We need to build long-term defences against the coronavirus if we want to avoid rolling lockdowns for the foreseeable future, according to Sinn Féin.

This evening, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced plans to ease a number of restrictions in the coming weeks.

He warned that the UK variant is a "very different beast" to the virus that first landed in Ireland last year – but insisted that, through the vaccine programme we will “enjoy much greater freedom later in the summer.”

On The Hard Shoulder this evening, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said we have to do everything we can to avoid rolling lockdowns.

“Everyone, myself included, is anxious to get back into some normality of life but I am also conscious that we still have very high levels of transmission of the virus,” she said.

“So, I think, by definition, any process for reopening will have to be thoughtful and safe and sustainable because the worst scenario would be to reopen only to have to shut down again.

“I think, therefore the plan we actually need set out very clearly for us is the plan around resourcing testing, contact tracing and crucially, a proper plan for efficient and safe vaccination and quarantine.

“They are, if you like, the building blocks of the defences that we will need in the medium and the long term.”

Building blocks

She said businesses that have been shuttered since last year need to know that everything is being done to get on top of the virus.

“I am sure we are all conscious that there are many, many people who haven’t seen a day’s work for a year now and who are at their wits end to be quite frank,” she said.

“What they need from Government and everybody in leadership is an assurance that there is a plan to reopen safely and then critically that there is the foundations to stay open and not to be almost opening and closing in that cycle.”

Test and trace

She said the Government set itself a “fairly modest” contact tracer recruitment target – and failed to meet it.

“The truth is that system, which is essential to establishing where transmission happens and really get under the bonnet of the behaviour of the virus, has struggled really, really badly,” she said.

She said no Government can claim to have gotten to the root of what is needed to control the virus if it fails to properly resource testing, tracing and a proper quarantine system.

“We are not going to wake up some morning and this virus will have just vanished from our lands. We need long-term strategies and we need to build all of those defences now,” she said.

“That takes big investment, planning and it takes leadership as well.”

You can find a clear breakdown of all the upcoming changes to the restrictions here.

You can listen back to Deputy McDonald here: