Here's looking at you Kid

Neighbours goat. When he's not posing on the wall looking indignant, he's down on the beach posing for selfies😎 Only in Ireland. #galwaygrá 💖 

Lockdown Chronicles (a retrospective): Close encounters at a garda checkpoint

My grandparents used to buy the Connacht Tribune every week to read about the cattle marts, who was fined for not contributing to the "voluntary" collections at mass, who was shortlisted for the Rose of Tralee at the ballroom of romance/desperation. And the death notices. 

As a child, I used to read the letters section  (granny didn't have a TV). I was fascinated by the things that made ordinary people, mostly men, mostly farmers, so impassioned to come in after milking the cows, between the angelus & the boiled bacon & cabbage & take pen to paper. It started my love affair with words & helped me appreciate that the most interesting stories are told by authentic voices. In sentences constructed to fit their words & meaning, No rules. No fecks given. 

When SARS-CoV-2 struck, I was ensconced in a little cottage by the sea in Galway & began writing lockdown chronicles for the Tribune. A satirical column intended to give light relief during that early, terrifying lockdown phase (all of 6 weeks). It was a great privilege & career highlight. Sad that my mam & dad weren't alive to read the column which I secretly dedicated to them & my grandparents. I hope I did them proud. 

Here's one. More to come.

 Connacht Tribune

Close encounters of the Covid checkpoint kind

Published

 5 years ago

on

 April 23, 2020

By

 Our Reporter

TESS FINCH-LEES

• 
  

Going to the supermarket has gone from a routine exercise to an ordeal of epic proportions – but as TESS FINCH-LEES admits this week, it’s reaches new heights of pandemic panic when you get way too close at a Garda checkpoint.

For the past four weeks I’ve managed to studiously avoid going beyond two kilometres of my house. I would rather have root canal treatment – without anaesthetic – than venture further than my garden right now.

The thought of collecting the shopping conjures up traumatic childhood memories.

When I was five, there was a nun from the Sisters of (no) Mercy, who made us sit in the wicker rubbish bin if we got a maths question wrong. I spent an inordinate amount of time in that bosca bruscair, sitting atop peeled banana skins and Agnes McGinty’s congealed tissues, legs akimbo, feeling, in equal measure, mortified and petrified.

Every morning, I clung to my mother’s coat tails and begged her to let me stay at home.

I recounted this story to himself, sitting in my office wicker paper bin for dramatic effect (not the best look in an Easter Bunny onesie) but he, like the Sisters, showed no mercy. “It’s your turn to collect the shopping”.

It was indeed.

When I saw the checkpoint, I slowed and noticed there were two Gardaí standing shoulder to shoulder talking to the driver of a car coming in the opposite direction. They weren’t standing back, let alone two metres.

One of the officers gestured for me to open my window. I was so close to the other car, I could have shaken hands with the driver, so, complying with the Garda’s instruction would have exposed the two officers and both drivers to the risk of Covid-19 contagion, as well as breaching social distancing legislation.

Smiling, I reached for my Covid car kit and held up my handwritten sign asking the Garda to step back two metres. He tried, but realised there was no space to move.

Bizarrely, he then gestured for me to get out of the car, but the other vehicle and officer were still there so I shook my head and held up my sign again. He eventually went around the passenger side, which was better, but not quite two metres.

Disconbobulated, I opened my mouth and out came the jarring twang of a Donnybrook banker.

There’s only one thing worse than having a D reg car (luckily I don’t) at a lockdown check point in Galway and that’s having a Dublin accent (ill-advised in Galway, at any time) completed with a D4 inflection…at a lockdown checkpoint in Galway.

Having split my childhood between a housing estate in Santry, where Doberman Pinschers doubled up as fashion accessory and personal security, and the rest of the time tramping hay and footing turf on the grandparents’ farms in Loughrea and Charlestown respectively, it was far from D4 that I was reared.

Yet, there I was with my frazzled head saying ‘grewsareees’ (groceries) and ‘gorda’ (which is Spanish for ‘fat’ and potentially offensive).

To be fair to the Garda, he was doing his job in incredibly stressful circumstances. I have family and friends who are Gardaí, nationally, and my thoughts turned to them and their safety. They, like all our essential workers, have fears like the rest of us, but they still have to go to work every day.

They reassured me that they either stand back two metres or speak to drivers through closed windows.

They were more concerned about PPE, which was requested by the Garda Representative Association three weeks ago (a lifetime in a pandemic), for Gardaí on patrol, but distribution has allegedly been slow and haphazard.

Some officers said they had to buy their own hand sanitisers and wipes initially to clean patrol cars before and after shifts.

Even in Britain, where the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has been shambolic and where PPE is like hen’s teeth, frontline police officers have received face masks.

The police federation of England and Wales has issued guidance recognising that social distancing cannot always be maintained, such as when apprehending criminals, presenting an infection risk to officers, the public and the health service.

Therefore, ‘face masks, gloves and hand sanitisers are the absolute basic we would expect our colleagues to be provided with in this current crisis’.

The Gardaí are fathers and mothers foregoing their children’s bedtime stories – indefinitely – so that ours can sleep soundly. They’re delivering food parcels to our vulnerable and checking in on our elderly, so that we can stay safe at home.

While we’re waiting for Charlie Flanagan to catch up with the rest of the world and protect our Gardai who, like the other emergency services, are putting their lives at risk to protect us, we can do our bit by staying home and avoiding unnecessary journeys.

Míle buíochas, a Ghárdaí Síochána. Fanaigí sábháilte.

■ Tess Finch-Lees is an international human rights journalist, who writes for the Guardian and other outlets. She is also a therapist and lecturer in ethics and discrimination. Having spent her childhood between Dublin, Galway and Mayo, she recently returned home to live in her mother’s native Galway.

Andrew Gwynne knows SARS-CoV-2 is airborne. Why pretend otherwise?

See below, my letter to Andrew Gwynne on 21 January. As parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health & Prevention, he is responsible for health protection with COVID-19 cited at the top of the list.

Click the vid link below (uploaded today) to see evidence that Gwynne is very much aware that SARS2 is an airborne virus 👇

https://x.com/TheCovidCoverUp/status/1887584549292679295

21 January 2025

Dear Mr Gwynne

I hope this finds you and yours well.

I’m writing in response to your letter to Tim Farron MP, on behalf of his constituent, Anne McConway, widely shared on social media. I'm a journalist writing predominantly for the Irish Independent. I've also written for the Guardian, UK Independent, New Statesman and others.

I have consistently covered the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic from the start. A recent column focusing on SARS2 harms to children & schools was read aloud at the UK Covid inquiry. I have access to the world's leading scientific experts on SARS2 (the ones that have been consistently right) and am happy to connect you with them. I covered the recent module (3) of the UK Covid inquiry examining the impact of the pandemic on healthcare. Duty bound by accuracy and public interest, I am compelled to fact check some of the claims made in your letter (no doubt unwittingly), specifically in relation to Dr Lisa Ritchie, the UKHSA and the WHO.

Firstly, the RCN recently reported members being depressed and demoralised describing conditions in hospitals as worse than during the pandemic. Fact check: We’re still during the pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not over. Baroness Hallett (Covid inquiry chair) stated that it’s not a question of if another pandemic will strike, but when. Given the UK recorded among the highest Covid-19 healthcare worker deaths in the world, what lessons have been learned?

Starting with a summary of Dr Lisa Ritchie’s testimony. Currently, National Deputy Director of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) at NHS England, previously head of IPC at NHS England and chair of the Covid IPC cell, Dr Ritchie insisted that senior clinicians did not provide evidence that SARS-CoV-2 was airborne and, had they done so, the cell’s position would have moved. False. In June 2021, over 17 professional bodies and unions, including CATA, the BMA and RCN challenged the IPC droplet dogma in a meeting with government and health officials. Their clinical expertise, and scientific evidence was disregarded. It still is.

Professor Clive Beggs, one of the inquiry’s expert witness on physical sciences testified that, “the overwhelming scientific evidence strongly indicates that the inhalation of infectious aerosol particles is the dominant route”. Beggs documents that this has been the WHO’s position since December 2021. He cites the recent publication of the WHO’s “Indoor airborne risk assessment in the context of SARS-CoV-2” tool to inform mitigation measures for healthcare centres and others, to “reduce the unacceptable and unnecessary health burden resulting from the airborne transmission of respiratory pathogens, like SARS-CoV-2”. Recent WHO advice stated: “ Protect loved ones from Covid: Stay home if sick. Test, get boosted, ventilate, mask around others.”

When reminded that professor Beggs presented unequivocal evidence (35 studies) that SARS-CoV-2 is airborne, Ritchie was asked if her position remained that the primary mode of transmission for Covid-19 is droplets and contact? Reply: That’s my position. The inquiry failed to ask a critical follow up: Where is your corroborating evidence? As Baroness Hallett pointed out, if airborne transmission is shown to play any role in transmission, surely the precautionary principle should be invoked, i.e. mitigating against both droplet AND airborne spread? I would be grateful if you could confirm whether you have asked Dr Ritchie to present the scientific studies underpinning her opinion, given it’s at odds with that of the WHO and settled science? I would be grateful for a copy of same.

In her testimony, professor Jenny Harries, chief executive of UKHSA, previously Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, accepted that airborne transmission does happen (apparently at odds with Dr Ritchie’s position) but denies the need for FFP3s, claiming Covid is the same as flu now. False. A recent study showed the risk of death from Covid-19 is 35% greater than for the flu, we vaccinate children against flu but not SARS-CoV-2. In 2022, over six times as many children died from Covid than flu in the US. Ireland includes Covid-19 infection as a risk factor for blood clots. Not flu. Flu is seasonal, SARS2 is omnipresent putting constant pressure on healthcare. In October, while the inquiry was underway, it was reported that A&Es in England experienced their busiest October on record, citing Covid disruption. NHS leaders warned of “more winter pressure than ever before”.  Yet, hospital IPC guidance was not updated to include airborne mitigations, as recommended by the inquiry experts (see below). A meta-analysis of studies showed that hospital-acquired Covid infection increases the death rate by 30%. For immunocompromised patients, that is doubled. What is your plan to make access to healthcare safe, particularly for the clinically vulnerable?

Harries indicated that recommending routine use of FFP3s was unnecessary, invoking IPC experts’ testimony. False. The experts actually testified that IPC guidance should be updated to recommend routine FFP3 use in treating patients with Covid, flu and other respiratory viruses. In May, A comprehensive review, analysing 400 studies provided strong evidence that respirators in particular, worn consistently and correctly, are effective at reducing respiratory infections like Covid. Ben, an NHS doctor, contracted SARS2 at work in April 2020, having been forced to replace his FFP3 respirator for a flimsy surgical mask. Disabled by long-Covid, unable to work, Ben faces financial destitution. He’s currently on suicide watch.

On children and long-Covid, Harries claimed that only a small number of children are impacted by it. False. In August, a study found that 20% of children aged 6-11 and 14% of teens have long-Covid. Numbers rising with every wave.

Testimony of Professor Susan Hopkins: UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief medical adviser, former deputy director of Public Health England’s national infection service. Regarding long-Covid she claimed: “We don’t understand enough about it to give the right messaging”. False. We know that long-Covid is a debilitating disease with no cure and, risk of developing it increases with every infection. Recent long-Covid research estimated that up to the end of last year, 400 million people of all ages, regardless of health status, have long-Covid, leading to an annual global economic toll of $1trn. Author Dr Ziyad Al-Aly warns that long-Covid affects nearly every organ system, including cardiovascular, immune and nervous system, describing it as, “the defining health crisis of our time”. There are many studies, all bad. It’s Hopkins’ duty to be informed, especially given around 34% of healthcare workers in England are suffering from long-Covid. A  BMA survey showed 1 in 5 doctors (respondents) are unable to work because of the disease which the WHO predicts will cause a mass disabling event. Around 2 million people in the UK have long-Covid. According to the latest ONS Covid Infection Survey in March, a third of long-Covid sufferers are new cases since March 2023.

Hopkins also claimed that the evidence for FFP3 masks being more effective than surgical masks at infection protection is 'weak” beyond the laboratory. False. When Cambridge’s Addenbrooke hospital upgraded masks on Covid-19 wards to FFP3, hospital-acquired Covid-19 infections dropped by up to 100pc among workers.

The evidence shows that UK IPC guidance remains fundamentally flawed, based on debunked droplet dogma, sidelining the scientific consensus that SARS-CoV-2 is airborne. The UK’s IPC guidance is, therefore, based on a false premise. What follows is a cascade of flawed measures, focusing on handwashing and surgical masks instead of ventilation and FFP3 respirators.

With one pandemic ongoing and another expected, it’s clear that the individuals responsible for the past and ongoing reported mishandling of the current pandemic appear to have learned no lessons. As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, including pandemic preparedness, you are responsible for ensuring scientifically literate,  competent professionals are at the helm, communicating clear public health messaging. That is, airborne mitigations against airborne viruses work. Cleaning indoor air, testing, isolation and respirator masks are part of the solution (in addition to broadening vaccine eligibility). Health care workers are depressed, demoralised and many incapacitated/disabled by long-Covid now. If another pandemic is added to the mix, how can an already traumatised, depleted workforce be expected to cope? Shouldn’t protecting healthcare workers from repeated SARS2 infections (& other airborne viruses) be part of government’s pandemic preparedness plan? To start building back NHS workforce resilience?

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

With kind regards & huge appreciation.

Tess Finch-Lees

Coming in April: A review of Positive Air Pressure Respirators (PAPRS), far UV & HEPA filters

Just waiting on one more piece of kit....Discount codes will apply to most products

Israel Bonds Fund Genocide and Apartheid.

 A protest, organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, will take place at the Central Bank of Ireland on North Wall Quay, TOMORROW Tuesday 4 February between 12.30pm and 2pm to protest against the continued regulation of Israel Bonds by the Central Bank of Ireland in violation of the Genocide Convention, international and national human rights law, and EU Prospectus Regulation (2017/1129).

Why? The Central Bank of Ireland is the sole regulator in the European Union of Israel Bonds. Since Brexit, the CBI has acted as the gateway into Europe for these bonds. In September 2024, nearly a year into the genocide in Gaza, the CBI renewed its regulation of the bonds on the explicit understanding that, as per the Israeli bond prospectus, "the net proceeds from the issue of the Bonds are intended to be used for the general financing purposes of the Issuer," which includes "military action [and] launching the war in Gaza".

On the website which promotes the bonds Israeli President Isaac Herzog lauds “the crucial role of Israel Bonds during this time of conflict and war” and advocates  “unwavering support" for the nuclear-armed genocidal apartheid state.

IPSC Chairperson Zoë Lawlor said:  It is outrageous that the Central Bank of Ireland is still facilitating the sale of apartheid Israel’s war bonds in Europe. It is incomprehensible and unforgiveable that the Central Bank Commission at its meeting on 21^st January simply doubled-down on its support of the shameful defence of Israel Bonds published by the Governor of the CBI in December. The Central Bank of Ireland appears to believe it has no moral or ethical obligations, nor no legal responsibilities under the Genocide Convention and international law, declaring inability to end the sale of these genocide bonds on the basis of 'Completeness, Comprehensibility and Consistency'. In fact, the bonds prospectus singularly fails to met the standard of completeness: it fails to mention the International Court of Justice Ruling of January 2024 which found that Israel was plausibly committing genocide and the ongoing case of genocide being taking by South Africa against Israel which Ireland has joined. This amounts to withholding of significant risk-related information, both financial and reputational. Rather than providing a shield to the CBI for its complicity in genocide, the EU regulation enables and requires the CBI to stop the sale of Israel Bonds by withdrawing regulation.

Ms. Lawlor concluded: There is a profound moral, ethical and legal obligations on all institutions, and on all people, to refuse to be complicit in genocide. We call again on the Central Bank of Ireland to stop funding genocide and apartheid.

Adrian Kane, Divisional Organiser, SIPTU said: “The time is well past where financial and state institutions can seek refuge in the law to absolve themselves from collaborating with genocidal regimes.”

Jenny Maguire, President, TCD SU said: “It is our shared responsibility to push in every area of Irish life to be apartheid free. Students, workers and broader Irish society demand an end to the complicity of our state and our institutions in genocide and apartheid. The students and researchers of my union have achieved historic wins in Trinity College. We now call on all institutions across Ireland to follow suit and take meaningful action against colonialism, apartheid and genocide.”

Betty Purcell, IPSC Media team and veteran human rights campaigner, said: “Ireland is firmly opposed to Israel’s war of genocide ,and ethnic cleansing against the people of Gaza . Yet our Central Bank is a funder of this horrific genocide, by regulating Israeli war bonds for sale in Europe. Israel, in selling the bonds, calls on investors to support their actions, declaring “Israel is at war: Stand with Israel!" Ireland’s Central Bank slipped into the gap left by Britain after Brexit, and is now actively facilitating the sale of these war bonds, while the government supports the ICJ case of Genocide against Israel. What a case of double standards! Under the Geneva Convention, we must act to prevent genocide, and this could be done right now, by the Central Bank, under section 32 of the EU Prospectus Regulation. Otherwise, the Central Bank is complicit in itself supporting genocide.”

Salah Al Tanani, writer, teacher, father and husband of genocide survivors said: "In the land of Ireland, where thousands rose up in support of Palestine and a rejection of the genocide, here behind the wall, in warm offices, the financing of the massacres was signed. The money they send will not build life, but will turn into missiles that tear the bodies of children, will turn into hell.  It burns the hearts of children and women. Their hands that extend to do the signing were not stained directly, but it is more criminal than the bullet that penetrated the chest . History will not forget those who spend their money on the industry of death and those who are silent partners in the crime."

Abdaal Salim, Palestinian photographer, said: "I love Ireland and the Irish people and, as a Palestinian I have felt so much support from every part of Irish society. But seeing that the Central Bank fo Ireland is still fully participating in helping Israel raise funds to pay for the genocide of my people is completely heartbreaking."

Meanwhile on 28th January, Dublin Council of Trade Unions' Executive Council unanimously adopted a motion declaring:

Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) calls upon the Government and the Irish Central Bank to cease their involvement in facilitating the sale of Israeli bonds across the European Union.

It is the opinion of DCTU that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza constitutes genocide against the Palestine people.

DCTU further calls on those trade unions that have members working in the Central Bank to end any further involvement in the sale of Israeli bonds, as not to do so would directly associate unions and workers with the defiance by the Israeli government of international humanitarian law and the genocide convention.

January: Wintering, mental health audit, self care

2025 goal (same as 2020+): Keeping it real. Grief & joy in every day, making room for both.Approaching interactions with fellow humans with curiosity & compassion, as opposed to judgement & reckless disregard for the fragility that comes with living through this timeline. Being shouted at, hung up on. gaslit, threatened and attacked  is an occupational hazard. It's the price I'm required to pay for the privilege of having a platform. I persist, preserve, lick my wounds & go back into battle. 

When it comes to personal relationships, different rules apply. If I'm intentionally disrespected in any of the above (or other) ways in my personal sphere, I walk away or distance. No arguments, no drama, no explaining, no defending. I am never careless with anyone's feelings & expect the same standards of care for myself and my family. Having clear personal boundaries about respectful relationships involving healthy, kind & difficult conversations, is how I have the strength to deal with the deluge of abuse & disrespect in my professional life. My family & friends (very few, kind, gentle, safe souls) are my life & my lifeline. 

Anyone interested in building authentic relationships even if it means losing attachments, this short vid by trauma & addiction (including social media validation seeking) specialist Dr Gabor Maté is a good place to start👇I drew on his work a lot working with trauma & addiction patients, and personally. His insights are true of any/all relationships. Although, Gabor hasn't adapted his work to reflect the reality of an ongoing pandemic, the principle (authenticity vs attachment) remains fiercely relevant.

I started the year by carrying out a digital mental health audit. Result: Continue to stay off fascist hell scape (x) & keep Facebook/fake news hate forum access to an absolute minimum. Questioning if I can access info anywhere else before logging in. 

Deleted all but 3 WhatsApp groups (2 of which are populated with experts who are judicious in what they share). Noisy/chatty groups, gone. Guard your peace from attention stealing devices. 2025 marks the start of an era where intentional safeguarding of mental health has never been more crucial. Think of clicking & doom scrolling as akin to consuming poison. You're gonna feel nauseas,  experience free floating anxiety & sleep problems after a days binge.

Phone goes off a couple of hours before bed, permanently on mute, often in a drawer. Out of sight, out of mind.

I hope the photos below bring you some of the joy they brought me. January💖

 

Cocoa warming on the hob, scones fresh out of oven, ready for guests to arrive👇

These picture were not taken in black & white👇 This is entirely a reflection of the light. Magical.

My favourite👇Taken from the kitchen, enjoying a cuppa

Comfort food🥮

Apples from the garden used in crumble

Son foraged mushrooms & made us an omelette. Delicious

Knitting & crossword puzzle alternative to screen time combo. Takes the mind off the shit show of a world we live in & keeps the mind sharp. Not gonna lie, I do have to look at the answers sometimes🧐

Son & friend giving it welly in their outdoor Kung Fu class - in January👊💕