PoliticsAnalysis

Covid pandemic was Varadkar’s biggest test as Taoiseach when there were few answers

Fine Gael leader at times clashed with Nphet’s public health advice and accepts government got some calls wrong

Speaking in Washington DC Taoiseach Leo Varadkar outlined the series of new measures to combat the spread of coronavirus . Video: RTE
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Martin Wall
Wed Mar 20 2024 - 15:43

Leo Varadkar was a guest at the black tie Ireland Funds gala dinner in Washington in March 2020 when he was whisked away by officials to take an urgent phone call.

Three years later, at the same event, he recalled that his public health chiefs back in Dublin had summoned him to the phone to tell him that the moment they had feared had arrived. The Covid pandemic had hit Ireland and the country needed to take drastic action to try to stem its spread.

In the early hours in Washington, Varadkar addressed the country from the steps of Blair House, a US government building for important guests close to the White House.

The Taoiseach announced that schools would close and Ireland would begin to go into lockdown with pubs and other social events shut down.

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It would be the most testing time of his period in office. He told the nation that there was no vaccine at the time and no known cure. All that could be done to save lives – particularly of older people and those who were vulnerable from pre-existing conditions – was to encourage the public to stay apart from each other.

The Taoiseach announced that his Government was closing down the economy except for the most essential services.

Varadkar received praise for his calm address to a fearful nation on television on St Patrick’s night in which he admitted the Government did not know how long the crisis would last and acknowledged it would put severe pressure on the health service and those who worked in it.

“Not all superheroes wear capes, some wear scrubs and gowns,” he said.

However, when the pandemic was over he acknowledged that mistakes had been made.

Speaking in New York last September, where he attended the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference, he said that on reflection there should have been no easing of restrictions in advance of Christmas 2020 in light of the emergence of the Alpha variant of the virus.

He also suggested that Ireland was slow to introduce mask wearing as well as antigen tests. He also said the final Omicron lockdown was probably not necessary.

The Taoiseach said that, in relation to Christmas 2020, both the Government and National Public Health Emergency Team had made “the wrong call”.

“Nphet proposed one form of reopening which would have meant a lot of social interactions in private houses while the Government proposed a different reopening plan which involved some hospitality and some private houses.”

In January 2021, after the Christmas season, more than 1,500 deaths were recorded due to Covid – the single worst month during the pandemic.

On occasions during the pandemic politicians were frustrated at the decisions made by Nphet – the most public manifestation came in October 2020 when Varadkar harshly criticised a recommendation made the previous Sunday that the entire State should go from level two to level five, the most severe lockdown, to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Following a meeting between the three Government party leaders and then chief medical officer Tony Holohan the following day the Cabinet rejected the advice and opted for the State to move to level three instead.

Varadkar went on television that night and hit out at the Nphet recommendation as not being “thought through”, saying it had been “landed” on the Government.

At the time, Mr Varadkar said no member of Nphet “would have faced being on the pandemic unemployment payment benefit ... and none of them would have to shutter a business for the last time”.

Varadkar later said he had gone too far in his comments.

He later said he had made the comments in circumstances where the Nphet advice had “changed very dramatically overnight” and without consulting the Government.

“But it was not right for me to make personalised criticisms of members of Nphet and questioning their motivations and their understanding about how their decisions impacted on people. That was not fair.”