Driving to Newry last Friday I caught part of the Stephen Nolan Show and several comments caught my attention.
Firstly, the health minister Robin Swann robustly refused to be baited by the garrulous Nolan. He would not fall into the trap of saying that Christmas as we know it may have to be cancelled.
No matter how much he was pressed the minister refused to become the Christmas Grinch.
The minister deserves praise for his approach - others would do well to follow.
Swann seems to understand that people should not be frightened or panicked about any of the measures which have to come into effect. His message was simple - follow the guidelines and enforcement should not be an issue. As he said, common sense should see people through.
As the interview progressed Nolan alluded to a conversation he claims to have had with a senior member of the executive. It was suggested this anonymous individual apparently disagreed with the strategy and approach of the health minister towards Covid-19. Whilst minister Swann was at pains not to breach the confidentiality of the executive, seemingly one of his colleagues had no such reservations as they shared their views with the BBC presenter. Nolan did not name this loose tongued executive member but maybe he should have.
And let’s be clear, to have credibility the executive either acts collectively or it does not. Decisions taken are binding on all ministers.
A member of the executive who decides to share information/and his or her thoughts with a journalist, which, critically, can then be referred to by a journalist as part of a public broadcast, is undermining the collective public health messaging decided upon by the entire executive. By briefing against another minister, they are also potentially in breach of the ministerial code.
Minister Swann quite diplomatically sidestepped the matter but minutes later a caller to the Nolan Show picked up on the seriousness of what had happened and he too called on the errant minister to be named.
I am sure Mr Swann has his suspicions of which minister it was. Executive ministers need to understand that during a pandemic they don’t get to treat public health safeguards like a order from an al a carte menu!
As one seasoned commentator put it: “Increasingly this executive looks like little more than a random collection of people who meet each other once a week”. A bit like a book club.
But back to the entertainment on the Nolan show.
Before the minister could escape, Nolan asked how he felt about the the lyrics of Van Morrison’s so called protest songs against Covid measures.
Swann quietly retorted that Northern Ireland’s music legend may be better suited to writing songs about saving lives.
The head of communications at the department of health (and former producer of the Nolan Show), David Gordon, was much less diplomatic on Twitter about Van the Man.
Of course, Van Morrison is entitled to his opinion but as a public figure he should be conscious of not undermining public health messaging. Nor should he produce lyrics which suggest scientists are “making up crooked facts”. Van may know a thing or two about music but his expertise in epidemiology and virology has been well hidden throughout his career.
Some politicians think Van Morrison should be stripped of his Freedom of Belfast award but it would be much better if the curmudgeonly singer was forced to view the work of ICU health professionals or speak to the 800-plus families who lost loved ones because of Covid.
Ultimately no one should really care about Van Morrison’s viewpoint on health matters as he is about as relevant to medical science as Kim Kardashian is to nuclear physics.
This time the acclaimed singer is definitely on the wrong side of the road and he needs to be challenged - if the Nolan Show has his number.
