Poll: How often should you bother to cut the grass?

@James Daly: like last year, and where did that get us, this crowd make things worse

@Paul O Neill: it’s classic Irish conservatism. Blame the boldy pint people sinning in the pubs.

@Paul O Neill: due to covid in schools 7 grand children and their parents are in lockup with 1 complete family of 6 ending up with covid, I have just been passed by about 75/100 school kids going somewhere with their teachers max space between any of them 1.5 ft but according to Gov and nphet schools are safe????

@Paul O Neill: Your point being drinking is more important than education? Also, surely no backbone would just be to go with the popular choice of keeping pubs open like Boris Johnson did? It actually shows backbone for a politician to go against public opinion. I’m not saying it’s the right call, but your arguments are ridiculous

@AndyM: no, my point being the school’s are the problem, what don’t you understand about that?

@chinaski: all credibility in vaccines and the latest boosters will be lost if they buy this latest nonsense from Cervical Cancer Villain, Tony

@James Daly: are you a betting man?

@Maurice O Neill: I’m not saying that I agree with a 5pm cerfew at all but that is a deliberately obtuse interpretation.

Nobody is saying that Covid only comes out at 5pm – it’s obvious that people getting drunk in busy pubs and totally forgetting social distancing is a potential hot-spot for the spread of the virus.

If pubs close at 5pm, it is far less likely that this will be an issue as pubs will not be heaving with drunk people in the afternoon.

As I said, I’m not agreeing with the suggestion but please stop with the deliberate childish interpretations.

@Maurice O Neill: Not the point. Ridiculous statement to say Covid doesn’t spread after 5 pm. Pubs and restaurants usually are packed by 9 pm to closing. This new advice is to prevent that.

@Lee King Buckett: wrong.. Pubs will be heaving in the afternoon all through xmas over this curfew.. And people will head on to partys then..

@Lee King Buckett: The evidence does not back your assertion. 12,000 cases on Dec 11th figures suggest home transmission compared to 500 from a social setting. Anyone I know in the last 2-3 months including my sister and her family have got the virus from the schools.

@Lee King Buckett: If pubs are that big an issue then why aren’t we closing the schools which are a bigger issue.

@Maurice O Neill:
It is the virus not the government or Tony which is causing yhis…
Cummins made a comment about why booster not part of cert… while he has a very valid point, let’s be very clear, loads of pubs did check for certs.. this is part of the reason this action is being taken

@Lee King Buckett: can you provide evidence for that assertion or is it ‘just a feeling’ like the way all recommendations from Tony are?

@David O’Reilly: To all of the above comments, I’ll say again – I’m not saying that I agree with a curfew or that it will make any difference at all.

I’m simply saying that it is deliberately childish and nonsensical to say that a curfew is being considered because someone thinks COVID only spreads after 5pm.

@Anne Busher Collins: Hospitality is not the problem schools are. Penalising an industry that’s been on its knees for two years is disgraceful. NPHET know it the information is there for all to see. A 5pm closing will only see people going out early and house parties happening. If anything you will probably have more going put now. If they really want to curtail cases close schools now and extend their holidays for an extra two weeks. Unfortunately NPHET’S serious anti alcohol rhetoric and hatred of the hospitality industry is coming to the fore again with no evidence to support it.

@Jerh O Donovan: I doubt it’s Tony if it was him the pubs would be closed all day 5pm is a compromise between government NPHET and VFI to keep money flowing into the coughers government would say 5pm close so also some staff can be employed also. The VFI are happy because they have been seen to do they’re bit. NEPHET not so happy but 5pm is a compromise. The government are looking at it from a monetary perspective while NPHET a health.

@Maurice O Neill: It’s for your own good unfortunately. Masks, social distancing, vaccines, boosters, lockdowns, covid passports, banning unvaccinated from indoor socialising, hand sanitising, closing pubs, meaningful Christmas, 11 euro meals, flattening the curve, circuit breaker lockdowns, the next 2 weeks are critical, queueing outside shops 2km limits, 5 km limits, Garda checkpoints. None of this worked. Throwing more madness at the problem probably won’t work either but by God they’re going to give it a bash.

@Declan Doherty: because the virus summersaults higher after a few pints ha

@Declan Doherty:
Cause closing schools puts huge pressure on the health system. They need there kids looked after while working

@Lee King Buckett: Its childish, nonsensical and naive to say or actually believe that people will stop after 5pm. It won’t it will end up in uncontrolled settings. The fact that hospitality is not the problem makes this ridiculous 5pm closing even more nonsensical.

@Lee King Buckett: True but it’ll be just back to someone’s house for a few beers after you get turfed out of the pub.

@Declan Doherty: simple. Children have a constitutional right to education. Pubs and restaurants aren’t protected by the constitution, they are open under permission from the government.

@Marky Mark: don’t mention the schools, we can’t mention the schools

@Lee King Buckett: pubs might just be heaving from 12 to 5pm.

@Declan Doherty: nobody to mind the health care workers or other frontline people’s children

@aidanshaw: the government can only do so much. After that people need to take responsibility for themselves and for society. You say this will result in pubs “heaving in the afternoon and house parties later”. Well the people who do that are irresponsible and unlikely to be the sort of people who have followed any of the government advice so far. The government’s job is to do what’s right for the public. But we need to do what’s best for ourselves in a global pandemic too.

@Gerry McCaughey: Agreed that we need to do our part but the govt have been found wanting in regards to doing whats right for the public. Failure to prepare schools for the new school year with Delta, now there’s Omicron (cases were on a downward trajectory until schools opened. 5-12s now 21% of cases). Failure to adopt antigen tests until now. (Could have caught alot of asymptomatic people stopping alot of spread). Failure to see whats happening in other countries (UK/Israel) and react in ours before the inevitable happens here too…… They were afraid to tackle the problem in primary schools and now hospitality, and society, will suffer again. Cant fathom why restaurants need to close. You’re sitting at a table of 6 maximum who are all vaxd for a set time.

@Maurice O Neill: It’s in the schools that it’s being spread!! The only people that ‘I’ know of who are getting it are teachers, parents and grandparents! Closing everything at 5 pm is madness!

@Declan Doherty: are pubs as important as schools? Depends on how you went to school!

@James Daly: I was going to comment on this story too James. But you nailed it. Best comment I’ve read on here, ever.

@fintan doyle: Yes they are. What people like you seem to forget they are peoples livelihoods. They are not all large Weatherspoons. The majority in towns, cities and villages are family owned. People who depend on their business to pay the bills. People who’s businesses have been decimated, more so by government and NPHET then covid, over the last two years. To close schools today and maybe add an extra two weeks holidays is not going to have a serious impact on children’s education. To say so is ridiculous. As for working parents surely they have someone on hand if needed. Children get sick unexpectedly all the time, accidents happen. I doubt they are leaving it to chance should problems arise.

@Paul Hedderman: I agree with a lot of what you said. I also think that restaurants should be left alone. Schools are the largest group of cases but other than keeping windows open there isn’t a whole lot you can do short of closing them. It’s a hard call regarding schools, I think that kids suffer more than most from being in lockdown and since they’re unlikely to get ill from covid most countries are doing what we’re doing and keeping them open by using pods and ventilation etc. As it happens we have been well on top of delta but until we know how the hospitals will be affected by omicron I can understand the government erring on the side of caution. We’ll know soon by England but we’re not alone in introducing restrictions for next week. Denmark and Norway are doing similar

@Jerh O Donovan:

Thankfully not you or your thumbs up lackeys.

@Maurice O Neill: it’s nothing about covid being after a certain time its about curving contacts to slow the spread people really are unbelievable

@aidanshaw: well that’s what causes the need for early closures if people were bit more sensible about it and actually took it seriously then we might get out of this quicker

@Ciarán O’ Donoghue: This is the question that needs to be asked today, such a letdown if Govt agrees to it

@Cowboy Ted: sadly the same will happen again. People think that because omicron is possibly less serious its over. Spreading faster possibly less severe, if 1% of infections end up in hospital and we have a rush in infections. 500,000 infections could mean 5000 end up in hospital.

@Ciarán O’ Donoghue: because people wear masks there and don’t get drunk.

@barry moore: there are 4 to 5000 cases a day, not 500,000

@Tracktrack: Wearing masks is a questionable statement, maybe 1 in 4 wearing them correctly if at all from my POV. People go to pubs to socialise and not just “get drunk”, not everyone is out to go bananas.

@Ciarán O’ Donoghue: covid passes still make sense huh

@Cowboy Ted: But only vaccinated folk are allowed into pubs or restaurants, so why restrict them when 96% of adults are already vaccinated?! Wonder if NPHET had meetings every day for 2 years about how to improve the health service where we’d be with that.

@Ciarán O’ Donoghue: the nature of people behaviour in these places I’d imagine

@Ciarán O’ Donoghue:
Cause Pubs have not been compliant.. There is many of them not checking certs and following the tracing… Most are being very good…

Definitely think we need to close the primary schools today and look at keeping them closed for an extra two weeks of January for non-essential workers children…

The main problem we have is Northern Ireland, we are totally defenseless to the UK, any hope of containing this virus is non existent… We are basically running on Boris rules and he doesn’t give a flying F….

I know people will be upset but Tony warned us last year and we ignored him and how did that work out? We might have to cop on a bit more this year… We couldn’t go through another 5 months of what we got last year…

@Cowboy Paddy: If most are following, then only a small few aren’t. Try go into the city without being asked for your cert. Loads of us are going up North spending our money up there instead of here now because they don’t have restrictions. Crazy decision.

@Cowboy Ted: But hospitality wasn’t the culprit then either. I’m sure the figures are still available on the HSE website. It was down to closing for 6 weeks in the run up to xmas. Pubs were closed at three.

@Franny Ando: And remember it was only suppose to be for a few weeks it lasted till May.

@Cowboy Paddy: Tony has been miles out with his predictions all year how this man garners any credibility whatsoever with all the f ups he has made in the past beggars belief, what makes this any different. I have always been amazed how when Tony wants something the numbers always go through the roof if he doesn’t get his way I won’t be one bit surprised if it happens again. Big difference last year nobody was vaccinated this year everybody is bar a few where is the out, does he actually want an out or is he thriving on his power,

@Sean Mccabe: I’d rather we hadn’t spent the best part of 20 to 30 years decimating our healthcare service. Our current Taoiseach overseen a dramatic reduction in hospital beds during his time as minister for health. Our Tánaiste is on record stating that more healthcare staff equals less productivity. Neoliberal healthcare has faced its first serious challenge and it has failed miserably.

@Laura Walsh: yes and I agree with alot of that but for as of here and now that can’t be fixed over Xmas and like it or not there’s a potential for a huge number of infections over Xmas.look at last year we were fully open and everyone let rip ,as a result we endured a 6 month lockdown and 3000 unnecessary deaths.il take closing pubs early over thst scenario again anyday

@Sean Mccabe: cop on man. This and last Xmas are totally different. There wasn’t a vaccine to be seen in Ireland last year, this year we are one of the most vaccinated countries on the planet (3rd in Europe and top 10 in the world). This is a NEPHET /HSE solution to their failure to build a 21st century health system, with sufficient beds and wards for our population, outside of any Pandemic. They are making us suffer because of that. Simple. Bad management and bad practises.

@Peter Murray: there wasn’t the omicron variant last Xmas either.vaccines alone won’t stop transmission so reducing social mixing is a necessary evil

@Sean Mccabe: the omicron variant is being blown out of all proportion maybe you should watch the interview with the SA CMO that the BBC did who can’t understand the hysteria in Europe over this

@Gavin Morrissey: Not only Tony, FFG hate fun. That’s why we’re the Saudi Arabia of Europe when it comes to cannabis seizures and prosecution.

@Tomo: good man let’s smoke our way out of the pandemic 3 blunts a year

@Gavin Morrissey: on record too!!

@Franny Ando: not

@Franny Ando: But Tony doesn’t like pubs so take it like sheep

@Anne Busher Collins: Reid RUNS the hse, and has not in anyway demonstrated why he should be on the wages he is. 455k a year for being in charge of a shambles of a service.

@Travis O Bickle: Ask the lads in the Netherlands, it was their approach as well. Also, NPHET are laughing all the way to the bank? Care to explain?

@Travis O Bickle: 100% correct

@Football in the Groin: Check their vaccination rates a lot lower then hours. No sensible reason to this suggestion no matter what way you try to twist it.

@Anne Busher Collins: They’re the unelected mudguard for the Govt. Have the last 50 years of politics taught you nothing?

@Football in the Groin:
You know NPHET gets paid the same amount no matter what advice they give…
Please keep the conspiracy theories to a limit

@Cowboy Ted: And yet Tony has set up Leo by telling him on Monday that there would only be small tweaks and then shafts them today.

@Cowboy Ted: No they are getting extra for being on NPHET so the longer they are there the more they get also DeGascun has the sole licence for pcr testing in the country would you not at least see a little conflict of interest there

@Travis O Bickle: Lol! pints over education.

@Denis White: and no doubt wage subsidies or pup not available as technically they haven’t closed them..sneaky you know what.

@Colm Molloy: it hasn’t even been 2 years. How is it close to 3?

@FrustratedASDMum: Most pubs are not opening until after 5pm….if they have to close at 5pm…..most will effectively be closed down. Yes again the hospitality industry is paying the price. It’s the most regulated business in Ireland (bar a very tiny minority and people should stay away from them and they’ll soon cop on). There has NEVER been a spate of COVID out breaks in pubs, restaurants or coffee shops. There has been at live sport, music events, schools, colleges, factories and illegal gatherings (watched and broken up by Gardai, with no arrests).
Hospitality is an easy target. As a coffee shop owner I’m such and tired of it.