Irish Examiner view: Last-minute pandemic decisions hit confidence

Surely administration communications were structured and ongoing between Nphet and Government?

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health; Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health; and  Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group at yesterday's Covid -19 update press conference at the Department of Health. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

As they have regularly, in the four centuries since Shakespeare died in 1616, the relentless cycle of events that make up our world confirm the writer’s perception. One of his lines from Henry IV Part 2 — “uneasy is the head that wears a crown” — may not have found a new relevance, but it has assumed a new heft. 

As our current difficulties continue to defy resolution, it may in time seem even heavier. Any politician faced with the hard choices made unavoidable by the pandemic will, rightly but maybe indulgently, confirm Shakespeare’s assessment.