The erasure from collective consciousness of government briefings in December 2020 - a lesson in listening
Its no surprise to see the media flooded with hand wringing "why didn't the government tell us" howls, when talking about the huge rise in rates in Covid 2021 between 30th Nov and 22nd Dec. But in fact, the government told you, over and over, that like speed limits, lifting of restrictions was permission, and not a target for hedonism on a grand scale. Here are just a few examples. Back in March, the country became familiar with the wonderful Liz Canavan, who is the most senior official at Department of the Taoiseach, and has been for many years. Had the media bothered continuing to listen to Canavan, instead of obsessing over every minutiae the then Taoiseach, and soon to be Tanaiste, Dr Leo Varadkar, might say, they might actually have noticed. For example, on Nov 30: "if you are meeting people over this period, and indeed beyond that, there will always be an element of risk. What we are asking is that you actively manage that risk – outdoors is better than indoors...