Sir, – It has been interesting to follow coverage in your newspaper this year urging the State to “get on with” the pandemic inquiry (Editorial, January 2nd), as well as reading that one of the Nphet team is conceding that we restricted basic freedoms for too long and did not take adequate account of collateral damage to the vulnerable and disadvantaged (Paul Cullen, “Covid pandemic response ‘depended on fear’, says former Nphet member”, News, February 26th). Also you recently reported that the German health minister now regrets the school closures which happened in that country (Derek Scally, “Germany ponders harsh lessons from Covid-19 school closures”, World, Analysis, January 31st). As a parent who moved with my seven-year-old son from Dublin to live in Switzerland in July 2021, it has been interesting to observe the much lower impact the pandemic had on children in this country, due to the Swiss imposing very few restrictions on children here and with hardly any school closures. As I am not a clinician or a statistician, my comparisons are in the main anecdotal. What I do know is that my son was very negatively impacted by the Irish lockdowns.
Adults of course were affected too and continue to be, especially older people, and the fact that we currently have a higher rate of “excess deaths” than during the pandemic surely raises all sorts of further questions about the wisdom of the severity of the Irish lockdowns.
Adults do at least, though, have a voice and a vote, but it was the children who made the greatest sacrifice, especially considering that the disease itself had very little impact on them. And not only have our children and young people had very little thanks or apology for this, but there does not seem to be much in the way of a plan to address the fallout, not to mention that they face other problems, such as an already overwhelmed Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service. However, it is encouraging to see that a growing number of commentators are starting to question Ireland’s experience of the pandemic, and we should be aware that there is a generation growing up who at some point may decide to ask some strong questions of their own. – Yours, etc,
KEN COWLEY,
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Fribourg,
Switzerland.