THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS has seen important figures like Ireland’s chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, become household names.

At a time of crisis like now, the State has to assess carefully how it will communicate with its citizens. It needs to be clear and in charge, and listen to the people affected by what it’s telling them.

How is Ireland doing this, and how effective is it? That’s what we’re looking at in this week’s episode of The Explainer. We talk you through how the HSE and Department of Health communicates the latest facts and figures to people – reporter Cónal Thomas looks at the who’s who of the people involved, while senior reporter Michelle Hennessy talks us through the process of attending a briefing.

We also get an insight into the world of crisis PR and how it works from Deirdre Waldron from Fuzion PR, who talks us through the most important elements of communicating the coronavirus message.

https://soundcloud.com/the-explainer-podcast/how-well-is-the-state-informing-the-public-about-the-coronavirus-crisis

This episode was put together by presenter and producer Aoife Barry, assistant producer and technical operator Nicky Ryan, and executive producer Christine Bohan. Design by Palash Somani.