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WELCOME TO HOW I Spend My Money, a series on The Journal that looks at how people in Ireland really handle their finances.
We’re asking readers to keep a record of how much they earn, what they save if anything, and what they’re spending their money on over the course of one week.
Are you a spender, a saver or a splurger? We’re looking for readers who will keep a money diary for a week. If you’re interested send a mail to money@thejournal.ie. We would love to hear from you.
Each money diary is submitted by readers just like you. When reading and commenting, bear in mind that their situation will not be relatable for everyone, it is simply an account of a week in their shoes, so let’s be kind.
Last time around, we heard from a tax accountant on €100K living in Wicklow. This week a PhD researcher living on a €22K stipend in Dublin.
I am a PhD researcher at a university in Dublin, carrying a non-EU passport, but having lived and worked in many other countries previously. It is frustrating to find myself, as a 39-year-old woman, living with two other housemates, given Dublin’s housing crisis – something that nobody fathoms before moving to Ireland. But I love the city; much of its fissures and fractures are similar to other postcolonial countries. But I wish living here was not so expensive.
I had not found an accommodation until 36 hours before my cross-continental flight to Ireland in December 2021. It was a red flag that I should have paid heed to. I had signed on a contract of an annual tax-free stiped of €16,500. Little did I know that that amount would leave me with no savings at the end of each month; this is not something we are aware of before heading to the land of céad míle fáilte.
After much campaigning within our universities and the Ministry of Higher Education, our stipend was raised twice, and my stipend is currently at €22,000 – it’s still below minimum wage. This means I have €1,833 each month to live and love, eat and heal, rest and resist. After much existential angst in questioning the purpose of finding myself so poor for the first time in my life, the changing hues of blue and green during my regular trips to Howth provide me with fistful of satiating answer.
It’s not easy at all, even though I don’t have children or even a dog. I don’t have a spouse. I wonder if it’s worse that my precarity does not allow me to even dream of the possibility of having children; or to be like my PhD peers, whose educated spouses have lost their careers after moving to Ireland because spouses of PhD researchers are not permitted to work full-time in Ireland – bedlam like this is unlike any place else in the EU.
My father’s bedtime stories to me – since the time I was six – were about different animals going into our local bank to open a savings account, and learning how to save, and later create a fixed deposit. I am now that feral cougar, gamifying my savings plan, while living on €1,833 each month. I hate shopping, I love painting, I hate meal-planning, I love eating; I live with seasonal depression and ADHD, I eat based on my moods; I enjoy my wine, I hate that wine is so expensive in Dublin.
Occupation: PhD researcher
Age: 39
Location: Dublin
Salary: €22,000
Monthly pay (net): €1,833
Rent: €600 (this includes the utilities)
Medical insurance: €45 (as a foreigner living in Ireland, I must have an Irish Resident Permit (IRP). It requires an annual renewal that costs a whopping €300 – which is thankfully covered by my university – but one of the key documents towards applying for the IRP is private medical insurance, whose premium has been increasing every year. My premium is higher than that of my male peers: ah, the price of being a woman!)
Transport: €70 (I either work from home, or mostly walk to my university campus)
Phone bill: €20
Therapy: €280
Groceries: €175 (a mix of SuperValu and Lidl)
Meals out: €200 (mostly at my university)
Coffee: €60 (mostly at my university)
Gym membership: €50 (so grateful for the pilates classes at the Dublin City Council gym in my neighbourhood)
***
8.00 am: Wake up, check my phone for 30 minutes (“The world is still a dumpster fire with cute dog videos”) and then rush to shower. I definitely need to wash my hair as it smells. I have to look presentable for a session I am chairing at an event in Dublin city centre.
9.20 am: The bus arrives just as I exit from the door; so blessed that the bus stop is on my doorstep. Head to the city centre while munching on an energy bar so I can pop my ADHD pill.
10.10 am: Arrive in the city centre and run for five minutes to reach the venue; there is coffee! Hallelujah!
1.00 pm: I wasn’t expecting lunch to be served at the venue, so the free dehydrated sandwiches look delicious. I was looking through my phone during some of the sessions for lunch options, so this was a good save.
2.30 pm: Skip the sessions and head to EuroGiant nearby to buy another ball of black wool, to complete the crochet winter hat (€2). Spend too much time while resisting buying more art supplies. I then head to Penneys and buy a flannel shirt (€15). I wait at Burger King on O’Connell Street for my friend to arrive from Belfast.
6.00 pm: My friend and I head to Tula in Temple Bar area to treat her to a burrito dinner. She is trying out different versions of ‘Asian food’ while being a tourist in Manchester and then Belfast. I am still full, so settle for chips and guacamole (€13.95).
8.30 pm: After making our way through Temple Bar, where my friend is enthralled by the vibes of the crowded bar (neither of us is in the mood for a pint), I begin to head home – but not before a trip to Tesco to grab some raspberries and onions (€5.15). I head home tired.
Today’s total: €36.10
9.00 am: Wake up; spend an hour browsing my phone while trying not to beat myself up for not having prepared overnight oats with the raspberries I bought the previous night.
10.30 am: Jump out of bed, have a shower, chew on another energy bar to be able to pop my ADHD pills, wear proper clothes and head to the university campus by bus. Too tired to walk.
12.00 pm: Head to the student centre to get a new Leap card as the previous one had expired (€30).
2.00 pm: Off for lunch with a colleague, and I choose pasta (€6.05). I say yes to the garlic bread that was offered, only to later realise that it costs €1.05! Too expensive, too unnecessary with all the pasta carbs.
6.00 pm: Work until this far while trying not to get distracted by incoming emails. Coding data is only fun with headphones and DnB. Tune into a Zoom call for 90 minutes.
8.15 pm: Realise that SuperValu next to my home will close at 9 pm and I have to get cleaning supplies for the house as it’s my turn. Get the bus and manage to grab toilet cleaner, dishwashing liquid and toilet paper (€3.37).
9.15 pm: Walk home; cook some pasta that I had purchased in Italy during a conference trip last year (I had been rationing it because it was made of organic wheat). Have it with some store-bought pesto and eat it with Netflix turned on and in bed. All plans to work a bit more go for a toss because it’s tough to turn off Netflix.
11.00 pm: It’s time for bedtime reverse procrastination and I spend an hour on the phone; tomorrow I will do better.
Today’s total: €39.42
4.00 am: I am awakened when my housemate shuts the door on his way out to work. I cannot fall back asleep till 5.30am. I send an audio message to my friend that, sorry, she should head to Howth on her own, and that I will see her there at 11am.
9.30 am: I wake up when the alarm goes off (the one I set at 5am) and scrub myself. Wear some clothes that were lying around and make my way towards Tara Street.
10.30 am: The tiny shop attached to Tara Street station is closed, and so I head to the Fresh grocery store next door. I am pleased to find a coffee and pastry combo. (€5)
11.15 am: I meet my friend at Insomnia Café in Howth; she’s down from a hike up the cliffs on this sunny day. I am glad that she met a French woman along the way, and together – we women from different parts of the world – discuss perimenopause. This will be my second and last coffee for the day (€3.40)
2.00 pm: I meet my therapist whose clinic is in Howth, overlooking the sea. My therapist has been the safe space for me, during many turbulent times of academic life in Ireland. It’s a steep fee, but it’s somatic therapy and I know this is an investment in myself. Fewer tears shed today than usual (€140). I take a stroll along the pier – a post-therapy ritual.
4.30 pm: On the train back to the city centre, I weigh in my options for food. I decide to head to Xi’an Street Food on North Earl Street and order the one dish that I have ever eaten: Biang Biang noodles (€14.80). The food arrives, and I send a photo of the dish to my brother, telling him I miss him. He sends back a load of emojis.
5.30 pm: I head to the Spar on Dame Street to sit and read for an hour while listening to Sunshine 104FM blaring above my head. The security guard walks up to me: will he shoo me out because I did not buy anything while trying to read? He instead asks me if I knew more about Stamp 1 visa after higher education in Ireland, and I tell him that the rules don’t seem to be very clear. We both shrug at the lack of transparency on Irish government websites, but we fist-bump as I leave. There is something about seeing another non-white person in a public space that makes those of us not-from-here to walk up to each other and speak. Is it common? I don’t know; it’s happened too often, and I love it.
7.20 pm: I head to Smock Alley Theatre where a friend has secured a ticket for me for a horror-themed series of plays. I love the first few plays, and grab a glass of wine at interval. The price is not written on their wall, so I gulp when I am asked to pay €8.50. I look around and I walk up to one woman to tell her that I loved her performance, but she tells me that it wasn’t her; she does acknowledge her resemblance with the actor onstage. The man she is standing with looks down at my feet and makes me feel very conscious of the fact that there is a tiny tear on my runners. I walk to a corner and stand and watch the group of white folks talk and laugh among themselves; thank heavens for one man, who turns out to be American, to come up and talk to me.
8.30 pm: I leave the theatre in the darkness when they are changing scenes: this last play made no sense at all! I wasn’t the first to leave though. My bus arrives as soon as I step out, and I wonder about two things: (a) I wish I had the confidence of the young lad with earrings and black lipstick as he carried a tattered bag with shoelaces on them, and (b) I should buy new shoes. Theatre spaces claim to be all-cool and all-welcoming, but in reality, I must beware of all enterprises that require new clothes (or shoes).
9.30 pm: Get into pyjamas and watch Netflix angrily and doze off around midnight.
Today’s total: €171.70
10.00 am: I had not set an alarm because I wanted to catch up on sleep, and so I find myself waking up at 10 am. I feel rested but my mood is very low.
11.00 am: I make some breakfast oats with the raspberries (before they go bad). This allows me to pop my ADHD pill, and I wonder if the pills are actually working because I continue to feel so stuck in the mornings, and when I am brimming with ideas in the evenings, I am too tired. I decide to stay at home and work from bed.
4.00 pm: I have managed some work, and my mood is better, from having allowed myself some grace by not exposing myself to more stressors: the indecisions of what to wear, people on campus, traffic and worry about the party later at night. I make myself a cup of instant coffee at home.
7.00 pm: I begin to get ready for the graduation party of a colleague who recently completed their PhD. My mood is upbeat now, and I turn on the music after showering, and as I get dressed. It’s a summer dress before it goes into a box for the winter; I look up Instagram to fashion a shrug from a scarf.
8.00 pm: Head to the party at a pub in Dublin South; happy to meet and mingle with colleagues outside the university. Buy a pint of Orchard Thieves for myself, and a strawberry daiquiri for the friend who hardly ever steps out owing to being a single mum to her toddler (€20.90).
10:30 pm: Head homeward from the pub, and feel I should wear more dresses, as long as they have pockets.
Today’s total spend: €20.90
9.00 am: I wake up with the alarm, as I want to head to the Pilates class at 10 am. I scramble my things together and walk fast, to reach the 10 am class.
11.00 am: Shower at the gym; it’s a much better experience to shower anywhere other than at my home where the shower is from another century and the flow of water is terrible; notwithstanding the cramped space for showering. Showing up for pilates is a good excuse to actually take a proper shower. Head to campus thereafter.
12.00 pm: I arrive at the university and the photos my mother sent, from the cremation of a beloved aunty, who passed away on Monday, finally hits me. I sit under a grove of trees on campus and cry. A lot. Another death, another loss, another older gone. My heart cannot accommodate any more grief, even though I had thought I had run out of tears. A man walks past, and asks me if I am alright, and I tell him about this loss. I am deeply touched that he checks in on me; it’s awfully lonely to be so far away from home, when my other European colleagues and professors can hop in and out of home every other month.
1.00 pm: Grab a coffee at the university. With my reusable cup (which has travelled with me since January 2020), the coffee on campus now costs €2.70 (it used to be €2.25 in 2022). I also grab lunch (€7.45), whose price has also gone up since I first arrived here.
1:30 pm: Today is the day I must finish the coding, even though I feel immensely low. The next few hours are a blur of responding to emails, chatting with some colleagues, attending an online webinar, and eating an orange a colleague gave me.
6.00 pm: I make myself a weak cup of instant coffee to keep myself going and some chocolate that was gifted to me month ago, by colleagues returning from conferences in exotic places.
9:40 pm: I pack my bags to take the bus home. I am very tired from all the crying and sleep earlier than usual; but not before stumbling upon an old photo with three people I have loved, including this aunty who passed away earlier in the week. The photo, of a joyful time from just a few years ago, is not a specimen of three deaths. I feel hopeless and lost.
Today’s total spend: €10.15
8:30 am: I wake up suddenly and feel that it does not make sense to lie in bed when there is so much pending work. So I head to the campus, while knowing that I have a Zoom call at 10:30 am.
10:15 am: I reach campus, but all shops are closed, except for Londis. I grab a sandwich and sambo (€7.70) and text my friend that I am running a few minutes late for our call, since the doors to the building where I work are locked.
12.00 pm: Right after the call, I finish my sambo finally and have a cup of instant coffee. Another colleague arrives and it feels good to be on campus, on a day like this when it is so empty. I work as best as I can, until 6 pm.
6:30 pm: I walk home, and with my earphones not charged, I get enough time to just mull with my thoughts. I am glad that my boyfriend is coming over tonight; I need a hug after a rough week. He tells me he will have dinner at his place (he is vegan and I am not, and we’ve learnt to eat our meals separately so that I don’t feel frustrated). I stop by the local chipper for a fish burger for dinner (€5.50).
8:30 pm: As I tidy my room, my boyfriend arrives and I’m glad that he’s brought along reinforcements: beer, cocktails in cans, and a massive bag of crisps. We call it a night after I introduced him to “Fisk” on Netflix.
Today’s total spend: €13.20
10.00 am: I wake up slowly, and the boyfriend kindly brings me a big bowl of oatmeal and coffee in bed. We tackle his Wordle, crosswords, connections and strands together: a moment of frustration that there are too many US-centric cues.
12.00 pm: We try to read our respective books, but I am still tired from the long week, and I need a nap.
5.00 pm: My boyfriend and I walk towards SuperValu. While he heads home, I decide to cook a large pot of chicken and rice and vegetables and pack them in boxes for dinners for the week ahead. I end up buying leeks, canned tomatoes, chicken, potatoes, eggs, energy bars and oranges (€16.50). I want to take the oranges to campus as a daily snack; I want to be better with my dinners.
7.00 pm: I cook a fantastic chicken curry, and eat it with rice. I invite my two housemates to take a bite.
8.00 pm: I crochet while listening to a series of podcasts.
11.00 pm: I go to the kitchen for some more chicken curry and rice. What was meant to be food for at least three dinners, is now just a small morsel left for the next day. I ate too much, but it was so delicious! Really proud of myself.
Today’s total spend: €16.50
***
What I learned
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Time for a revolution!
@Jeremiah A Craic: do you have a spare pitchfork?
@Jeremiah A Craic: Virus Craic.
@Jeremiah A Craic: let the Internet basement warriors lead, away you go son
@DJ François: it could go viral
@Jeremiah A Craic: keyboard revolutionist – knock yourself out lad
I don’t get why the government cannot be questioned by journalists about there decisions, look at the amount of questions Trump has to answer at any press conference.
The word democratic is lost.
@Pavy Fennell: never seen trump actually answer a question
@bmul: that in itself is enough reason to ask a question.
@Pavy Fennell: there’s a press conference with the 3 party leaders on now, rte news channel are showing it
@Pavy Fennell: their
@Pavy Fennell: many of those political journalists move on to advisory roles for politicians, they don’t want to upset their next boss
@NickyVera: Like the Newstalk lad think he went on to be Simple Simon advisor.
@Pavy Fennell: mehole wouldn’t be able for questions. He’d be stuttering and talking gibberish. He couldn’t get away fast enough after His pre written address. Lol
@Pavy Fennell: unfortunately journalists in Ireland are just as happy to go for sensationalism rather than fact. Just look at how newstalk the indo the times and every other outlet in the country went after the male teachers in the Carlie school this week. Story first, public interest and facts later.
@Pavy Fennell: because the script is already written by their spin doctors. Any questions outside the script and they can’t cope.
@Pavy Fennell: Mickie Martin is lying, The figures had already started to rise when kids went back to school & just before the pubs opened they upped the testing. All these figures have already been published, so it is more lies from this so called government. Shame on every TD & Minister, but it will not be forgotten by the publicans.
Also, people are not stupid, this government needs to treat them with respect.
@NickyVera: Nail. Head. Hit.
@Pavy Fennell: I seem to remember a press conference a few months ago and some sort of NPHET new hire PR woman was telling journalists that “those” sorts of questions weren’t going to be answered. NPHET’s own Kayleigh McEnaney as it were…
@bmul: Not defending trump, but have you ever seen ANY politician give a straight answer to a question? not that Trump is a politician, which means he actually did answer questions, no matter how nuts the answer.
@Pavy Fennell: totally agree. 9 mths of press conferences and not one single question from the floor. I mean the sign of a healthy democracy is a probing and questioning press. Where and why has it gone?
@Pauline Gallagher: he talked a lot but never answered a question so he is a politician
Disappointing given that many of these pubs have invested heavily in screening and providing booths to allow people have a drink while remaining away from other patrons. It must be frustrating that despite addressing all the protocols to safeguard customers and decorating the premises for the Christmas season that they are forced to remain closed, perhaps never to open again.
@Honeybee: If the government was straight up and told the publicans that they would not open until a vaccine was widely available it would be a lot fairer.
@Bert Carolan: I agree , there is a reluctance to be honest and up front with publicans which is soul destroying as they can not plan for the present or for the future.
@Honeybee: I kind of agree with both of you, but I think it was probably hoped (at least by some in power) that they would be able to give good news, rather than risk losing the government bench to SF at the next election.
I’m no fan of FFG but it’s an awful enemy they’re up against.
(By that I mean Covid)
@JusticeForJoe: So you are saying that the Gov are making decisions for the benefit of their Political Careers rather than the Country .. ok Joe you are waking up .. most people are aware of that for ages..
@JusticeForJoe: Interesting article by Mark Paul in the Irish times today. Makes the case that the health people are obsessed with Irish alcohol consumption.
@Da Dell: A politician doesn’t have a career without votes, Da Dell. I didn’t claim it was a revelation, but thanks or something.
@Honeybee: when have Irish politicians been up front about anything other than giving themselves pay hikes?
@Da Dell: yknow, if one of them was willing to risk their political career in the better interest of the country, I’d respect that enough to give them a vote, even if they were wrong.
@Bert Carolan: They have been for years because a good Sat night in E.R after lads have been out for pints and got into a few scrapes exposes massively how much money has been wasted on highly paid clip board fluff jobs in the health service instead of the required front line staff. But sure blame the pubs and the beer.
Good luck with that. Any other normal year just about any doctor would tell you isolation from others is a fast track to depression and ill health.
This whole thing has gone way too far. More harm been done then good overall.
@mark connolly: every other year we don’t have a worldwide pandemic to deal with. You’re right though, this has gone too far. Easing restrictions just because people were crying about Christmas is too far.
@mark connolly: Evidence that it’s doing more harm than good? Open everything up, hospitals get overrun and people in need of hospital treatment get turned away. What would that do for mental health of those affected and hospital staff trying to cope?
@Richard: Used to get annoyed back in the day at the backward Irish tag. Now I couldn’t argue with it. Christmas? Could they lift them for my birthday while they’re at it? It means so much to me and my kids. And I want my presents!
@Richard: You’re not one of those “zero covid” conspiracy theorists are you? You might as well close the place forever while we try to get to zero flu too.
They are lucky that the election was just before all that started. I could imagine that publicans could make some noise.
@Vanessa: End of republican politics and the start of Pro-Publican politics?
@SilexFlint: Very droll.
@Vanessa: A bonanza now for off licences house parties galore!!
@Vanessa: why are they lucky. SF are in government in the north and they are in lockdown. They obviously agree with the restrictions so if that’s your problem, who is left for you to vote for. Maybe if all the publicans stuck to the rules at level 2 they would have to be whinging now
@John Buckley: It doesn’t matter who is currently in power but if you say the publicans won’t remember and not able to influence voters you would be wrong.
Also how have publicans not stuck to rules broken any rules when they are closed since half a year?
@Vanessa: as if voters could be influenced by publicans, no one wants to hear your whinging.
I stated level 2 which is when they were all open. Everyone say the majority of wet pubs did not comply with all rules
@John Buckley: The pubs were outside of Dublin open for 2 weeks.
Who is that everyone you are speaking of?
@John Buckley: any of the pubs local to me – which is one of the largest towns in the country, so quite a few to choose from, abided by and enforced the rules. I’d love to know where all these places people talk about are – wouldn’t mind getting a drink in one of them!!
McConkey on RTE now, please spare us from his miserable outlook on life. The most depressed and depressing man I’ve ever seen. #Gethimoffthetelly.
@Mark Malone: Role out the State narrative
@Mark Malone: and George Lee, his Is very negative. All doom and gloom
@Mark Malone: And Dr.Death George Lee
@Mark Malone: he’s all short of a hooded cloak and a scythe
@Brian Madden: George ‘grim reaper’ lee
@Mark Malone: Not him again? 120,000 deaths was his prediction.
@Mark Malone: https://youtu.be/QS06cLEyowg?t=7
@billy bound:
Yes, George the Lugubrious. Probably gasping for a few pints like the rest of us.
Hopefully the gloom will lift soon.
So Many Wet pubs will be Converted to Gastro Pubs Overnight.. and there will be very little Regulation.. and good Luck to them.. Garda will not get caught up in it.. to much hassle for them.
@Paul Somers: so you think they can install a fully functioning kitchen overnight??? Not a chance
@Paul Somers: I can see a fair bit of pushing the rules here alright. As in if it’s a family pub will the house kitchen count? And if there has to be a chef, does the chef have to be full time? Is there legislation to back this up?
@Jonnie Marre: Doesn’t take long to put in an oven and a deep fat fryer.
@Jonnie Marre: They never mentioned the kitchen aspect just said pubs selling food. :):)
@Jonnie Marre: it will happen.. you will be reading about it soon enough.. this is Ireland and we can be very Creative in small amounts of time
#ohitwillhappen#
@Fred the Muss…: You have to get a Food safety cert to operate a kitchen as far as I know
@Bert Carolan: agree with all you have outlined.. we are the Masters of finding Shortcuts.
@Thomas O’ Donnell: You have to register with HSE as far as I know but is legislation in place to say that any pub that opens must be registered with the HSE? But maybe all this is sown up.
@Bert Carolan: how about a chip van outside
@Bert Carolan: We’ll the food safety authority can shut down a kitchen and so the pub could be shut down as a result
@Thomas O’ Donnell: Fair enough but the pub would be closed anyway,
@Paul Somers: eh would they not need one of those legally binding documents that register them as a restaurant also.
@Fargo Boyle: nope they are already registered
. Any pubs that have recently served food only need to tweak things a bit to comply with the Regulations.. don’t have to register as a Restaurant.
@Paul Somers: EHO visited all the pubs that opened after the last lockdown to ensure correct food procedures in place, and the Garda were checking on pubs 4 to 5 times a week, im sure this will continue when this lockdown lifts too. (source: work in pub sector).
@Tina Kelly: don’t doubt youat all.. EHO most definitely did NOTvisit all pubs.. and the Garda did not come into our Pub 4or5 times in any given week” whilst in Level 2 or 3.. without doubt ‘in less than a mile radius of were I’m from there are 11 Public houses and only 3 to 4 of these were checked no more than 2 times in a week by any Relevant Authority.
If only we’d known all along that installing a kitchen on a premises would reduce transmission
@David Kelly: Like how being in school reduces transmission
@David Kelly: Is it really that hard to understand (I suspect not). Pubs are much better settings for transmitting a virus than restaurants. People sit at a table in a restaurant and are moved on after a certain period of time. There’s a lot more interaction between people in pubs. It would be legally/practically impossible to distinguish between a restaurant and a pub operating as a restaurant.
@Thomas O’ Donnell:So based on that ‘logic’ Restaurants are safer than schools
Is it really that hard to understand, that not all pubs are the same, that there is a big difference in a Sports Bar in Temple Bar than Ballyporeen in Tipp .. That not everyone is every pub is pissed, half naked jumping on top of on another.
How are gyms allowed to open, people working up a sweat, air transmission in an indoor setting ?
Approximately 1.46% of the population have had the virus.
Approximately 0.04% of the population have died from the virus
This based on the numbers in the story and that our population in 2019 was 4,904,000.
@Verners Tess: died with the virus
@Verners Tess: so if you were in charge, what would you do?
@Dublin days: It would make sense to protect the vulnerable and their carers. No sign of that today. The expectation is that ‘all society will protect the vulnerable’. A bit of a stretch when all society might not each be responsible for a vulnerable person or be exceptionally alarmed that those we are artificially and with great cost be keeping alive might succumb
@Paul Walsh: exactly. The strategy that we used since day one could only have ever worked if every single person played their part (human nature means that was never going to happen) and we actually had the legal, financial and staffing means to close our borders (we don’t). We then get people shocked and insulted that people like me suggested we should isolate the vulnerable while their suggestion was isolate everyone. The current strategy killed 2,000 people and we did nothing to protect the vulnerable. We left our hospitals and nursing homes and care homes wide open. We let the virus run rampant through meat factories and direct provision centres. And to top it off, we’ve tanked our economy for at least the next 10-15 years with countless lives ruined. For what?
@Paul Walsh: You think all those classed as vulnerable are being “artificially” kept alive ? Wow ! You really haven’t a clue.
@Cliff Burnby: depends how you’re comparing artificial and natural, I suppose. Those living in nursing homes are there because they can no longer adequately care for themselves. It’s not an unfair description, in that sense. It’s just unpleasant to think of it that way.
@Verners Tess: No, that’s positive tests, not had Covid-19.
@Verners Tess: that’s not even “from. It’s”with”!!
@Aidan Keogh: A third of our population are classed as vulnerable, do you think a third of our population are in nursing homes ?
I’ll say this and this is all I’ll say on the matter. RIP publicans.
@Sean Kelly: Clam down Son.
@Sean Kelly: agreed there end of the line for alot,very sad.
@Fred the Muss…: .
The Taoiseach on the news pontificating to us more plebs. How can anyone take this ribbing clown seriously?
@Frank Cauldhame: I do. It’s ranting like that I don’t take seriously
High risk pubs, closed since March. Where’s the studies? It’s hearsay
@Owwwwnnnn: BREAKING NEWS Ireland isn’t the only country affect by covid. Theres is ample evidence worldwide on this. Why don’t you Google the effect that states in the US which reopened too early suffered. 100,000 daily average case numbers. And really, you would read a scientific study? And Santa is bringing me a PS5….
Queue the shaming videos of folk take away pinting over next 3 weeks! Curtain twitchers.
@Gavin Mckenna: its been more than 3 weeks, its been happening through this lockdown. This is why we can’t have nice things.
@Paul Cunningham: Agreed but eh CHRISTMAS brings em all out. You think b4 was bad, 100 times worse in next festive few weekd. The do gooder brigade. Wait you see. Sad.
@Paul Cunningham: Its being happening since March and we know because the likes of you have been complaining about them since, Covid rates have being going up and down since .. buts sure keep the narrative spinning that its the pubs are the issue ..
@Da Dell: Aint spinning and the likes a me? No sorry Paul. I’m all for supporting bars take away pints for me all the way. It’s the public videoing photos of this that’ll go tru the roof over next 3 weeks, it’s guaranteed with the shaming via social media. An absolute disgrace. As I said curtain twitchers.
P cribbing just on rte there saying that pubs have to open because they do 30 percent of their annual turnover in December. This is totally misleading. How do except to do those sort of numbers with restricted numbers and social distancing?
@Damien O’ Brien: In fairness the were closed since March. The percentage could still be right
Could they not have opened the wet pubs but have table service only?
Insane can you imagine all the house parties there will be.
@Colin Mcgahon: But Leo said yesterday that he dosent agree with that sentiment, on the contrary he thinks that people are more likely to go to house parties if they have been to the pub, a totally out of touch fool. if people have nowhere to go then a house it will be!!
@Mel Finn: Did you ever hear of house parties after the pub?
@Thomas O’ Donnell: so no change to the risk profile then. House parties or pub then house parties, it’s all the same really. At least half the night in the pub there’d be someone in their ear.
@Colin Mcgahon: and fighting possibly a few murders but lamb leo knows a shaky martin we won’t let out poor mary lou like a carry on film
@Tommy the postman: I’ll have a pint of whatever you’re having, maybe then I might understand what you’re saying there.
Govt claiming no stats to open pubs heres one. Ye tried to shut take away 2 weeks ago because of street drinking this week ye are effectively endorsing it more u turns than Maggie T
Open the pubs in schools. They’re immune!
Don’t see how they can say ‘Wet pubs would be spreading the virus’ without giving us a link to the data which of course doesn’t exist.
I dont know who’s more miserable Mc Conkey or George Lee ,they act like born again alcoholics.
@Paul Mc: Doctor Death and the Grim Reaper….
@Paul Mc: Jaysus don’t forget about Fergal Bowers, that man has single handedly saved the stationary industry. The amount of notebooks he has gone through doing the daily dept of health announcements
SHOW US THE EVIDENCE
Interesting…strong evidence from the 2 weeks in the past 9 months that they were open???Knob.
There is no evidence to support this
The Taoiseach on the news pontificating to us mere plebs. How can anybody take this fibbing clown seriously?
Open the washing machine
@Vinny Clare: open the dishwashers
Publish the data to prove it mehole…..
@Eddie Michael: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7510694/
This relates to nightclubs, however there’s no difference out from the opening times between a busy packed wet pub and a nightclub essentially…
The blind leading the blind….
@rolyat ecnal: that’s an insult to blind people whose other senses are usually sharper . Out of touch group advises other out of touch group to lead the masses into another lockdown.
@Sean Nihill: ah dont worry your cotton socks, they can’t see this
Time for PUBLICANS to stand together. Surely their representative federations should encourage all of their members to decline the offer of 12 pieces of silver, to abandon their colleagues who don’t have cooking facilities. Allowing them to open is a token gesture aimed at nothing more than providing toilet facilities for the long suffering shoppers in the bigger towns and cities.
Why haven’t they produced it then, because there isn’t any it’s just guesswork, they are being victimised
The phrase on Wednesday from this phantom data was “where alcohol was consumed” the phrase today is “wet pubs”. Then he says 10 days after pubs opened,which seems to be a very short period of time to point the finger at any sector considering schools were open a few weeks beforehand.
Pubs in Dublin were closed yet cases spiked yet pubs are to blame…
The local pub not just in rural Ireland that may have liked to have their own running kitchen,chef and expand but the finances weren’t there because the pub trade has been on a downward spiral for years has now got the final nail.
Shebeens, house parties, street drinking and crazed binges will be the order for the next month or so. But that probably would be the way even if pubs were to open.
This has to stop. SHOW US THE EVIDENCE because no one trusts you anymore. If they don’t show us the evidence then we are not following the rules they are making up as the go along. The time for faith and trust is over. We’ve been shown nothing since this whole thing started. We don’t even know what data is being used in NPHETS modeling
the wimp is anti pub anyway
They never gave the pubs a change..FF are dead
There is no evidence to support this. Another blatant lie. He can’t help himself.
Did pubs not open the same day as college’s and schools reopened? Where is the evidence it was the pubs? Pubs were open for 2 weeks and even after they were closed for more than a month the numbers were rising causing the level 5 lockdown. But ya it’s the pubs. Zero evidence to suggest the pubs were the driving factor.
Unfortunately, a lot of people have yet to see the economic fall out from this. Other countries are predicting more than 50% of retailers and bars will close or never reopen in 2021.
I wonder what the government will or can do to create more jobs in other sectors. Whatever it is they need to start now.
@paul: govt do not create jobs. People who start businesses create jobs. People who work in Govt have no skin in the game and have never started a business or employed anyone. Some politicians have created businesses very these people are very rare. The govt are in the process of bankrupting these people.
Where is this evidence
@James: in the data….
@Jim Buckley Barrett: where’s the data? In the evidence?
Traditional pubs I refuse to use that other ridiculous word have gotten a seriously raw deal here, mind you I can’t wait to get out for a heap of pints next week
So Dr Me-hole has evidence !!! Is he a doctor of Deja-Vu or scaremongering ?
Genuinely is there a link to read this ‘evidence’? Mot being smart,
Evidence??? What evidence…theve all been closed since March ffs
Is going to show the evidence.
When was the last time he got wet never mind being in a pub
If pubs are going to be a problem for the future, is it not time that we looked at what is available to everyone at home legally?
@EPBIRL: You mean to ban alcohol completely? This is Ireland. There’d be riots, armageddon. The country in ashes.
@Bert Carolan: I doubt there would. Total lack of spine throughout the country. I would support a publicans’ revolt by drinking heartily in as many pubs as could be supported by my own constitution.
Author should proof read before publishing
Didn’t have a clue from day 1. Now 8 months on still not a funking clue what to do, just following the Brits and thats been a disaster.
Ill be out in Auckland partying tonight same as i have been for most of 2020.
Publish this evidence!!
They’ve more a less dangled going back to level 5 in Jan to make up for Xmas mingling in our faces, so don’t see what more harm opening a wet pub adhering to guidelines is gonna do… Its the wrong call keeping them closed and a large amount of people are now looking at the fact their place of work, being a pub will prob never get to open its doors again.
but we ok to let them do take away drinks meet in large groups, then urinate everywhere as no bathrooms
they should have let them open in a controlled envoirmnment
either way the cases i think will increase but at least give chance to do this safely
This so called evidence needs to be produced and shown .
Here’s what the only democratic review stated on NPHET
6. Adequacy and transparency of data used in decision making
24. The State’s response to Covid-19 demonstrated the need for data-led, evidence-based decision
making and the key role of data in informing policy, as well as developing strategy. Measures
designed to contain the spread of infection, including localised lockdowns, restrictions of particular
sectors, such as the hospitality sector, and restrictions on those entering the State and on Irish
residents seeking to leave to State, require accurate and robust data to be effective.
25. The Committee heard that all such recommended restrictions were based on available capacity in
Irish healthcare system, data collected in Ireland or international evidence.
26. Despite requests from representative bodies of the sectors concerned and this Committee, this
evidence was not produced.
27. The systems, processes and procedures used by NEPHET, including its capacity to engage and
communicate with outside medical and scientific experts, should be peer reviewed by an
independent expert panel in accordance with the norms of accountability and for future learning.
Recommendation 9:
Data relied upon by NPHET, its modelling code, as well as international evidence relied upon in
making its recommendations to the Government in response to Covid-19, should be published in
full and a peer review commission.
Absolute Rubbish, obviously the Gastro pubs have enough political investment to warrant this total inequality, shame on the the Vintners Federation as well, one closed all closed. We will still be in level 5 lockdown in January. From over 300 yesterday to 205 today, Are We seriously meant to believe this!! SEVEN people died in the last 24hrs, Ah lets open for Christmas, If You’re gonna open up then open up, stop discriminating. Still Stumbling around in the dark Micheal. Happy Christmas Peeps.
Evidence of wet pubs spreading cv19
One positive about this bloody virus……was able to walk around the city today without a collection box being shoved under my nose every ten feet, like is the norm at this time of the year.
The author needs to proof read before publishing
If that’s true, I would like to see the strong proof.
Seems my account has been unrestricted after 2 months even if I can’t use the app
He’s right. Pubs open equals virus spread. Lockdown till January. It’s the safe way.
What a crock of s hit
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