Sir, – Pointing out that Ireland closed its schools for 22 weeks during the pandemic while France and Germany did so for seven and 10 weeks respectively, and looking at the educational consequences, Reamonn Ó Luan concludes that it “was a mistake” (Letters, August 31st). I’d disagree and suggest it was a trade-off, and arguably a good one. Ireland’s death rate per million from Covid was 1,825, with the corresponding figures for France and Germany 2,556 and 2,078. They entered the pandemic with health systems rated far better than ours. It was clear as Covid hit that there were no solutions but that various strategies could be adopted depending on what consequences we would tolerate. I’m not sure we necessarily got it right, but there are apparently people alive today because of the lockdowns we endured. How to prioritise between the education of children and the health or survival of their parents and grandparents is not a simple matter. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.