OFF! [Updated]

at

From top: cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 this morning; St Patrick’s Parade in Dublin on March 17 last year

This afternoon.

Via RTÉ:

St Patrick’s Day parades have been cancelled in Dublin, Cork and Waterford today following concerns over the coronavirus.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee dealing with the Coronavirus decided to cancel the St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin after meeting this morning.

It follows an announcement from Cork City Council to cancel their parade.

More as we get it.

Covid-19: St Patrick’s Day parades in Dublin and Cork cancelled (RTÉ)

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50 thoughts on “OFF! [Updated]

    1. Spud

      I wouldn’t be surprised if many had cancelled already.
      I commend such a prudent decision.
      Shows we need to treat this seriously.

  1. Rosette of Sirius

    Ol’ Humpty Trumpty just does not want to be out of pocket from his various ‘business’. All those cancellations and sick pay for staff? Not on his watch!

    1. V

      Ah now c’mon
      He’s not the only person with businesses
      And employees that need paying

      I know I’m just a solo act
      But if the country comes to a standstill
      I can’t work – earn, pay bills.

      I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some form of plan as well as a strict protocol around day to days
      To at least keep stuff ticking over

      1. class wario

        Errmmm Trump is directly standing in the way of plans and strict protocols being put in place

        1. V

          Not here he isn’t

          what happens next is currently in the hands of a handful of Acting Ministers with less than 25% approval ratings,
          who you and I know couldn’t organise a mini bus to the Club Finals without a mishap and a cost overrun

          and will just about say and agree to anything that will get them to the end of the day

          1. Rosette of Sirius

            He was referred to in this item for the nonsense he’s espousing. And given the kinda fellah he is, he’s only thinking of his own interests first and foremost.

          2. V

            I got that Rosie
            The point is we’re the last crowd that should be pointing fingers at other Administrations
            And sniggering

  2. Spaghetti Hoop

    It’s sad for those involved but a wise precautionary step. Why they took so long to decide is beyond me. The reason there was competent decision-making on mass gatherings during the Foot & Mouth crisis was because livestock / bloodstock is so valuable to our economy. Public health seems get bumped down the priority list of a government with zero social capital.

    1. Clampers Outside

      I think the foot and mouth scare was running longer before such measures were taken.

      Happily corrected if wrong, just going on memory.

  3. Jake38

    If the upcoming epidemic can be ameliorated by cancelling rugby, parade etc, in the long run that will probably be better for business.

  4. GiggidyGoo

    The will of the people has been recognized at last. Funny that the ordinary joe soaps could call this already days ago and it takes pressure from them to make Varadkar & Co. to realize how idiotic it was to even contemplate not cancelling.

    1. Cian

      simple – the ordinary Joe soap has zero responsibility and can change his mind in two weeks time and say “why did they cancel the parade – silly idiots – Corona was a damp squib and FG were just scaremongering”.

      Varadkar has to stand over the decision and deal with the outcome – the hit to tourism, the closed businesses; the lost jobs, the missed mortgage payments; the homelessness and suicides etc.

      1. GiggidyGoo

        Health is top of the list in my opinion. I doubt you’ll see a “why did they cancel the parade – silly idiots – Corona was a damp squib and FG were just scaremongering” from the Joe Soaps. That may be your typical FG way of looking at and eacting to things. I give more credit to the population’s take on realities than a flip-flopping group of boys in this Government.

        1. Cian

          Last week a poster was suggesting that the government was going to use the virus as an excuse to ban all gatherings as a way to stop the Sinn Fein “rallies”.
          People (i.e. Joe Soaps) constantly look at all government decisions and take the worst possible view. People are constantly posting fake facts (here and on social media) – I spend half my time fact checking…

          1. class wario

            FWIW, I said this and it was clearly a joke so you might kindly retract your use of it as ‘evidence’ of this.

      2. 01101101 01100011

        Hi Cian,

        the program is PiazzaPulita (a bit like Primetime) last night on Italian TV station LA7

        https://youtu.be/v1zVNgU5Zq8?t=494

        have a look at this if you want to see what Covid-19 looks like on the wards should you be unlucky enough get into serious trouble with it. look at all the gear and people involved. see the patients are lying on their fronts there because apparently it gives them a better chance of beating it.

        that’s what this lighthanded but but but the €conomy approach our authorities seem to be adopting at the moment gets you (or someone less fortunate than you that is immuno-compromised)

        SO fupp yer Patrick’s Day parades, Rugby matches, Cheltenham, Ryanair and their corona corridor to Milan, pub seshes + eating out and our laser focus obsession on the fupping €conomy already!?

        respectfully, cop-on the lot of ye

        1. Cian

          Jeez. I have said multiple times that we need to cancel the parade and stop flights. I agree with you.

          But I’m also honest enough to recognise that cancelling the parade (or stopping flights, or whatever) will have negative (financial/or other) impact on my life. However they will have a potential positive impact (i.e. if they stop the virus getting to Ireland). So for me it is a no brainer.

          But I also see why these decisions aren’t being made quickly: the cancellations will have a negative impact on some people. And those people will blame the government. The people that don’t get the virus won’t thank the government either – because they don’t know what saved them. So the situation has to be serious enough for people to want the government to do something (i.e. they know there is a real risk).

          1. class wario

            covid-19 being spread en masse because of officialdom going ahead with planned festivities involving mass gatherings of people will also have pronounced negative economic effects. it’s pay the cost now or pay it later with a premium of human life added on top of it. i’d say plenty are already beginning to feel the effects tbh. going ahead with even a truncated st patricks day line-up reeks of papering over the cracks

          2. Clampers Outside

            Spread “en masse”, really?

            Didn’t they cancel the feckin’ rugby and the parade. They did what was prudent yet you continue as though they hadn’t.

          3. 01101101 01100011

            this is a bit like that scene in Jaws where the Mayor is trying to get the islanders to go into the water, y’know cos its the 4th of July…

            sure, from a purely academic pov I see where you and they are coming from…on paper perhaps it works…but only if it’s an exercise in monetising and equating things that are not like the other….LIFE = €UROS or Politics = LIFE

            it’s precisely this dithering over €€€ I have a problem with

            my view is that our authorities are completely underestimating (and have also misunderstood) this yoke and what’s worse we’ve known of it for at least two months now….they’ve taken a meek and passive approach so as not to frighten the horses. in this scenario you MUST make hard decisions quickly! I’d argue Ireland could have taken a lead position in the EU on this!

            if you can have read of this article from the Sunday Times, an interview with the Irish teacher lad Ben Kavanagh who was all over the BBC and SKY back in January with his tales of life in Wuhan:

            https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/more-likely-to-get-sick-in-dublin-than-wuhan-says-teacher-ben-kavanagh-pxsvpdt8z

            he reckons we are nowhere close to being at the races and frankly I take his word over a bunch of academics and €€€/politics focussed worriers! this is not a time for politics or €€€.

            up until this morning even with the wealth of info that now does exist on this yoke we were still dithering with this Paddy’s Day parade nonsense because of €€€ and popular opinion worries. and yet still Ryanair are running flights (I checked 5 mins ago and albeit reduced service just today announced I can still book to fly into Milan tomorrow and come back into Dublin on Friday) €€€

            there are no mysteries here. just a lack of response which has led to a much bigger count than we should have had. and I fear insufficient readiness to deal with the increased resultant hit coming from that inaction

            we are not authoritarian like the Chinese, granted, but we could have adopted some of the basic lockdowns they used to stop it in it’s tracks weeks ago. too little too late :(

          4. Clampers Outside

            It’s not like the scene in Jaws, they cancelled the parade, and in the scene in Jaws yer man wanted the beaches open, or as your analogy goes, for the parade to proceed. But it is not going to.
            It’s the opposite.

            Ridiculous commenting going on here, in fairness.

          5. Cian

            @01101101 01100011
            Jaws is actually a good analogy, but I think you miss represented it. As a viewer we know that the deaths were from a shark, and the shark is still around, and (because there’s an hour left in the film) that the shark will attack again.

            But from the perspective of the mayor it is different. He had two choices:
            1. Close the beaches. This would 100% result in economic hardships for the town (his neighbours and friends). He wouldn’t know who would be worst affected – but many/all them would. And there is no up-side either. Nobody would know that three people would be killed otherwise. As far as the town is concerned it was for no reason.
            2. Open the beaches. This would be bad only if the killer shark wasn’t the one that was caught AND if the shark decided to stay locally AND if the shark killed again. For him the probability is low (remember he doesn’t know it is a film about a killer shark) even thought this outcome is catastrophic.

            Not an easy decision. He will get the blame either way (for economic losses OR any deaths). But closing the beach has a 100% chance of a bad thing happening. Leaving the beach open has an unknown possibility – but less than 100%.

            I’m glad that I don’t have to make those kinds of decisions.

          6. 01101101 01100011

            Hi Cian + Clampers

            my point is the authorities have been waaay too slow with taking these decisions when in fact speed is of the essence….either because they are ditherers or their choices are politically+personally motivated….I think the better “damned if you do/don’t” decision is the one that takes the side of people over the money

            I’m only a young lad but you know what I’d take that decision gladly!! no problem, bring it on, that’s an easy decision.

            so by your yardstick I suppose tis Cheltenham Abú (1,000’s travel for it and from all over Ireland) and no testing at the Airport or the Alexandra Basin cos we can’t be arsed

            great idea shure

          7. Cian

            Over half a million people use the airport each week (30.7m. per annum)
            Do we test them all? Or just the 275,000 arrivals. Can we test that number of people? Is it feasible? Do we have that number of testing kits? do we have the lab equipment to do the tests?

      3. Dr.Fart

        cian here, echoing his party leaders opinion of the general population; a bunch of idiots who dont know whats good for them.

      4. V

        Varadkar is no more going to stand over the hit this Country is going to take over the next 6 – 10 months

        You wait until receipts for VAT 3 & P-whatever it is now for Period end August fall short, and yere out of cash for payroll, SW and HSE topups, and contractors 0000000000s

        maybe the Rural Broadband and BAM lads can give a dig out

        Meanwhile Leo will have resigned,and swanning off over in the States or EU carrying on like an elder Statesman

  5. some old queen

    Is Trump really saying this? It is predicted that US will have ONE MILLION infections by the middle of June if transmission patterns from elsewhere are replicated. Maybe he knows something the rest of us don’t but if he keeps playing Corona down and that prediction is correct- he is toast.

    1. Rob_G

      He must gotten him confused with Gerry Kelly (blowing up a courthouse).

      Or Dessie Ellis (bomb-making).
      Or Martina Anderson (also bomb-making).
      Or Martin Ferris (patriotically robbing banks and post offices, importing explosives).

      Easy enough mistake to make, in fairness.

    1. Clampers Outside

      Last week, this week, the parade would have been next week.

      Decision made, and time to spare.

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