Irish Examiner view: Taoiseach must crack the whip to button lips in Covid crisis

Communications must be clear and coordinated — we need hope, not confusion

The pandemic has proven to be, and will for some time to come, a sterner test than anyone could have imagined this time last year. 

Whether a responsible White House might have averted 500,000 deaths — a shocking threshold that will be crossed this week — is a question that can only be answered when Covid-19 joins the Spanish Flu in history’s chamber of horrors. 

It might, had science prevailed, taken longer to reach that point, thereby creating opportunities to vaccinate ahead of the virus’s march from one community or another. 

However, the 500,000 mark might well have been reached eventually, a probability that characterises the uncertainty working against coordinated responses to the pandemic.

The 60m souls living in Tanzania must long for a coherent response. Their government has no plans to offer vaccines and has only just admitted the virus had reached the country. 

The East African state has suggested vegetable smoothies and steam inhalation are viable defences, though science has yet to recognise their Covid-19 benefits. 

The random nature of the virus’s rampage is shown as five more French rugby internationals have tested positive. They, despite the highest restrictions, join a long list of players or officials putting next weekend’s Six Nations clash with Scotland in jeopardy.

Restrictions

The deadly drama unfolds here too. We have been asked to accept that restrictions must be extended until at least May. 

Though there are few enough sane alternatives to this kind of mass caution, and the maximum isolation a half-functioning society can endure, the solidarity needed to deliver on this kind of common purpose, is undermined by inconsistent and conflicting messaging.

As ever in situations like this, information is a weapon and how it is deployed defines whether it contributes to success or failure.

It is essential now to control official communications in a way that is clear and coordinated, in a way that builds hope rather than cause confusion. 

The hope that the next round of restrictions will work is the strongest card we have, one bolstered by the prospect of accelerated vaccination programmes. 

That hope cannot be squandered by one minister saying one thing, another saying another.

Clarity must replace firefighting communications.

Government has many, many fish to fry, some of which are beginning to smell as they have been pushed into the pandemic’s shadows for too long. 

The housing crisis is the primary example, but housekeeping legislation — the overdue extension of bar opening hours, efforts to manage personal injury claims and myriad climate measures — press. 

They cannot be set aside until Covid-19 is suppressed internationally, be it with vegetable smoothies or otherwise.

This, in a society where plámás is the standard political lubricant, may be more difficult than elsewhere. It will require a change in habits, even if only for the duration. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin must become uncharacteristically assertive, crack the whip to button those lips unable to offer that simple, honest but admirable response: “Sorry, I don’t know.” 

Not knowing is not a crime but in today’s grim circumstances offering unfounded opinions may well be.