Revisiting Lockdown & Pandemic Ethics

On Wednesday evening Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the government's decision to stall its current position on the Irish roadmap out of lockdown until August 10th at earliest. The decision did not come as much of a surprise, as in recent days Ireland has seen a worrying trend of increased cases and clusters form around the country. From the outset of the roadmap it was made clear that it was a “living document”, and now the possibility of regressing towards a more confined society is becoming more of a potential each day.

The initial weeks of Ireland’s full lockdown go down in history. It is something that was unprecedented in everyone's own lifetime, but now having had the experience first time around, there are many things that could have been carried out differently. Today’s episode addresses just this, as host Ian Doyle looks at the ethics of lockdown with Dr Andrea Mulligan, Assistant Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin. Andrea wrote an article focused on the community's role during a pandemic, and she discusses some of the paradoxes between health officials acting fast, having a genuine two way dialogue with the public health advice.

Later in the podcast Professor Ivan Perry, Head of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College Cork discusses what it means to be a zero COVID island, and why Ireland’s current strategy might leave us feeling the worst of both worlds.

Produced by UrbanMedia

Hosted by Ian Doyle

Music by Psykick

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