You can have a choice of two theories as to why the coronavirus has recently spread here so rapidly.
The first is health minister Robin Swann’s assertion that it results from some people giving “a two fingered salute” to health guidelines.
The second, more complex theory is that the coronavirus may have infected humans from a bat in a Chinese forest, but its spread here has been fuelled by self-interest in politics, confusion in science and the impenetrable undergrowth of conflicting priorities which lies between them. There is merit in both theories.
The minister’s belief that some have ignored government advice prompts us to ask why. Part of it stems from human selfishness, but some comes from a lack of respect for the Stormont executive, whose attitude might sometimes be interpreted as a two-fingered salute to the electorate (an attitude not helped by Bobby Storey’s funeral).
Other negative influences include Stormont’s scandals, its self-serving culture illustrated by increasing MLAs’ expenses and the blatant promotion of party political interests. Sinn Féin, for example, claimed that the virus had “strengthened the appetite” for Irish unity, even though they insisted this week on northern school closures, thereby reinforcing partition. (And if there is a safety net for businesses, where is the support for children?)
Then there is Stormont’s administrative insanity, whereby the executive agrees new coronavirus regulations and then MLAs debate and unanimously agree them. Many approved regulations were subsequently repealed or amended, with MLAs sometimes debating legislation which was out of date, or reimposed under new guidelines. (The “debates” are a sham. They never overturn executive decisions).
If SF and the DUP spent all day Tuesday preparing papers on the new restrictions, why did they withhold them from the smaller parties until shortly before the executive’s late night meeting? Whose health were they protecting by doing that? Sadly, the orchestrated utterances from the first and deputy first ministers are of no help and might usefully be discontinued.
Stormont’s appalling record in governance and the demise of organised religion means that there is no source of moral authority in our society. That does not justify the reckless behaviour of some, but it helps to set Robin Swann’s valid point in context.
Stormont’s two main parties claim to follow “the science”. But there is no such thing, as indicated by Mark Honigsbaum’s recent book, The Pandemic Century.
Honigsbaum’s analysis of ten previous 20th Century pandemics indicates that scientists approach each new virus in the same way they handled the previous one, often leading them in the wrong direction. They are also influenced by government economic policy (as happened in China and later the US).
Sweden had no lockdowns, no closed shops or bars, did not recommend masks and left schools open for under-16s. Should we have followed Sweden or Boris Johnson? Whatever your answer, you are accepting that a single science does not exist.
Peter Weir said closing schools for two weeks represented a “compromise”. When the education minister apparently believes that science can be based on compromise, perhaps our education system’s problems are more serious than we realised. (Try reaching a compromise on the law of gravity.)
Honigsbaum says that there may be as many as 13,000 unknown viruses waiting to be discovered, with 500 of them in Chinese bats alone. So we can expect many more pandemics.
But the vast bulk of MLAs were elected for their flag-waving ability, rather than skills more pertinent to the real world. They are now being found out. Sinn Féin’s Dr Caoimhe Archibald is one of the few MLAs capable of leading an informed scientific debate (and if I have overlooked anyone, I apologise). Sadly, most others are out of their depth.
Flags and political horse trading have proved particularly useless in tackling the coronavirus. Until the Stormont executive recognises this (or is replaced by those with appropriate skills) this virus, and others in the future, will present a serious threat to our society. All we have learned so far is that ignorance doesn’t work.
