Dr. Tomás Ryan:

I want to come in on that point. This partly speaks to a question of social cohesion and on how we get people to co-operate and follow any strategy. It is clear that in Ireland we do not want a finger-pointing culture and we also do not want a heavy law enforcement culture. We are still coming out of a phase of the pandemic where it feels like different sectors of society have been pitted against each other in what can open up and what can close down. The benefit of a regional approach is that it allows a hyperlocalistic situation. We need more information on local epidemiology and awareness but we need local communities working together as a whole to drive cases down to get to level 2 or level 1 and maybe level zero and to have the rewards for every industry in that community with schools opening first and then everything else opening up together. We can then see a lot more positive community spirit and activism towards having a situation that is agreeable for everyone. The way to manage Covid-19 in Dublin is not the same way to manage it in Kerry. They are not the same problems and they need to be dealt with on a local basis.