“I cannot highlight enough the immediate threat…at the home from Covid-19"

That's just one of the remarks in email correspondence between two nursing homes and the HSE and Dept of Health during the early weeks of Covid-19, where the services were pleading for more assistance as the virus swept through the facilities. 

Tara Winthrop in Swords Co Dublin and Dealgan House in Dundalk, Co Louth, struggled to cope with outbreaks prompting them to make desperate pleas for help between mid-March and the Easter weekend.

The emails are a stark account of the pressure some facilities came under rapidly once the virus spread. 

Tadhg Daly, the CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland, gave his reaction to Ivan on The Hard Shoulder.