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Source: PA Images
TANNAISTE LEO VARADKAR has admitted that he expected Ireland’s blockade to last no more than a few weeks or months, a year after his infamous speech in Washington.
It has been exactly 12 months since the then taoiseach addressed the public from the steps of Blair House in the US capital and said, “I need to talk to you about the coronavirus.”
Varadkar said he had “no idea” at the time that some businesses would be closed a year later, and paid tribute to the inspiring perseverance and courage of the Irish people.
He said: “I vividly remember standing on the stairs in Washington for St. Patrick’s Day last year. Visits to the White House are always special, but this one is etched in my memory.
“We knew so little about the virus at the time. Now we know much more, but still we are still learning.
“At that time there was no roadmap, no manual to deal with a pandemic.
“The previous pandemic had occurred around 100 years earlier, in the early 20th century, and it was influenza, not coronavirus.
“Even the WHO and ECDC had big gaps in their knowledge, despite years of scenario planning. So we make decisions based on the best advice available and instinctively. “
That day he announced the closure of all schools, colleges, nursery services and cultural institutions until March 29, with pubs, restaurants and nightclubs to follow soon.
Varadkar said: “The first blockade that I announced from Washington was for only two weeks, and we believed that the full effect would be maybe six weeks or a few months at the most.
“We had no idea that a year later some of those closures would still be in place, like nightclubs and pubs in Dublin.”
The Tánaiste said they have been impressed by the resilience of the Irish people over the past year.
He told the PA news agency: “Some things have made a big impression on me in the last year.
“There is all the pain and suffering that people in Ireland and around the world have endured.
“But equally the perseverance and courage of the Irish have been inspiring. They have resisted extraordinary restrictions and continue to do so.
“A large number of Irish businesses have been closed for much of the past year, some of them for the full 12 months.
“Families have separated, friends cannot make contact. It has been particularly difficult for the young and for those who have been grieving. “
Varadkar said that while the pandemic is not over, there is hope for the future.
“The hardest part is that we have not reached the end. However, as (World Health Organization special envoy on Covid-19) David Nabarro said, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is still a bit far away.
“The vaccination program, although slower than expected, is progressing, with more than 100,000 people over the age of 80 having received a dose.
“We are coming to summer when respiratory viruses have a harder time spreading and treatments are improving.
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“He used to say that he wanted the pandemic to be a lost year, not a lost decade. It looks like it’s going to be more than a year, but hopefully not much more than one. “
Varadkar was surprisingly frank about the challenge facing the country when he spoke in March 2020.
“There will be many more cases. More people will get sick and sadly, we must face the tragic reality that some people will die, ”he told a concerned nation.
His message now is very similar to what it was then.
“Ireland is a great nation. And we are great people. We have experienced difficulties and struggles before.
“We have passed many tests in the past with our determination and our spirit. We will prevail. “
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