Regulations, in this particular case of COVID, are suggestions unenforceable by law. They are simply the best known guidelines to follow for individuals.
Literally, all I was saying is that you cannot assume people do not know what their responsibilities are. The likes of Jack Grealish are a perfect example of knowing what he SHOULD do regarding safety.
The onus is on him to do so.
I’ll be honest with you, things in the UK are different to Ireland and other than the fact that what they do over there will almost definitely effect us over here as we have a land border in Northern Ireland and free movement of people, they don’t affect us.
I have issues with many aspects of how Covid was handled in the UK and don’t believe they have been very clear in regulations all along the way.
By and large though we have balanced the approach between The Republic and the Northern Ireland Assembly as best we can trying to protect the island as a whole.
So that aside, I don’t care what the UK decide to do.
Here in the Republic however we have managed this better than expected TBH.
It is hard to believe but we only have circa 260 ICU beds. We coopted a number of private hospital ICUs but didn’t need to use them, but the fact remains that our health service was already strained to 125% capacity as it is. We would be swamped very easily if Covid wasn’t managed.
So I do have a problem with any march to the American embassy in Dublin, looking at the numbers that turned up.
Each country worldwide can decide for themselves what stages they are at in recovery whether they want to allow mass gatherings or not. We’re not there yet and this shouldn’t have happened. Other demonstrations of solidarity were used during lockdown and with some imagination the organisers of this march could have had a coordinated nationwide demonstration that observed the current social distancing regulations.
It is too quick and easy to mirror what is going on all over America, though. That’s the optic they are looking for.
Doesn’t sit well with me.
I don’t think in America it would have been possible to justify not letting these people demonstrate and protest, given what happened to GF, what has been happening for decades, centuries, and also how we saw white gimps being treated when they occupied state buildings openly armed with semi automatic rifles etc, because they wanted a haircut.
We all support and empathise with the demonstrations but it is likely there will be Covid repercussions from it.
We don’t know for certain but it is likely.
Here in Ireland we are not equipped to deal with a spike, until we have the infrastructure in place with testing etc before the nation opens up again.
That is why I am against this form of demonstration here, regardless of the cause it is for.
The wife’s father visits the hospital for dialysis three days a week. He’s our number one priority at the moment.