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THE TAOISEACH HAS today launched a “key research initiative” aimed at recording attitudes to Covid-19 restrictions and how well people are adhering to them.
Designed by the ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit, this social activity measure (SAM) will be an anonymous, online study that surveys people about their recent activity.
The aim is to offer insights into where and how we are at risk of getting Covid-19 and it is hoped this will inform policy regarding the opening of parts of the economy and society in the coming months.
Next week, the government is set to unveil its new plan for living with Covid-19 which is expected to keep the same kind of levels system under the current plan, albeit with a number of tweaks.
The country has been under Level 5 restrictions since late December, and it is expected to be some time before restrictions are significantly eased.
In a statement, the government said this new research would ensure a “more complete picture of how people are behaving as well as peoples’ attitudes with respect to restrictions, what is working well and what may need to be adjusted at a given point in time”.
The survey will ask people to recall their activities, including occasions they left their homes and whether they had visitors during the previous week.
It will collect data from 1,000 respondents every two weeks. The government said it will publish the research starting this Friday.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “As our vaccination programme ramps up, we continue to rely on our behaviour as the best defence against contracting and spreading Covid-19.
“This research will be play an important part in helping us to understand more fully how restrictions affect our behaviour, ensuring that data and insight is the foundation for all of our policy decisions and communications approaches.”
People who are financially unaffected see those who have lost livelihoods/jobs/job security as selfish for wanting to be allowed back to work. People who have no family abroad want to block us off from the rest of the world indefinitely.
@Newto2016: yet these are the decision makers. If they where effected the same way as the rest of us we would not be in lockdown right now.
@Newto2016: Hey, not at all, I have sympathy for those people who are at home worried if they’ll have a job to go back to. I think about nightclubs closed and young people not having a place to just let loose. I desperately want to take my dad for a pint. I know alot of people disagree with my views on things but I can’t wait for the day to sit besidr you all in the pub to watch the game, I miss strangers.
It is absolutely not selfish to grieve over the things we are missing out on. You have to let your emotions take you on that journey.
Of course every life lost is heartbreaking but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be allowed to say what you miss.
I draw the line at people who don’t care about people and want everything open because its an inconvenience to them cause they can’t go on holidays.
@Ally Mc Culladgh: i agree with your comment until the bit where you make a link between ‘people who want to reopen’ and ‘people who dont care about people’ — heres the thing – about half the country are badly financially impacted by Irelands long lockdowns and the other half biggest impact is work from home on full pay . There is a major difference between the two. I care greatly about people but i think the plan and use of lockdown in Ireland has been awful , really really really poor – evidenced by the comparison that some other countries plans havee allowed them to reopen their local economies and tackle the virus limiting the damages on the people that extended lockdowns have. China for example where the pandemic outbreak occured have reopened their local economy and people in Wuhan are celebrating new years – NZ managed to keep deaths to 200 and also managed reopened their economy 6 months ago actually – yet in ireland we are talking (again ) about the slowest reopening in 2021 – so in truth the plan in 2020 failed miserable as we had worst of both worlds – longest lockdown and high deaths and infections – and i would point to the failed strategy of the leadership and health authorities to implement a strategy that would have had balanced approach – pick the top 10 countries who have managed covid plan well and implement the one that best suits ireland – there is nothing at all wrong with calling for reopening – it doesn’t make me a bad person and it certainly doesn’t mean i dont care for people – i think they got the planning all wrong in ireland and if there is nobody asking them hard questions or pushing back on their ineptitude – they have presided over a shambolic Living with Covid Plan and are now boxed in a corner where they think the only way forward is to be wayyyy too slow , way too conservative and wayyy too cautious – and this will mean we will be inflicting much more damage to the local economy and the half of the country badly impacted financially while we subjected to daily nanny state nonsense that deflects from the facts – we should have imposed tight ports of entry / airport quarantines and aggressive test and trace regime ( not wound down testing like they did late summer when we need to chase the virus ) and implement a proper ‘Living with Covid” plan that actually means we can both live our lives and tackle the virus as is being done in plenty of other countries.
@Dave Hammond: Sorry Dave, I should try to be a bit clearer the last part is more aimed at the sort of open everything anti mask, anti science type of people. An example is the type of people who are willfully being neglectful of any sort of reasoning, I am talking about the likes of a certain lady on crutches.
I am of the same opinion when I heard of the living with covid plan, I assumed it meant society back to normal as we up our game in managing covid, not just, lockdown. Cause that isn’t “living with covid”.
@Newto2016: I agree with that
@Newto2016: That’s quite a narrow view of people!
@John Kieran: new to the Journal fella?
@Ally Mc Culladgh: it’s not a binary choice between open and closed. There are many steps in between. Nobody in their right mind thinks that unlimited access to bars, clubs, theatres etc is possible in any near future scenario. For all but three weeks we have been in lvl 5 lockdown since 20 October and there are many irrational restrictions. It’s time to open the curtains a little and let some light in. Coffee shops and unlicensed restaurants with terrace service and half capacity, click and collect, 20km travel, golf, tennis, gyms for personal training… Little steps over 2 or three months back to a level 2 type life.
Why are we concerned with people leaving the country if we have proper restrictions on people arriving??
Analysis results…..Some people are productive thoughtful members of society who do what’s best for everyone collectively by following guidelines and protecting the vulnerable of Irish society. Other people look for anyway to get around rules and take selfish acts by mindless justification rationale backed up by social media and general low contributor mentality. They are the same section of society who always behave this way regarding tax, law, business etc. Technical term….Mé Feinners
@Thomas Quinn: Well said, and these same individuals would protest and whinge if the government told them they weren’t allowed wear masks, contrarians who just default to an anti-social position.
@Thomas Quinn: it has always been like that and will always be like that. That’s our society.
@Thomas Quinn: yes all those businesses avoiding tax, claiming supports when had people working, forcing people into offices when they could work from home. Likes of meat plants exploiting low paid foreign workers, busing them from inadequate accommodation to work in unsafe conditions.
@Thomas Quinn: yep and the Government did very little to stop those people (opened everything in December, let loads fly back without even having negative test at Christmas). The point of this is obviously for the Government to try push back blame on society, but not all society, regular people (some of whom obviously did break the rules) and not business who repeatedly ignored guidelines like meat plants.
@Da Dell: Oh c’mon, don’t bring that one!
Mé Feinners only applies to the likes of you and me, not the govt and big business, you know that!
There is no such thing as 100% compliance anywhere (even in North Korea), yet some countries are clearly doing better than others. In fact, countries who locked down the most aren’t necessarily the ones doing the best.
Right now the strictest lockdowns in the world are in Cuba, Eritrea, Honduras and Ireland, in that order. Nothing more to add…
Just look at the traffic on the motorway. There’s no way that everyone on it is essential. But then neither are you mehole.
@Eddie Michael: Meehole is certainly not essential, except it is essential he goes. One of the vacuums that nature abhors, a blank.
It’s like asking an innocent person how he/she feels about being Locked Up for something they did not do.
@Peter Coen: Or asking the victims of crime how they feel about seeing their offending criminal walking around scot-free after being set loose because of some bizarre obscure legal technicality!
My attitude is you’ll go out of your way not to open the economy until find a vaccine for immorality………
Hopefully followed by surveys of the people’s views on how the whole pandemic was and is being handled by the Gov and relevant Depts such as Health & Education.
“The government said this new research would ensure a more complete picture of how people are behaving as well as peoples’ attitudes with respect to restrictions”… Hmm, sounds a bit like dystopian China? Maybe the next time the “study” won’t be anonymous or with subject consent? Those scoffing at the idea that we’re becoming a nanny state, surveillance state and possibly a police state… take that!
Vaccination, testing, proper contact tracing, and reopening the country should be his top priorities, not trying to gauge whether he can get away for another year without an uprising on his hands!
P.S. I like that fact that “key research initiative” is in quotes. Even the journal knows it’s BS
He would want to look at his own first. Im still laughing he wasn’t invited to the white house.
He is a tosser of the highest order. Irreparable damage being done to the economy and their solution is to say they will just extend the financial supports. This isn’t pretend money, it will cripple our kids paying it back. The ministers and TDs will be fine with the index linked pensions. Their only strategy is preying the vaccine sorts it all out. We are one of the worse performing countries when account is taken of the ongoing damage being done to the economy. Open up the economy with some restrictions but this time enforce them. And get rid if MM and Varadkar, 2 complete muppets in different ways.
So he is going to waist tax payers money on this when all he has to do is look at social media and the feedback his party is getting
@Mark Behan: maybe he shouldn’t look at social media if the spelling is reflective of the intelligence of the contributors.
@Deirdre Fahey: hope you get the call soon for the vaccine as your on the over 85 list
@Deirdre Fahey: Or the ignorance of some who think they are better than others.
What a waste of resources! Why not just read the comments section of ‘The Journal’ whenever there’s a story about Covid? Far more revealing and can be done for a fraction of the cost…
If the records of the attitude concerning the pandemic, will they be destroyed if they do not suit the narrative of Martin and company..They seem to have no problem with the destruction of statements concerning the Mother and baby home’s report.
Absolute spin to deflect from the cock ups already made and to justify the really slow opening up of society. He needs to be removed from office.
Brilliant. This is an age-old political ploy. When you want to deflect attention from your own pathetic performance, launch a “survey”.
@Jane Aelst: or create a commission. Or tribunal. Or anything else that will take a long time and yield no results whatsoever or justify the parties position …..
Is this another way of saying: We would like to gauge how the public are behaving after been repeatedly let down. If the results are poor we will condemn the people. If the results are good, we’ll just keep kicking the can down the road.
“The survey will ask people to recall their activities, including occasions they left their homes and whether they had visitors during the previous week.
It will collect data from 1,000 respondents every two weeks.”
How can data from just 1000 people be representative of 4.8 million people, and used to formulate Gov policy? These surveys are not scientific and the ‘experts’ need to come up with a more demographic and accurate way of gauging the truth.
@SteveBuzzard: What is a better way of gathering the info than the randomised survey? Just curious what approach you think is better?
Ditch the 5k limit.
People in towns and large estates have no access to woodlands,large open parks and sea area’s.
Very depressing for lots of people stuck in a concrete jungle.
@Mr Bordello: and those of us in rural areas had no access to click and collect as there were none within the 5km limit. I live up a steep hill and still get out of breath having had covid19 last year so difficult to walk very far within my 5km limit. Should people who live on hills be allowed to travel to a flat area? We all have something to moan about or we can just get on with it. People in towns and cities can still go out for a walk or run outside.
@Mr Bordello: The only reason for still doing this (other than the fact that they can) is because it makes it easier for gardai to enforce travel restrictions. Martin has admitted that in at least one interview. Go figure… as if the main goal is to make guards lives easier. Time for another dance video maybe?
If the 5km restriction were necessary and unavoidable, everyone else would be enforcing it.
@Sara Davis: I agree with how hard it has been for you and people in a similar position.
In terms of mental health,walking by the sea or in the hills,parks etc is a lot better than walking around grey estates with idiots on scramblers etc running riot, I’m good with work and running around. Lots of people don’t feel safe or comfortable in the circumstances.
I just want to go on a holiday
And don’t mention a feckin staycation to me in this kip of a country
@Colm Duke Malone: if you think the country is such a kip perhaps you should consider emigration.
Seems like a bit of a pointlesss exercise? find out ‘peoples attitude to lockdown’? What does he expect to hear back? It’s great! please sir, can we have some more? Howver neccessary it may have been as tool to date let’s be honest, it sucks big time! I’d be vary dubious of how reliable any data is as a meaningful reference. Those that do frequently break restrictions are hardly likely to flock online to confirm that they do.
@S J king: what our activities are? What activities shopping once a week and walks when its not raining snowing or blowing a gale. They only know one course of action lockdown. These lockdowns are unbearable no company not seeing family for months and trying to stay positive and look after our mental health. I cant see the economy or people recovering from all this for a long time.
Stoic & scourged.
Whats going on here, a study to gauge our attitude towards Covid -19 restrictions.
Ireland as a member of the EU as like the Netherlands may now have a major change in attitude towards the Plandemic. This is the outcome of the court case in the Netherlands when Judges are independent free thinking people.
I fail to understand that the Irish Court system in the Summer, had the same case, same evidence / intel and the outcome was completely different.
What does that tell us ?
I trust the same EU laws apply to us also, or are the laws selected in cases with the same evidence.
A Dutch court has ruled to end a government-imposed covid-curfew, calling the restriction a “far-reaching violation of the right to freedom of movement and privacy”, and arguing that it curtailed Dutch citizens’ rights to demonstrate and freely assemble.
@Laz Mahon: first of all stop listening to people in tin foil hats. Secondly, we don’t have a curfew. Finally, the court decision is being reviewed.
@Sara Davis: this information is from the Dutch courts. I am sure every court decision usually has an appeal process.
Definition of a curfew is a Restriction.
Why are you so defensive, when other people have a different view point after reading the outcome of a court case. Carry out your research before you make a comment.
@Sara Davis: First, time to stop seeing ‘tin foil hats’ everywhere. It’s not the ultimate argument winner or a brilliant piece of wisdom.
Second, no need to quibble over words. We might not have a curfew, but we have a higher govt stringency index than Netherlands (87.9 vs 78.7) which means we have more restrictions overall. Trust me, you won’t find many – if any – countries in the world subjecting their citizens to a 5km rule around the clock.
Third, being reviewed doesn’t amount to being overturned. As of now, the Dutch have more freedoms than us.
I can’t think of any other use for this data by the government other than to increase restrictions, increase fines and other penalties, and further erode personal freedoms.
He’s truly clueless.
Opening up the economy is going will have to be done in a very careful way , certainly nothing like was done before. There are many things to be taken into account, rural Ireland has being closed since last March and that is where opening up the country should start , easier to ensure no raise in Covid and if it does easer to bring under control unlike big city . But looking at the history I doubt that will happen,
have your say