Ireland was operating through a prism of fear 'like headless chickens' during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That's according to Newstalk Breakfast host Ciara Kelly, who was responding to reports that a COVID-19 inquiry is to be set up by the middle of this year.
The Government is set to establish the inquiry to focus on informing future responses to public health emergencies, according to The Irish Times.
Ciara said we do have a lot to learn.
"I am less and less convinced that we got it right," she said.
"I think we operated during the pandemic, genuinely, with the best of intentions.
"It was a very dynamic situation, we were lurching from crisis to crisis.
"There's going to be more and more pandemics, that's what we keep being told, then we have to learn lessons.
"Personally, I don't think we should have locked down to the extent that we did; I think schools should have remained open, particularly for kids with special needs."
'Prism of fear'
Ciara said she believes other services, such as health screenings, should have kept going.
"I think the health service should have been nimbler and operated, so that other health services were allowed co-exist with COVID," she said.
"I think we operated through the prism of fear, a little bit like headless chickens.
"I think we probably did save lives... at the expense of other lives over time.
"We've seen an excess number of deaths since the pandemic for a variety of reasons, and we need to look at the big picture.
"My gut tells me shielding still would have been better: protect the vulnerable, allow the rest of society to get on.
"There was so many ramifications from the lockdowns for the rest of society, that I'm not sure we got it right," she added.
