Cooperation not Coercion needed on Covid

Cooperation not Coercion needed on Covid - Tóibín

Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD

Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has cautioned the government on seeking excessive powers to deal with Covid. He said “if the government need to coerce they are already losing”.

“This government have already been given unprecedented powers and authority to deal with the outbreak of Covid-19. The government has been afforded unprecedented powers to restrict the movements, travel, and behaviours of the Irish people”.

“Now the government seek legislation to allow harsher sanctions including a one year jail term and fines in the thousands for offences such as failing to serve a €9 meal with a pint. Powers are sought to allow Gardaí close pubs for a number of days depending on their level of non-compliance”.

“These draconian measures are to be levied against pubs in counties that, thankfully, have seen little or no Covid cases in weeks. We have this bizarre situation where a pub owner in Leitrim could have a jail sentence and thousands of euro fine for serving a pint in a county that has not seen a Covid case in a month. Next door a café can serve a coffee in exactly the same manner”.

“Coercion is only necessary when you lose people. Irish people are tired and frustrated but they will stick the course if they are treated fairly. Pubs are being put to the sword by the government with inadequate financial support, inordinately high level of restrictions and now over the top sanctions. The €16 million package for pubs is an insult. It is the equivalent of trying to fix a punctured watermain with a plaster”.

“People will judge these severe restrictions in the context of hundreds of thousands of travellers from non-Green list countries arriving in the country practically unrestricted and the complete mismanagement of the Nursing Home, Direct Provision and Meat Factor sectors”.

As Ireland’s infection rate worsens, comparatively, in European terms many people feel that the severity of restrictions is inversely proportioned to government competency.

The Irish political system is radically broken

In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.

Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.

Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.