Avoid large social gatherings on St Patrick's Day, says Taoiseach, as 18 Covid deaths confirmed
Taoiseach Micheál Martin: 'I am asking people to enjoy a safe St Patrick's Day from a Covid perspective.' Picture: Julien Behal
People should avoid gatherings in homes or in large groupings on St Patrick’s Day, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
Speaking in Dublin today, Mr Martin said the occasion presents a challenge to the country in terms of battling the transmission of Covid-19.
“It's very, very important that we avoid household gatherings, that we avoid congregation in general,” he told the .
“Occasions like tomorrow can potentially create opportunities for the spread of the virus which we must resist. That is my appeal to people more generally. We've made a lot of sacrifices, the sacrifices have been effective, that brought the numbers down, let's keep at it.
“I am asking people to enjoy a safe St Patrick's Day from a Covid perspective. It's very important that people avoid social gathering, congregation of any sort, given the state of play in relation to the virus itself. We are dealing with a variant that spreads far more easily,” he said.
“Really, the key issue is the avoidance of congregation, the avoidance of gathering.
Mr Martin said the experience of other EU countries is a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases which he said is evidence of the transmissibility of the B117 variant strain.
Meanwhile, 18further deaths and 349 new cases were confirmed this evening by Department of Health officials.
Seventeen of the deaths occurred this month and one more occurred in February.
Ireland's Covid-19 death toll is now 4,552, while the total number of cases confirmed here since the outbreak began is now 227,663.
Ahead of his meeting with US president Joe Biden, Mr Martin said the fundamental aspect of tomorrow's meeting is to strengthen and deepen even further the bilateral relationship between Ireland and the US.
“That is critical,” he said.
“There's an economic dimension that is a cultural dimension to that. And given the president's warm affection for Ireland, I think we can look forward to in the context of EU-US relationships, and the role that Ireland can play in nurturing that,” he added.
He said the bilateral aspect of the relationship is key, adding that Covid will be obviously a theme of tomorrow's discussions.
As for the vaccine issue, it is clear Mr Martin will not be seeking direct support from Mr Biden in terms of vaccine supply but will be making the point that global interdependence here is important as is the need to avoid protectionism by any one country.
“I will also update the president on the workings of Brexit, thank him for the work he has been doing and his consistent support for Ireland in relation to peace on the island of Ireland and in relation to the Brexit agreement itself.”
He also said he will be seeking an update from Mr Biden as to progressing the issue of regularising the status of undocumented Irish in the US.
“This is a longstanding issue and we will ask the president for an update and we will also be speaking to speaker Nancy Pelosi,” he said.
Mr Martin also accused Sinn Féin of “engineering” a controversy around the position of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar who is reportedly subject to a criminal investigation into his leaking of a GP contract in 2019.
He said the party’s actions were “deeply cynical”.
“I don’t take their comments as sincere comments. Actually, I find them deeply cynical,” he added.
He said the “device” of Mary Lou McDonald writing letters to him and “trailing them” publicly in advance is a “well-worn device” at this stage.
“So it's a tactic that's deployed but they don't seem to be frank, I don't see a whole lot of sincerity behind there,” he said.
The Taoiseach said An Garda Síochána must be given space to conduct its inquiries.
“In my view, you know, if the gardaí have inquiries, they need to be allowed the space to continue with those inquiries,” he said.
“I am not officially aware of the nature of those inquiries in any shape or form, I read newspaper reports. But that's about the size of it from my perspective. The gardaí should be allowed do their work. And that to me is the most important principle at play here. And I don't think people should play politics with it,” he added.
Asked should Mr Varadkar not step aside, without prejudice, to allow gardaí to conclude their work and to prevent the inquiry overshadowing the work of the Government, the Taoiseach said: “There's also a presumption of innocence before I give them anything, that's a very basic principle.”
He said the Tánaiste apologised at the time when that debate happened for his actions and said clearly it was an error of judgement.
“That's a matter for the gardaí. I don't involve myself in that. And that's the way it should be left and they should be allowed the space to do what they have to do and that should be that separation between politics and the justice side,” he said.
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