Irish Examiner view: This tangled tale of HSE procurement at the start of the pandemic is no joke 

It may sound like a satirical comedy but, after Cianan Brennan's revelations, it's time for a proper enquiry into the episode

It took a 20-month Freedom of Information process for 'Irish Examiner' journalist Cianan Brennan to get some key information out of the HSE regarding its procurement of Covid-19 equipment including Tony Holohan's engagement with Roqu Media International. File picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews 

Cianan Brennan’s latest report in his two-year Irish Examiner investigation into the long, tangled tale of Chinese ventilators, a festival management company, and the HSE has all the makings of sharp satire along the lines of The Thick Of It — until a reader realises that it wasn’t a scriptwriter’s dream but a sober account of chaos in the shadow of the pandemic.

Roqu Media International first approached then chief medical officer Tony Holohan about securing Covid-19 ventilators back in March 2020, but only now, following a 20-month Freedom of Information fight for HSE records which was eventually approved by the Information Commissioner, are we privy to the decision-making process at the time.