Dr Niamh Lynch: Hope will not get us through these critical weeks

"We have learned from tragic experience that Nphet are seldom wrong. Hope will not keep us afloat in a fourth wave of Covid-19"

Thu, 01 Apr, 2021 - 06:30

Niamh Lynch

A hopeful looking Taoiseach addressed the nation on Tuesday. After setting out a calendar of sorts for the gradual reopening of the country and the economy, he concluded on an optimistic note.

"Most importantly, the worst of this awful pandemic will be behind us."

The sun shone down. The seagulls argued playfully in the background, and as our Taoiseach spoke, it was almost impossible to suppress a creeping sense of optimism.

It’s funny how spring does that, brings a sense of new beginnings, fresh starts. Hope.

Many years ago, I worked with a little girl called Hope. She had many challenges in her life, but she lived up to her name. Her family was told she would never walk. She walked.

Her family was told she would never speak. She spoke.

Her family was told she would possibly die. She lived.

To me, Hope symbolised the resilience of children, the deep, fierce love parents have for their children, and the lengths they will go to in order for them to survive and thrive. Hope had a team looking after her.

Her parents were the captains; the nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists - we were the support.

If Hope were a child now, she would have spent months away from her special school, months without her dedicated support team, redeployed to the Covid front, and months without the special shoes that gave her the support she needed to walk.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach sowed the seeds of hope for many of the nation’s children. The athletic ones, that is.

From April 26, young girls and boys who enjoy field sports will burst onto the country’s training pitches.

They will return home with rosy cheeks and enormous appetites, and their parents will once again assume the role of Taxi Driver in Chief.

They might even fit in a round of golf, or a game of tennis themselves.

Yes, this mythical, sporty family will have a fine old time of it. They have hope in abundance.

But what about the quieter children? The children who express themselves through dance, or music?

The shy children who go unnoticed but come alive and shine bright on the stage? Where is the hope for them? Their light has been dimmed for one year now.

The Taoiseach's announcements will have brought no sparkle of anticipation to their eyes.

The absolute emphasis on sporting activities in terms of the early phases of reopening seems to me to reflect a particular mindset of those at the decision-making table.

There has been little to no engagement with organisations from the Performing Arts, no openness to discussing how these activities can safely resume. No hope given.

Vaccines, we were reminded by the Taoiseach, are ‘our way out'.

All of the over 70s are to have the first vaccine dose by mid-April. That is two weeks away. I know many people over 70. Not one of them has been vaccinated yet or offered an appointment.

This seems more like aspiration than hope.

But I will take the words in optimistic spirit in which they were delivered and continue to hope for the cohort of people who helped build this country and have spent a year isolated and frustrated.

And so, sunny rays of hope touch certain segments of society, and perhaps soon we can be at ease with each other, and sport and play like before.

But a cloud scuttles across the sun, casting shadows once again. Nphet hoves into view.

There is a ‘critical window’ over the next eight weeks, that could lead to a ‘fourth wave’, we are told.

We have learned from tragic experience that Nphet are seldom wrong.

Hope will not keep us afloat in a fourth wave of Covid-19.

So, let’s keep our guard up, keep our society together, and our loved ones safe, until the way is calm and clear, and the data, not the dates, can guide the way.