“That’s
life (that’s life) that’s what people say
You’re riding high in April
Shot down in May.”
This isn’t April or May but both Dr Tony Holohan must be having thoughts similar to those that Frank Sinatra thrilled us with when he sang ‘That’s Life’. Dr Tony Holohan was showered with compliments, hailed as the steady adult in the room as he reported the daily figures for Covid infections and deaths. Then we discovered that his wife was suffering from terminal cancer, and the surge of love towards the man was near-suffocating as he took temporary leave.
Then he comes back and within twenty-four hours he becomes a villain. Leo Varadkar doesn’t use his name, but he makes it clear that the advice coming from his organisation about putting everywhere on Level 5 was half-baked and needed further thought. A streak of light followed by crumpling sounds as Dr Tony Holohan crashes in the public mind from medical Father of the State to dumb doc, leaving Leo the blunt-talking, sensible Tánaiste who really should be Taoiseach front-stage and centre.
And just as we (and, no doubt, Leo) were getting used to this new Holohan-bad, Varadkar-good way of thinking, what do you know? The figures start looking very nasty. In the last twenty-four hours, 611 reported new cases in the south. At this rate of increase, we’re warned, hospitals in south will be unable to cope. Dr Tony Holohan tells the people “COVID-19 is spreading in our community in a very worrying manner. We have to break these chains of transmission.”
Talk about Lazarus. Dr Tony Holohan is suddenly once again the sensible adult, unlike that eejit Varadkar who may be a doctor but clearly knows damn all about the perilous situation in which the south finds itself. For Varadkar, it’s the jobs that matter; for Horohan, it’s the lives that matter. Adjust your halo, Tony. Leo, your cloven hoof is showing.
Comments are closed.