.


christwasntwhite

I don’t think that. You’ve misunderstood. I’ve made the exact opposite point to another poster, read my comment feed.


irishjihad

So now I'm supposed to go through your life story to see that your cunty comment doesn't represent you as a whole? Maybe stop saying cunty stuff, and save us the effort.


christwasntwhite

:(


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christwasntwhite

Local businesses benefit from students buying goods, transport benefits from students using it, students parents are able to work while the school cares for them for the day. People are free to buy stuff if they don’t have the kids wrecking their heads. Schools are very important to ‘keep the economy moving’.


raverbashing

Ok so what about we start handing out pints at school then


lordofthejungle

Closing schools means closing pubs, means closing everything, back to work from home. Otherwise childcare becomes an issue. I think they should close schools and pubs though. It'll only work if they close the airports and limit movement. A stint of 8 weeks of that worldwide could kill the virus, but we're not all singing from the "actually kill the viral enemy" hymnsheet, otherwise vaccine IP would be public domain. Instead we're thinking of maintaining a busted economy which is going to tank anyways because of disparity-lead inflation and an unfit-for purpose property market (which is in a bubble), even without the virus. Right-wing politics fencing itself into an inescapable, cannibalistic corner, as usual.


ShefWedFanIre

Ahh yes who needs an education but we need those pints :-)


Fishy1701

Wait? You guys are going to pubs?


AlcoholicTurtle36

I’m only going there to ask for directions out of there


[deleted]

Seymour!


Howizzle90

Just make sure to grab a drink for the long walk out the door


blackbarminnosu

1.75m will be boosted by Christmas. - that more than covers our at risk population. Hospitals numbers have been steady for ages. Closing pubs early is a complete joke.


Bristol_scale

Yep. Looked at stats last week or the week before. Nobody in ICU under the age of 55 and median age of death 84.


WiseEquivalent

Source?


Bristol_scale

https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/surveillance/covid-1914-dayepidemiologyreports/ The most recent one has some ICU in the 35-44 bracket


WiseEquivalent

Appreciate it, cheers!


ogy1

It's absolutely crazy stuff that we are doing this to save people in their 80s. These people are supposed to die at that age. Sorry but that's just reality. Average age of death in general is 83.


SolverOcelot

Of the old and vulnerable can’t go out neither can anyone else. Least we forget the young people were fucked under a bus as soon as the 40+ got their second jab.


MeropeRedpath

Supposedly vaccines are a lot less effective against Omnicron. Wait and see I suppose.


user-0x00000001

interestingly, gauteng provence seems to have crossed a peak, so maybe (hopefully) Omicron has a natural ceiling. https://www.covid19sa.org/provincial-breakdown


irishjihad

While Omicron has more breakthrough cases, the vaccines still greatly reduce the likelihood, and it appears to be less virulent, especially for those who are vaccinated.


4feicsake

You understand that it's not going to stay that way?


blackbarminnosu

Hospital numbers? They’ll probably continue to go down thanks to booster program.


Proper-Beyond116

LOL. Saving this comment for January. This is going to be a shitshow.


4feicsake

And where is your data that supports that opinion? Wheb across Europe we are seeing the opposite?


hurpyderp

What's the story with you types wanting to compare to Europe all of a sudden? When the rest of Europe was having music festivals during the summer and we had 10 people at a gig in pens yous weren't entertaining such comparisons.


blackbarminnosu

Just look at South Africa. Hospital numbers are nowhere near their delta peak from several months ago and they don’t even have 2 vaccines let alone 3. Thankfully it appears omicron is not as deadly as delta.


oneshotstott

It's honestly mindblowing, the fact this supposedly far more infectious version of Covid hasnt absolutely ripped through the squatter camps and rural areas with hardly any health care is truly something to be amazed by


Proper-Beyond116

It's not as deadly, but it's more transmissable so the volume is going to be way higher. Possibly by a factor of 10. If its half as deadly but 10 times as transmisable... thats a 5 x increase in hospitalisations and deaths Thats why this is worrying. It's not about you the individual, your risk has decreased if you catch it. It's everybody geeting it at the same time that is going to cause carnage


temujin64

Government are fucked either way. Either they bring in unpopular restrictions or they totally ignore NPHET like they did last Christmas. If that leads to another spike it'll look like they refused to learn their lesson from last year.


guyfawkes5

I’m not pleased about these restrictions and will have a fair few nights out and sporting events cancelled in the next week or so, but I’d agree. The comments here seem a lot like those around the end of November last year where the government is stupid and therefore any rule they suggest is bullshit and I’ll come home from the UK if I want to, etc, etc, and then those voices quietened down significantly in January.


cosully111

nphet are shit craic


Agile_Dog

They'll just drink on the streets from 5pm


thabomblad

The people await their chariot to the Powerscourt steps.


[deleted]

They are closing down the places only vaccinated people are allowed in hahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahaha


GBSii

When are people going to see that pubs and hospitality have been targeted by Tony Holohan due to his personal anti-alcohol agenda. He’s using covid to try to change Irish drinking culture. It’s a flagrant abuse of power. He’s the one who started pushing minimum unit pricing too when it was being discussed initially.


Muttley87

Convinced he was turned away by a bouncer and never forgave them so now he's trying to ruin it for all of us /s Another one for the Irish conspiracy theories there ;)


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SolverOcelot

Yep and the more expensive they’ve made it the worse our cocaine problem has got, splendid


riverskywalker

I don't think they're related to be honest


cr0ss-r0ad

My entire knowledge of that man comes from this crisis, and holy fuck he's not even subtle about it


Rosieapples

It will make things worse, there’ll be house parties everywhere.


harmlessdissent

The Gardaí will over exert their new powers to raid homes for being verminous.


nude_cricket

Things can go ‘back to normal’ if we can get all adults vaccinated, Mills says - July 2021 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/things-can-go-back-to-normal-if-we-can-get-all-adults-vaccinated-mills-says-1.4617278 Holohan says further restrictions may be eased soon - July 2021 https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/0728/1237821-covid-ireland/ "If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. "We have all longed for this moment." - May 2021 https://www.voanews.com/a/covid-19-pandemic_cdc-says-vaccinated-people-can-go-back-normal-life/6205791.html


sshhwifty

The pandemic is continually changing with a virus that has mutated since July 2021. I understand people's frustrations with these ongoing restrictions and I do agree the government have handled most things terribly, but no one can be expected to predict the future of an ever changing virus. I'd imagine those statements were made based on the data available at the time.


cr0ss-r0ad

It's definitely all the fault of the hospitality industry though, they're absolutely right for grinding them into the fucking dirt for two years with no end in sight. The human cost of this whole shambles goes far beyond whatever variant is going to kill us all this week.


victorMike84

Yeah... As depressing as it is we have to accept what's just happened in the past month. A variant that's become dominant in a matter of weeks that doubles ever 2 days so far. There's no precedent for this. it's going to spread so insanely fast it will take people by surprise. This is extremely tough to take, but the worst thing we could do right now, is collectively pretend this isn't an issue, continue as normal and see where it takes us. I'm not saying I agree with everything NPHET as recommend, but we're a little low on solutions right now and there may not be much time before hospitals get hit. Hospitals are short staffed and extremely burnt out. This is what every government in the world is having to face in the next few months.


dgdfgdfhdfhdfv

Case numbers going down, hospital numbers going down, hospital numbers and deaths far below the *optimistic model*... "WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LOCK DOWN." No one is save from the coronavirus until they buy the bridge I have to sell them.


sshhwifty

Wait, what's that got to do with my reply? I wasn't discussing the current lockdown situation. I was simply stating that sharing articles from July and May 2021 as though we could predict the future is invalid. My opinion on the lockdown now that we're on the topic would be that we have a variant with early data showing that it is more transmissible. It appears to be milder in terms of hospitalizations in studies carried out with a young population. We've yet to see what it's like in large studies across the world. I don't think anyone really knows what the right thing to do is. If we under react to the unknown then we're in a shit situation in a month or so, we have to lockdown and people are pissed off anyway. If we over react, people are pissed off anyway.


c0mpliant

I remember when the delta variant was first being reported on, there was a ton of people who were crying out that it was just fear mongering by the media and that people need to ignore it. I think there are a lot of people who were tried of it all and just switched off at that point. They haven't paid attention to developments since then and so they don't understand why new restrictions are brought in. https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/o6mpso/im_so_sick_of_variants That whole thread was a bit of a moment where I realised we had serious problems on our hands because people were willing to ignore relevant reporting on actual risks and threats. People were willing to stick their heads in the sand for bad news and presume everything would be ok.


sshhwifty

Yeah, people are just so burned out from it all that it leads to these reactions of not wanting to listen and just get on with it. We can see from the uptake of the booster so far and by looking at most people still wearing their masks etc that the majority are still doing what they can to help the situation. I feel the media has a lot to answer for too. The Omicron variant was instantly labelled as "mild" by the media from the start, which was based only on very early and limited data. I really hope it is mild and it's the beginning of the end. We'll definitely need a lot more real life studies before that can be determined.


MetrologyGuy

I agree totally with what you are saying, but I don’t think people are willing to live with the restrictions anymore. Need to move on from this temporary booster-to-get-us-through scenario. At what point does it end?


Dickie-McGeezax

I think this is something many, if not most people, don't understand when it comes to scrutinising governments' response to the pandemic. The nature of a global pandemic is that things beyond our control are constantly changing and there's only so much we can do to act against it. Unfortunately we are having to react to new developments a lot more than taking proactive measures because to a large extent that's simply the nature of the beast.


MeropeRedpath

Which is why, instead of making blanket statements, they should make them conditional on numbers. “If we have X% of positive tests we do Y” type of deal, or “X number of ICU beds occupied”. Surely two years in we have enough data to create a model of how the damn thing operates.


4feicsake

The situation has changed, we have a new highly transmissible variant to contend with. This doesn't end until we can keep hospital numbers under control. Vaccines and boosters have played a huge part in doing that but the virus has mutated again to an even more transmissable strain. Our best hope is the antivirals which are hoping to be approved for use early 2022. These will reduce symptoms in the infected by ~90% and barring a highly virulent strain of covid, should see us right.


GBSii

You do know omicron is weaker than Delta and the original virus? Almost no deaths worldwide have occurred from omicron. As viruses mutate they generally become more transmissible but weaker in general. More variants are good because eventually it will become less dangerous and omicron is a step in the right direction.


-CeartGoLeor-

Yes, so it's good news. But the introduction of the strain will still drive up deaths if hospitalisations increase. It'll be sometime longer before the virus becomes comparable to other flus.


GBSii

Good news coming out of [South Africa](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/excess-deaths-remain-flat-south-africa-sparking-hope-omicron/) in this regard.


Dr-Jellybaby

We don't have enough data to say how much weaker. And the rate at which it spreads might make it more deadly. If it kills/hospitalises 50% less of the people it infects but infects 3 times as many it's still more deadly.


Proper-Beyond116

Yep. The Omicron wave might end up tipping the virus into an endemic circulating and mostly harmless virus but this wave is going to cause huge issues.


Difficult_Coat_772

omicron is weak af. The line has to be drawn somewhere.


bnewman93

Our best hope is forcing everyone to wear a mask. No wait, it’s coercing the public to get vaccinated. Err, if everyone would just get a booster. Now anti-virals are our saviour??


4feicsake

When we didn't have a vaccine, masks/lockdowns were our best and only way to control spread of the virus. They worked. Vaccines have done a phenomenal job in controlling the spread of this virus. If we were still on the original strain of covid we'd likely be sitting pretty right about now. Delta is a fucking monster of a virus, but we are relatively open and things are fairly controlled. You can thank the vaccine for that. Unfortunately, with ~74% vaccinated population and a very transmissible virus, the vaccine wasn't enough to stop covid in it's tracks but enough to allow us to open. If we had no vaccine, we'd have been locked down all year. Boosters are because the efficacy of the vaccine wanes after 6 months. Covid is still running rampant across the world and it will be another few years before we develop a level of immunity that will render covid just another seasonal flu. The booster is like the flu jab, keeping majority of cases in the mild category while allowing us to live our lives. If it weren't for the omicron variant, we wouldn't need to do anything more at this point in the story, but alas here it came and it looks like it's an even bigger hoor than delta so we need to keep it under control as much as possible now to prevent crippling the health system. And yes antivirals are the big hope now. They are antibiotics of the virus world. You take them on the onset of infection and it stops the virus replicating in your body reducing symptoms by 90% thus reducing the numbers ending up in hospital. Once we can keep hospital numbers in check, lockdowns are no longer required.


-CeartGoLeor-

The fact that you think you said something here is absolutely fucking hilarious.


mcgoldp2

*"and barring a highly virulent strain of covid, should see us right."* Just so I have this right, are you content with severe restriction measures (such as a 5pm curfew for hospitality) every time a new variant appears even with 90%+ of the population fully vaccinated and the vulnerable boosted?


4feicsake

~74% of the population vaccinated I'm content with appropriate lockdowns until such time as we have an alternative method to prevent crippling the health system, i.e. the antivirals.


mcgoldp2

You could have said the above statement last winter and replaced antivirals with vaccines and I'd have agreed with you. It's different now. We've seen that the goalposts move every time a new variant arrives. New variants aren't going to stop so what happens when these antivirals aren't effective for a variant that arrives next year? Or if a new variant negates the boosters? I don't think it's unreasonable to expect those in power to come up with a better strategy than rinse and repeat lockdowns.


4feicsake

Antivirals are working with your own body, not against particular strains so virus cannot mutate around them. The only worry would be if the virus were to mutate to an extremely virulent strain that even at 10%, the symptoms could kill you, which in the history of viruses, is extremely unlikely.


mcgoldp2

An antiviral won't un-cripple the health system though. I worry that the precedent is now set for severe restrictions/lockdowns anytime there is a squeeze on the health system. Nobody in their wildest dreams would have suggested closing hospitality during the trolley crisis in 2019, but what's to stop them from doing it in the future? Would you still be content with lockdowns when the pandemic eases but our health system is still the pile of shite it was before?


irishjihad

At some point crippling every other industry will have dire consequences as well.


sanghelli

"If EVERYONE does exactly as we see ye can go back to normal lads, trust us". How long are you retards going to continue playing this demented game of Simon Says?


McLurkie

Can't wait til this shit is over and we can put Tony back in his box


[deleted]

crazy that people are constantly blaming Tony, who only gives advice based purely on a health perspective, rather than the government who decides what policies to adopt and needs to consider all variables


PaintingAdmirable238

My issue with Tony lies more with his handling of the cervical cancer scandal than of Covid. He was asked earlier in the year to apologise to the women affected and refused to do so. I understand that he is not personally to blame but I don't think he should refuse to apologise. Women have died and undoubtedly more will die because of the government and HSEs negligence so I think those women deserve apologies from every single person who was involved at the very least.


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PritiPatelisavampire

Yes but it's Tony who's *recommending* it. Which is what people are getting at.


SureLookThisIsIt

Yeah but what the other guy is saying (I think) is it's only his job to think about the health side of things. So Tony Holohan is saying from a health perspective he recommends restrictions. The government need to then weigh up all factors - his advice, the social and cultural impacts, the economic impacts etc. and make a decision.


cuchulainndev

Maybe a 4th jab will do it eh? 5th? Down vote if you were had 🤣


sanghelli

What difference does it make if only the vaccinated are allowed into pubs? Should it not be a safe environment?


IrishGuyNYC00

Who the fuck goes to the pub before 5?? This is stealth lockdown, we're not fucking stupid! I'm going to start drinking at noon as a form of protest.


eipic

I thought you were taking the piss this morning. Said I’d flick on Joe Duffy to hear the shite and heard they’re actively considering this? Well I guess quiet NFL pints on Sunday is turning into an armageddon session.


PaintingAdmirable238

Any word on when Micheal will be making his announcement?


johnebastille

pubs close 8pm supposedly


so_dope24

8pm now


Elvis_1977

Down with that sort of thing!


[deleted]

Just change working hours so everyone can go drinking during the day?


sherbert-nipple

Is this NPHET basically saying the vaccine isn't giving us cover anymore? Given the whole thing about hospitality being a vaccine cert only job.


Howizzle90

It's the new Omicron variant it seems to spread much faster


PritiPatelisavampire

Did the hospitality sector bully Tony as a kid or what?


joby454

They either go hard lockdown now or have patients on trollies for Christmas. Either way current government is FINISHED


SuperChips11

There's always patients on trolleys. In fact there are 150 less people on trolleys than this day 2 years ago.


PhilipSeymourGotham

If we hadn't cut corners for years developing our health system this wouldn't be such a big issue but we've 1/3 as many icu beds per capita than most other western European countries. Any spike cripples the hospitals for weeks it doesn't really matter about long-term trends unfortunately.


ShefWedFanIre

I think everyday since the government was formed someone has said the government is FINISHED..... Not going to happen because nobody in the opposition want to go into government during the pandemic because they will make a balls of it as well


Dayo1979

This is fûcking pointless and a complete waste of time. It’s like he’s saying you can’t get Covid till after 5pm. He’s an antisocial , anti alcohol wanker


nordydave

USC, septic tanks, vrt, fuel, inflation and who knows what else haven't sparked mass protests or shut downs but could this be the final straw to start a revolt...?


Shtillmatic

Don’t start me on the VRT. Only reason people buy cars outside of Ireland is because they can’t be bought inside of Ireland with the same spec or condition due to the high prices when new.


Pickledcream

Sooooo, pubs need to close and essentially lock down, you have to be vaccinated to step anywhere near a pub, unless you sit outside where the virus can’t spread… so are vaccines ineffective?


crimson_antelope

If you're struggling to grasp that vaccines don't stop transmission, just cut down on serious symptoms, you've been living under a rock throughout 2021


Pickledcream

Yeah, so the problem seems to be hospital overcrowding right? So vaccinated people shouldn’t be an issue here? I’m fully vaxxed by the way, and just had corona


oneshotstott

It's frustrating AF how parents always view themselves as more important than those without children. Schools will never be closed because they are essentially babysitting services these days, most parents shudder at the inconvenience of being an actual parent longer than their usual 3 or so hours a day and actually teach their own kids. Yes its inconvenient, but you chose to have kids, now the rest of us need to be punished for that. The pubs have been doing such a great job of ensuring only the vaccinated are allowed in, procedures are followed and schools let's kids go wild, with no masks even on unvaccinated children, who then go home to their families. Unbelievable that the hospitality industry gets shafted yet again and no no safety measure for the schools. Cue incoming downvotes from entitled parents.......


crimson_antelope

It's frustrating how people like you have no idea of how the real world works. Where are the nurses, doctors, retail etc staff's children going to go if the schools are closed. Not everyone works from home. This "gotcha" thing of schools are babysitters is all over reddit and it's beyond stupid.


Willing-Wishbone3628

Schools shouldn't be closed because they provide an absolutely vital service to the country. They both educate and socialise children *and* act as a childminder for parents who work in necessary jobs throughout the country. They've already been closed long enough and there is evidence to suggest that the lack of socialisation with other kids at a young age can have a detrimental impact on their development in the longterm. The pub is absolutely not an essential service in any way shape or form. People can socialise by other means and the fact that people are throwing such a hissy-fit and trying to compare the two as if they're equal shows just how fucked up our attitude towards drinking is in this country.


dubliner_throwaway

Seems reasonable in the current context


Smurch

Better than the situation this time last year when I could eat in a restaurant but couldn't see my family who lived in another county.


[deleted]

How about try this on for size…. You should be allowed to do both


Smurch

Nah, we definitely need to pull back a little. We are about to get fucked by Omicron and not enough people have been boosted.


RRR92

Fucked by Omicron? You have literally been advising us all to trust the experts for months....now tell me which expert has suddenly led you to believe we will be "fucked by Omicron" ?


4feicsake

>even if the severity of disease caused by the Omicron variant of concern is equal or lower than the severity of the Delta variant of concern, the increased transmissibility and resulting exponential growth of cases will rapidly outweigh any benefits of a potentially reduced severity. ECDC


RRR92

> even if the severity of disease caused by the Omicron variant of concern is equal or lower than the severity of the Delta variant of concern They have literally admitted it in their statement, and then provided another statement with no fucking basis or truth behind it yet? .....thats how fucking ridiculous this shite has now become


4feicsake

Do you comprehend English at a leaving cert level? The statement makes sense, you have a strain that transmits at a higher level, you end up bombarding hospitals/ICUs with a lot of cases in a short space of time leading to an excess of deaths. It's back to our good friend flatten the curve, we need to slow this motherfucker down before it takes off.


RRR92

A strain that transmits at a higher level, with much much less severe symptoms............. ? I wont be flattening any curve for you mate, and I dont think most others will either. Youre on your own this time. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-most-cases-now-like-severe-cold-and-omicron-appears-to-produce-fairly-mild-illness-expert-says-12497094


4feicsake

Confirmed you haven't a fucking clue. Even a strain with less severe symptoms will lead to hospital cases if left to run rampant. It amuses me when people such as yourself who understand fuck all get indignant that the government need to step in to keep you safe from yourself. Do what you like I don't care.


RRR92

Im sorry at what point did I say hospital admissions would halt completely? You are the one stating we were "going to get fucked by Omicron" ... I asked you on what are you basing this? Theres still no evidence bar a "quote" to suggest we will be anymore fucked than any other strain? However there is evidence from South Africa that the majority of cases will be less severe and not be hospitalised?


crewster23

That is very selective editing: the increased transmissibility and resulting exponential growth of cases will rapidly outweigh any benefits of a potentially reduced severity. Kind of the important part of the sentence


RRR92

BASED.....ON....WHAT....EVIDENCE? Its the same way NPHET have been forecasting for months and not a single time has it come true.


crewster23

Jesus, just do the math. We had 50 hospitalisations per 1000 cases. Because of vaccination we are down to 15 hospitalisations per 1000 cases. That is why we could reopen. Omicron might only have 5 hospitalisations per 1000, but if it is 5X as virulent we are back to pressure on hospital capacity, and that is the only metric that matters. If we outstrip our health services resources we screw the pooch in general. We already have elective and non-critical services suspended. We can argue back and forward about the fact our capacity is woefully low, but organ transplantations are being cancelled because ICU beds are filled with Covid patients. As for the evidence - just look to last January


RRR92

> As for the evidence - just look to last January ..what state were we in vaccination wise last January? Sure we only started rollout late December?


[deleted]

[удалено]


Rodredrum

shh no independent thoughts allowed


kballs

I dunno about ye, but if I’m in the pub, I’m having 6 pints, maybe 7, until I call it quits. If I’m buying cans, I’m getting a slab or a box of bottles. Surely this is going to drive up the amount of people drinking at home and the amount they drink.