Ireland “locked down for too hard, for too long” during the pandemic – and the COVID inquiry should have stronger powers to investigate how we got it wrong, Ciara Kelly has said.

Cabinet yesterday signed off on what it is describing as an ‘evaluation’ of Ireland’s COVID response – however, the investigation will not have powers to compel people to give evidence.

The investigation led by NUI Galway Professor Anne Scott will examine the health service response to the pandemic – including nursing homes, hospitals and community care.

It will also look at the wider economic and societal impact of lockdowns and the impact of the pandemic on education and business.

The investigation will get underway in the coming weeks.

A woman walking in an empty street in Dublin during Level 5 COVID-19 lockdown. Image: Artur Widak/NurPhoto

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, presenter Ciara Kelly said the inquiry should have more powers.

“I think we got it wrong,” she said. “And I know I'm in a minority.

“I know this because every time I speak to anybody they go, ‘Oh well, no, we did OK on this and we did OK on that.’

“We did do OK on some metrics, yes, that's true – but at what cost?

“I still believe that we have damaged our young people; that we have damaged their interactions with school, that we have damaged their mental health, that we have damaged their social development.”

Outdoor dining is seen on Suffolk Street, Dublin in August 2021. Picture by: noel bennett / Alamy Stock Photo

Ciara said she keeps a note of every time someone joins the show warning that different societal problems have worsened since the pandemic.

She said Ireland “locked down for too hard, for too long” – and noted that she was voicing her concerns from June, 2020.

“I think the cure in many ways was worse than the disease,” she said.

“Why this is important to me is, they keep telling us there will be more pandemics and I don't want there to be another pandemic and another NPHET saying, ‘It's grand lads, stay home for two-and-a-half years.’

“I don't want that; I don't think that is right and I think that is disproportionate and I think we got it wrong.”

'Draconian'

She said the pandemic response was never about ‘health versus wealth’ as was sometimes argued at the time.

“There is a myriad of fallouts from the lockdowns that we are dealing with to this very, very day,” she said.

“We're not dealing with COVID-fallout, we're dealing with lockdowns fallout.

“To me, I would like to see compellability, I would like to see accountability and I would like some kind of reassurance that we're not going to do the same thing again – because I think NPHET was draconian in what it did.”

Shane Coleman in the Newstalk studio. Image: Newstalk

Fellow presenter Shane Coleman said most people in Ireland now accept that we “got things wrong” during the pandemic.

He said we already know the lessons that need to be learned – and stronger inquiry will not offer more answers.

“What I don't want to see is the kind of inquiry we had in the UK where there's all these, kind of, gotcha moments,” he said.

“Going through WhatsApp messages and all that – it’s titillating, it's great copy, but actually, it doesn't help in terms of learning lessons.”

'Finger-pointing'

He warned that announcing a Statutory Inquiry with powers of compellability would just see people ‘lawyering up’ and would drag the process on for years.

“I think if we set it up like that, it's guaranteed to guaranteed to fail,” he said.

“I think, let's get on with it, let's do it and let's not have it about finger-pointing. I know lots of people in the media will want that, but let's not do that.

“It's about learning for future pandemics and I suspect most of the lessons already have been learned.”

Also on show, Trinity Immunology Professor Kingston Mills said he believes the less formal ‘evaluation’ is the right way to go.

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