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‘We need to stay focused and get through these next few months’: Read Micheál Martin's address in full

The Taoiseach made the announcement at 6pm.

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has unveiled changes to the government’s Living with Covid plan that will see schools return on a phased basis from next week.

In a speech broadcast on RTÉ and Virgin Media One this evening, Martin acknowledged the strain the pandemic has put on the Irish public over the past year, but added that “the end is now truly in sight”.

Here is the Taoiseach’s speech in full:

Dia dhaoibh

As I speak to you this evening, I am very conscious that I am speaking to a country that has endured almost 12 months of Covid-related restrictions.

Almost 6,200 of our families, friends and neighbours across the island have lost their lives to the disease.

I know that people are physically and emotionally exhausted by this pandemic. It has placed enormous pressure on each of us individually and as a society.

Businesses and workers are deeply worried about the future and we are all completely fed up with the impositions on our lives.

What I want to do this evening is set out in clear, straightforward terms where we are, what is going to happen over the next six weeks, and where we would like to go from there.

Firstly, it is important to pay tribute to your efforts to suppress the virus since the New Year. The sacrifices you have made have had a very positive impact.

Steadily and surely, we are driving down the levels of infection. Indeed, our progress in response to the latest wave is among the best in Europe. And I want to thank you for your effort.

However, the situation that we and indeed all of Europe find ourselves in today is very different to where we were just a few short months ago.

The difference, of course, is the emergence of the so-called UK or B-117 variant.

It is equivalent to a new virus almost, and it is a major problem.

In a very short period, it has spread to at least 75 countries around the world and it is up to 70% more contagious than the original virus.

Up to 90% of new infections in this country are from this new variant.

The truth is that it has changed the dynamic significantly and we need to be very careful as we take the next steps forward.

Today, the Government has published our updated plan for managing our way through the pandemic – The Path Ahead.

Within this document we set out what we have learned over the course of the last year and explain where we go from here.

Essentially, to open up our country safely, we need to keep the numbers of new infections low, and accelerate the vaccination programme in line with improving supply.

The way forward is broadly split into two phases – the situation up to 5 April, and the period after 5 April.

Between now and 5 April, Ireland will remain within Level 5 restrictions.

However, there will be three very important differences between the coming six weeks and the Level 5 period we have just been through.

Firstly, we will start the phased and safe return of in-school education.

From 1 March, we will re-open our schools for junior infants to second class, and Leaving Certificate students. This will involve the return of over 320,000 pupils.

This reopening will be monitored, and the plan then will be for all outstanding classes in Primary Schools and 5th years in Secondary Schools to return on the 15 March.

The aim then is for all outstanding classes to return after the Easter break.

Secondly, we will expand the reopening of childcare. From 8 March, the early childhood pre-school programme will reopen for all participating children.

And from 29 March, subject to public health advice, other restrictions will be lifted so that all other children can return to early learning and childcare services.

Thirdly, we will resume non-Covid health and social care services over the coming weeks.

In advance of 5 April, we will then review the situation.

It is critically important that we do not let our guard down.

We are carefully and gradually reopening schools because we need to get our children back into education. This will represent a major relief for both pupils and hard-pressed parents.

When we open things, we want them to stay open.

That is why I cannot over emphasise the importance of continued observance of Level 5 restrictions. It is why, if you are currently working from home, you must continue to do so.

The key concern is the potential impact of increased mobility of the population on the disease, particularly with the new variant and how easily it spreads.

Maintaining restrictions is not a commentary on any one sector – increased mobility is the issue and that is why we must monitor the situation very carefully and keep it under constant review.

We want to reopen society as soon and as safely as possible.

So, if we can maintain downward pressure on the disease and keep our numbers low, we will then move into the next phase.

There are a number of areas where we will be assessing progress when considering what changes may be possible.

The Government will examine whether it will be safe to begin easing the restrictions on outdoor gatherings; some sporting activities; we will look at the gradual reopening of construction and we would like to move on the 5km limit on non-essential journeys.

The areas which will influence how we progress are as follows.

The first is community transmission of the disease. We need to use the month of March to really drive down case numbers and get them as low as possible.

Next, we will look at hospital and ICU occupancy. Our health service has been under truly extraordinary pressure, as have the men and women who make it work. We remain deeply grateful for their heroic effort.

We need to continue to reduce the numbers of people in hospital because of Covid, so that we can protect our health service and allow for non-Covid healthcare to restart safely.

And finally, the all-important vaccine programme.

Our commitment is to deliver as fast and as comprehensive a vaccination programme as possible. So far, our only limit has been supply.

The first of our people being vaccinated are those who are most vulnerable to the disease, and those who we rely on to make our health system work.

We are making steady progress – over 350,000 vaccine doses have already been administered, but we are now in a position to implement a major ramping up of the programme.

Ranging from small local GP surgeries and pharmacists, up to a nationwide network of community and regional vaccination centres, we are implementing a programme of vaccination on a scale that is unprecedented in the country’s history.

By the end of March, we will have administered 1.25 million doses.

Then, depending on vaccines arriving as scheduled, we will administer, on average, more than 1 million doses per month during April, May and June.

What that means in practical terms is that by the end of April, up to 47% of people over 18 will have had their first dose.

By the end of May, up to 64% will have had their first dose.

And by the end of June, up to 82% of adults who can be vaccinated will have received at least one dose and 55% – 60% will be fully vaccinated.

We will get through this.

But I want to make sure that when we ease each particular restriction, we take a careful approach to ensure that when we open something, it stays open.

We want to protect as many people as possible in the coming months, until we achieve a critical mass of vaccinations.

That is why we will continue to proceed carefully and cautiously, keeping the situation under constant review and being informed at all stages by public health advice.

I understand that some people will feel frustrated as you wait for your vaccine, but I ask you to be patient. There will be vaccines for everyone in the country who can be vaccinated.

The vaccination programme will completely change the landscape and transform the options available to us as a society for reopening and renewing our country.

The breadth, depth, and agility of our economy means that we will be in a position to recover. The challenge has always been, and remains, to ensure that we maintain as many of our businesses as possible until they are in a position to get back to work.

That is why we will be maintaining all of the various support schemes for businesses and individuals, which were scheduled to close on 31 March, until the end of June.

A new National Economic Recovery Plan to reboot the economy in the aftermath of the pandemic is already in the advanced stages of development within Government.

€20 million in new funding has also been agreed today for mental health supports and investment in communities.

We will get through this.

We just need to stay focused, and get through these next few months, safely, together.

I know how hard this is. I know the toll that it is having on so many people’s mental health and well being. I know the devastation it has brought to so many businesses and livelihoods.

But I also know that the end is now truly in sight.

We have already shown what a remarkably resilient people we are. We have drawn on a deep innate sense of community and solidarity to get us this far.

That’s why, I know, that we will get through this.

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    Mute S K
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:03 AM

    I don’t have a problem with ads in theory as I understand that’s how we get stuff for free. The problem is when the ads are so intrusive that it makes it next to impossible to enjoy the content, then I’m going to block them. Having thirty second non skippable ads on YouTube after every second video, or ads with crazy flash videos, or articles split over multiple pages to increase advertising space drove me to install ad block.

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    Mute little jim
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:13 AM

    Then the content is rubbish, and hence the problem.

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    Mute An Observer
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    Sep 12th 2015, 9:55 AM

    *THIS IS NOT A JOKE*

    You are the One-Hundreth-Millionth reader of

    this page. You have won an iPhone 6sPlus.

    Please clink the link below to claim your prize!

    Clickmeclickmeclickme

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    Mute Ciaran
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:05 AM

    what about likes of greedy rte that we already pay TV licence put have to sit threw full screen pop up ads and about 5 ads before a program even starts!

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    Mute Darach Malone
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:17 AM

    your TV licence fee doesn’t even begin to cover rte costs. without the ads they would be extinct.

    24
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    Mute Sean J. Troy
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    Sep 12th 2015, 11:16 AM

    The RTE and BBC license fees are very similar. The Beeb has no ads and is arguably the best content creator in the world. Yes, it has a much bigger license base. But it’s network of stations and channels both in the UK and abroad is much bigger than RTE.

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    Mute Ciarán
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    Sep 12th 2015, 1:20 PM

    The beeb also have 16 times the population to collect the licence fee from

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    Mute cooperguy
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    Sep 12th 2015, 2:53 PM

    @Sean, you have to be joking! The BBC license fee is massively more revenue than what RTE get. If you want an ad free rte you would need need a massive license fee increase.

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    Mute Sean Oige
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    Sep 12th 2015, 5:21 PM

    They should get rid of the ads so! RTE an absolute waste of money….

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    Mute cooperguy
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    Sep 12th 2015, 6:11 PM

    why exactly, their viewing numbers says different. Your not supposed to like everything they do. that’s the point of public broadcasting, not everything has to appeal to a mass market

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    Mute Fergus O'Neill
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:18 AM

    I’ve had just over 200,000 ads blocked in just over a year. 200,000 – there’s your reason for installing a blocker.

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    Mute Mark Malone
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    Sep 12th 2015, 12:28 PM

    156,742 for me in around the same length of time. Ludicrous amount.

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    Mute Thomas Mac
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    Sep 12th 2015, 9:59 AM

    I wouldn’t be able to watch my favourite online sports channel only for adblocker plus .

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    Mute Enda O Brien
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    Sep 12th 2015, 9:49 AM

    No problem with subscription models i have a few but you would want to be providing a good service.

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    Mute Ciarán
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:00 AM

    The take a whitelist approach, an adblocker can be quite useful for security reasons browsing websites you’re in familiar with. However websites I visit frequently will get whitelisted as long as there are no autoplay video ads. More broadly the issue is very similar to that of music, film and game piracy. A generation of people now seem to find the idea of artists and writers being paid for the content they produce completly alien. They also refuse to acknowledge this act as stealing

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    Mute Enda O Brien
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:02 AM

    Honestly the way the music industry was so explotive of people when the likes of napster did not exist was the reason noone had a problem with using the likes of napster.

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    Mute Ciarán
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    Sep 12th 2015, 11:29 AM

    I’m not old enough to have been exploited by the music industry pre Napster I wasnt even ten when they got sued and there are people only about 5 or years younger than me who have never paid for music in their lives

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    Mute Sean McGovern
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:07 AM

    I stopped using Vodafone because of the amount of ads they force you to watch on YouTube and other web sites.

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    Mute Andy Cahalan
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    Sep 12th 2015, 11:27 AM

    What did I just read?

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    Mute Sean J. Troy
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    Sep 12th 2015, 11:10 AM

    I don’t mind ads. I do mind bad, poorly targeted ads. I would have thought in 2015 the might of Google would have figured out that making me sit through a few seconds of advertising to watch a ten second cat video is stupid. Especially when they’ve been collecting data on me for years and haven’t figured out that maybe an ad for L’Oréal shampoo is probably the wrong product to target me with. Some of the American services are the worst though. They put ads in services that you actually pay for like NFL and MLB live streaming and then the ads are exclusively targeted at American audiences. Absolutely pointless.

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Sep 12th 2015, 11:29 AM

    I’m entirely fine with web based businesses failing to succeed and the internet going back to being mainly driven by hobbyists. Those motivated by passion and interest rather than monetary gain.

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    Mute Search Eagle
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    Sep 13th 2015, 10:12 AM

    “Passion” doesn’t cover the massive costs required to host the videos you enjoy. An awful lot of hobbyist content relies on tools that are made free by advertising revenue.

    But I am also fine with web-based businesses failing because people won’t click their ads. However, the internet won’t change into the passion and interest haven you seek, instead people with the resources and money will consolidate their control by introducing other paid models. See, for example: blip which deleted the videos and kicked out all its hobbyist content creators to focus on its 4000 stronger more commercially lucrative partners.

    There’s also nothing wrong with seeking monetary gain for doing something you enjoy. Why should the people who produce the content you consume be required to do so for free?

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    Mute Michael Fallon
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    Sep 12th 2015, 9:55 AM

    Is there an adblock for ipads and where can I get it?

    19
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    Mute David Ronan
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    Sep 12th 2015, 10:05 AM

    Use this, great for blocking all ads on all devices connected to your network, small bit of DIY involved but worth it http://lifehacker.com/turn-a-raspberry-pi-into-an-ad-blocker-with-a-single-co-1686093533

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    Mute Life in no motion
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    Sep 12th 2015, 11:21 AM

    Block Party was working for me on ios 9 beta

    Used it on the indo site. I’ve a 6+ and the poxy ad for Ribena takes up almost all the page

    Ridonculous

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 12th 2015, 12:22 PM

    I’m sick of adverts everywhere… Next toilet paper unless you use newspapers?

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    Mute Paul Murphy
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    Sep 12th 2015, 3:11 PM

    Ads are great as long as they stay in one place, don’t make any noise (unless I click on them), don’t slow down the website and don’t try to install stuff on my computer/phone/whatever.

    Otherwise yer blocked.

    10
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    Mute Andrew McCarthy
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    Sep 12th 2015, 2:08 PM

    Worse than the distraction and delays, there’s the growing problem of malvertising — ads that are actually malicious content that can infect your browser/PC/phone without any interaction from you. Blocking flash helps a bit, but really I’ve found blocking all ads best.

    Take a look at https://blog.malwarebytes.org/malvertising-2/ for some of the most recent ones including major sites like Yahoo and MSN. Worth the risk?

    8
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    Mute Gusty McBlow
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    Sep 12th 2015, 12:50 PM

    Hosts File!

    That is all.

    6
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    Mute Jim Nielsen
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    Sep 12th 2015, 4:35 PM

    entirely agree – in my case it stops 99% of adverts and it’s a small matter to add new hosts entries when needed. the only drawback with the hosts file approach is when add sites are using https://…/ as i have seen happening with mrgreen betting and a couple more..

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    Mute Pete Gibson
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    Sep 12th 2015, 3:39 PM

    It’s called “click-bait”.
    Just below this very article were:
    12 frightening facts your pilot will never tell you.
    23 facts about left-handed people.
    and surprise surprise…
    50 of the funniest cats.

    6
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    Mute Kane Abel
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    Sep 12th 2015, 9:58 AM

    Dumb logo – Really looks like AdRoil….(?) I predict failure….

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    Mute ScewMadd
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    Sep 13th 2015, 2:00 PM

    This ad reminds me of this cringey video.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67ZZUSpeS4k

    1
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