Being respectful in the time of Covid - 19

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

May I make a suggestion? We stop criticising all those who are right now trying to get us through this pandemic.

I’m greatly impressed with what is being done to protect us from Covid-19.

Of course mistakes are made, some people will drop the ball but there is a genuine combined effort to rid us of the scourge of this virus that is raging now for almost a year.

Government and Nphet with all their skills and expertise instil a sense of hope and security.

The HSE’s CEO  Paul Reid appears to be a genuine leader, a manager who brings his team with him. Our frontline workers are saving lives and they deserve our heartfelt support and respect. 

Day-in-day-out nurses, doctors, cleaners, cooks, maintenance staff and all their teams are battling in extraordinary circumstances to save lives. Can you imagine what it must be like to do extremely heavy work, wearing all that PPE gear for extended periods of time. And then they go home, exhausted, to their families, where they have to turn around and do more work.

 

Last week Ryan Tubridy told the story of two gardaí calling to an elderly woman who  couldn’t turn on her water main. Without any fuss they did the job. I keep saying it, it’s the accumulation of so many small acts of kindness and goodness that in the end will win the day.

If ever the expression you’re damned if you do and you're damned if you don’t had resonance it surely has to be now.

It’s time we stopped the criticism. Remember, there is a great resilience about us. Look at our history and see how we have overcome great suffering and difficulty and come out the other side stronger and better.

Instead of criticising wouldn’t it make far more sense if we put our energy into keeping an eye out for the weak and vulnerable. Only last week I was stretched out on the ground reading my water meter. A neighbour saw me and thought that I had collapsed. She immediately came out of her house to see was I ok. Isn’t that exactly the attitude we need right now. And it was a great lesson for me.

 

The majority of people, are putting their shoulder to the wheel and playing an integral role in banishing this plague.

Our bins are being collected, our grocery shops are open, our mail is being delivered, public transport is running and that’s all because of the dedication of those who do the work. And do it with a smile.

It is inspirational to see how an emergency brings out the best in most people. Why is it so easy to miss the extraordinary people?

And what makes it so strange is that they are right in front of our eyes. This pandemic certainly has brought them into the limelight. 

We need to keep them there.

And what can one say about those who have flouted the rules during these terrible times? Not much. We’ll be victorious without them.

Roll on the vaccine.