"WE are following the science" was one of the most repeated phrases at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as governments and public health officials sought to explain the extraordinary actions they required of the public to slow the spread of Covid-19.
That has morphed into being "guided by the science" in recent months. This is an honest acknowledgement of how, after the shock of March's lockdown, politicians have had to balance scientific advice on Covid-19 with aspects of economic, educational, social, wider health and other realities.
This week's fraught Stormont executive meeting, held in the darkening shadow of rising Covid-19 infection rates and increasing pressure on hospitals, was a sharp reminder of the unenviable difficulty involved in these decisions.
These have been heavily informed by scientific data and statistics.
An example of this is the assertion by chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride and chief scientific adviser Professor Ian Young that "hospitality settings" have driven the worsening situation, thus leading to a closure of pubs and restaurants for a month.
Having spent, in many cases, significant amounts of money on 'Covid-proofing' their premises with measures such as perspex screens, reduced table numbers and PPE - in compliance with scientific advice - these businesses are now being put in the desperate position of having to shut their doors. Many fear they will not be able to open again.
A common complaint is that we are being asked to take action on the basis of scientific data that is not, to date, being shared.
Indeed, information on the settings where people in Northern Ireland have been exposed to Covid-19 has been wholly lacking throughout the pandemic.
This has contributed to concerns about the efficacy of the north's testing and tracking system.
In the Republic, a 'data hub' presents the virus's 'mode of transmission'; more comprehensive yet are figures from the much-derided NHS Test and Trace regime in England, which sets out data such as where contacts have taken place and the numbers of people affected.
The Northern Ireland public deserves to have access to similarly detailed information. Stormont is making decisions that, we are being told, are based on scientific data of this sort.
At a time when we are all being asked to do extraordinary things on the basis of that information, we should all - especially, perhaps, the businesses who fear for their viability - be able to see it.
