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AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove
Opinion
Column Chris Hadfield is inspiring a new generation of astronauts
With photos shared on social media and down-to-earth video interviews, Commander Chris Hadfield is surely inspiring many young people to become astronauts and to work in other areas of the space industry, writes Colm Quinn.
7.00am, 14 May 2013
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THE WORLD’S SPACE agencies put the International Space Station into space, but Commander Chris Hadfield connected the world’s people to it.
His stunning photographs along with their poetic captions have shown us our world from a different perspective, literally and figuratively. Yes, we’ve all seen photos of the Earth from space before but it’s been different this time.
They’re not taken so they can be scoured over and analysed by research teams; he wants us to learn about space and the Earth. These photos are taken specifically for us, and shared on Twitter and Facebook for the whole world to see.
It’s hard not to get a little romantic
There is real community spirit to everything Hadfield does. He’s made informative and entertaining videos to answer people’s questions about simple everyday living on the ISS. Whenever he mentions the population of a city, he never says two, four or six million “people live there” – it’s always two, four or six million of “us”.
He’s been taking pictures of everywhere on the planet and a few nice ones of Ireland as well. His photos are artistic and the captions that go along with them are more poetic than you’d expect from an astronaut. But if you’re looking out over the entire planet and getting hit by 16 sunrises a day I suppose it’s hard not to get a little romantic.
He strikes you as such a nice guy. He recently led a singalong with schools all across Canada; at the end, while someone was asking him a question, he was just floating upside down (if there’s such a thing in space) playing the guitar, with a smile on his moustachioed face.
Changing our whole view of the world
Hadfield makes life on something which cost many, many billions look so casual. Others may want to explain the engineering behind how the space station was built and how it was all put up into orbit and how sensitive all the equipment is. But he’ll be explaining something with the microphone in his hand, then let it float in front of him while he makes a sandwich.
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His videos show you how they do different things in space like brushing your teeth, getting sick, wringing out a cloth and many more. His pictures are great too – but he is, of course, great at explaining the science behind the space station and the different effects being in space has on the body. He explains how eyesight is affected and how the bones of your body start to lose density.
Some of the photographs have changed our whole view of some parts of the world. Take the Sahara. Before seeing his photos I thought it was just a seemingly endless sea of golden sand dunes which were all pretty much the same. But then you see the photos and it’s actually a mosaic of different shades and colours, with rock formations making lines across the Earth. What you’d think is one of the most uniform places in the world is actually one of the most diverse.
Few of us ever get the chance to Earthgaze
It’s ironic that astronauts spend most of their lives looking up at the stars and dreaming of being among them but when they get up there the most amazing thing and the thing that they want to do the most is look back down.
Hadfield said, “When I get back from this I’m going to regret every minute I spent not looking at the world.” You have your whole life to stargaze but only a few of us ever get the chance to Earthgaze.
With his photos and videos he is surely inspiring many young people to become astronauts and to work in other areas of the space industry. By taking these photos and videos it is clear he wants everyone in the world to be a part of what they are doing on this space station. More than that though, he wants us to really look at our planet and ourselves and see the how special all of it is.
‘The exploration of the universe can become part of everybody’s life’
He said, “The exploration of the universe around our planet is something that can become part of everybody’s life. And not just the science, the science is important but also the humanity of it, the beauty of it, the wonder of it, the perspective it gives to us and the music that goes along with it. Those things are what make exploration worthwhile because of what they bring back to us all.”
Commander Hadfield arrived back to Earth this morning, where there were many people eager to get a piece of him.
He’s changed the ISS from a big chunk of metal miles above our heads, which not many people paid much attention to, into something we care about. He has made it our space station.
Colm Quinn is a freelance journalist based in Wexford.
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@James Fox: Why keep looking at news apps in the middle of a pandemic if you don’t want to know what’s happening?? I don’t want to be uninformed just because someone else does. Really wish people would stop shooting the messengers.
@JusticeForJoe: no, they won’t. Covid is here to stay. We used to have an approach focused on protecting the health service. That’s not our approach anymore. Now it’s about mild cases, irrespective of how our health service is coping. That shift in approach means we can never, ever return to normal.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: That is literally not true, we will be returning to normal and for one glaring reason: capital. If you think governments around the globe will accept an indefinite pause on the economy for this then you need to go to bed. The vaccines will prevent the vast majority from experiencing any symptoms that require anything more than a day in bed. Once it gets to that level normality will resume, from then it will end up like how we manage the flu with an adapted vaccine every winter season for the current covid variant that is gaining traction.
@aaron: I suspect he’s trying to convince people that the vaccines are pointless or dangerous. The anti-vaxxers have been so (rightly) vilified, they’re ashamed to admit that they’re anti-vax now. I see no other logical explanation for this lad’s rubbish.
Fun fact: a percentage of anti-vaxxers are just afraid of needles
@JusticeForJoe: I’m not. Most people will be vaccinated by September/October, yet government plans on maintaining restrictions until Summer 2022 at the earliest. If it were a case that restrictions would be lifted after vaccinations were completed, why would the government suggest we should maintain those restrictions beyond that point? This is not me saying this; this is our government.
@JusticeForJoe: well, no, that’s just a straight out lie. I’m fully in favour of vaccines. Apart from a tiny, tiny percentage of people who *might* have some very minor side effects, the vaccines are safe and effective against the symptoms of Covid. Personally, I think governments should be bending over backwards to work in conjunction with the pharmaceutical companies to ramp up production. I’m also in favour of vaccine certification which would allow travel. I have stated my support for vaccines on numerous occasions. Here we have yet another example of you lying and targeting others with false accusations simply because I don’t 100% agree with your position. This ties in exactly with what I said on another thread – you are a hate-filled Covid supremacist.
@JusticeForJoe: JusticeForJoe c. 1 month ago: “I never insult anyone or call them names”. Also JusticeForJoe today: “I have already predetermined your opinion without evidence so I won’t actually read your opinion, but will instead call you an anti-vaxxer Covidiot.” You’re the wоrst kind of hypоcrite – the type that doesn’t even know you are one and belittles everyone around you.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: I’ve seen your opinions. I know what camps you’re in and I don’t need to hear anything else from you when there are sane and reasonable people around to hear from instead.
@JusticeForJoe: you obviously don’t know what camp I’m in. You say I’m an anti-vaxxer. That’s an outright lie. You insinuated I was a Trump supporter. That is another lie, as I cannot stand him. You claimed before that I support fully opening society. Yet another lie, as I support restrictions. Everything you claimed about me was a lie. You are neither sane nor reasonable. You bully those with mental health issues. You insult those who do not agree 100% with you. If anyone asks a question you label them as idiоts. Yоu are an extrеmist a supremаcist and a liаr. In your view there are only camps: supporters of a complete lockdown of society and ignore those who are struggling; or, those who are completely anti-lockdown, anti-mask, anti-vax and anti-science. For you, there is no inbetween.
So in other words, the lockdowns are not going to work. Continuing lockdowns for something that is not going to go away is going to decimate this country. There will be nothing left. Nothing to stay here for. If other countries have managed to open up and managed to get back to.normality there will be an exodus again from this place. Well those if us that are left to exodus that is. Be it from covid or other means. Humanity is the survival of the fittest. Alas there is nothing we can do about this. The virus will continue to mutate by it’s very nature. Do you think its possible to develop and manufacture that quantity of vaccine every year??
@Iblis: lockdowns were never meant to be a longterm plan. They are a delay tactic for governments to get their health service and facilities in order. Ireland is currently paying the price for several years of mismanagement of the health budget and funds.
@Laura Walsh: agreed Laura. I don’t think there is enough character space here to outline the mismanagement. When the Philippines start keeping their nurses due to their own issues and the nurses here that have been working tirelessly to help us all aren’t been paid, decide to throw in the towel… Let’s just say all of our issues will be exasperated. I really think we will see a new type of exodus here in the coming years. I have a great, well paying job. Beautiful house and all the toys I could want. Problem is they are all in a country which will have nothing to enjoy in it within 5 years if we stay the current course. I really do love this country but I fear it will be back in the 80′s if we don’t open back up soon.
@Iblis: Humanity is the survival of the fittest? Is that what defines us? I would have thought humanity is defined by how the vulnerable are protected.
@Laura Walsh: Several years! Decades more like.. we have an antiquated health service that is struggling to adapt to the modern world.
We are pumping billions a year into the health service, its like a bottomless pit. It was mentioned recently the vaccine data was still been documented with pen and paper!
@Laura Walsh: The first lockdown was promoted that way but they pretty much revealed that they want to use rolling lockdowns to battle the crisis. It’s sadly the only plan we have.
@Bert Carolan: humanity speaks of protecting the vulnerable from one corner of their mouth while supporting a political and economic structure which kills millions, enslaves children, keeps 100s millions in poverty and decimates ecological systems. Protecting the vulnerable is a catchphrase that’s nice to hear, but it has never been true.
@Laura Walsh: Covid should and could have been one time where this was not the case, where all countries and companies would forget about profit and respond. I was niave I suppose but I have to believe that mankind can rise above short term profit. Otherwise my children will have an ugly future.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: Well said Brian, protecting the vulnerable, all in this together, another few weeks. Whatever the slogan of the day happens to be, it’s just soundbites. The real shame here is that most can’t see the shambles that’s unfolding.
As the soap opera unfolds, I’m wondering what excuses or blame game will the govt be playing in another year or so.
@Laura Walsh: Several years? At least two decades unfortunately. What truly beggars belief at least in my mind is that everyone seems to forget about our current Taoiseach being the minister for health in the early 2000s when the trolley crisis began in earnest. He presided over the beginning of the crisis and did absolutely nothing to resolve it, and that chronic mismanagement of the health service is ultimately the same mismanagement that has led it into such severe inadequacy today.
I honestly can’t fathom how this isn’t brought up more often. He was the de facto Táiniste in the coalition-that-wasn’t-a-coalition prior to this government taking office last year and he regularly lambasted Simon Harris for his appalling management of the health service – the lack of self awareness was staggering, it was like watching Father Dougal call Cyril McDuff an eejit every time the two of them locked horns over the issue.
In other words, the man whose government previously sowed the seeds of the health service crisis while he was the responsible minister, spent the next decade in opposition criticising his successor for continuing the same disastrous policy chain he initially set in motion, and is now the leader of the entire country – during an unprecedented international public health emergency.
The writers of House of Cards, Yes Minister or The Thick Of It would struggle to sell as outrageously far-fetched a storyline for their respective TV series’ without losing the audience over the suspension of disbelief. It’s incredible. And it’s almost never brought up in current discourse which I just find absolutely bizarre.
@JusticeForJoe: you’re actually not concerned about them. You have simply found a platform you can corrupt to mistreat others and voice your supremacy. The style and language you take, combined with your choices of words, all prove that you don’t care about others; you just want to be “better than them.” This pandemic created the perfect set of circumstances for you to bully, denigrate and insult people you deem unworthy.
@Frances Casey: Did anyone even refer to anything I actually said? No. Brian just came out with fists swinging because he clearly has his opinion set already. I’m glad the covidiots hate me. It reassures me.
@JusticeForJoe: yes it is great for them. It is often forgotten and rarely mentioned that vast majority of people who get Covid also recover from Covid, and plenty of people have Covid and are never ill with Covid.
@Jim Lingk: It’s never forgotten and it’s always mentioned! The numbers are all on the covid app! Why the hell do you people keep lying this and thinking you’re taking some sort of moral high ground. It’d be laughable if it wasn’t so despicable.
@Vanessa: No they don’t. They reassert what I’ve always been saying myself, which is why Brian and his ilk hate me. I have nothing but disdain and utter contempt for covidiots and Trump fans. The ones who are both hate me twice as much.
I have no problem with anyone else at all. I actually get along very well with most people. Just not on these articles. That’s ok with me.
@JusticeForJoe: To prove my point, you just used derogatory language simply because I don’t lick your boots. I’m fully aware of how dangerous the virus is. What I don’t agree with is governments imposing restrictions while not adhering to them themselves. I don’t agree with bowing down to JusticeForJoe-style populism. I don’t agree with slashing mental health services when they are needed most. I don’t agree with using insults because someone does not agree. I don’t believe in separating families. I do believe non-essential sun holidays should not happen. I do agree large gatherings should not happen. I do agree with masks, distancing, hygiene and vaccines. So, what exactly is your definition of a Covidiot? Because it sounds like anyone who doesn’t 100% agree with you.
@JusticeForJoe: for the record, I don’t support Trump and I don’t hate you. I just wish people like you had a bit of empathy for those struggling right now. Your commentary – including use of derogatory language at nearly every turn – shows signs of a sociopath. You’re highly focused and blinkered and anyone or anything that slightly goes against your opinions are bulldozed to the side to be sneered at and mocked. You show no understanding of how human psychology works when trying to get people on board. Understanding nuance and long term implications are also absent in your thinking. That’s not to say you don’t have those qualities; it’s just that right now, for whatever reason known only to you, you choose not to care about others.
@JusticeForJoe: They don’t hate you. He called out your behaviour. Your claims are without any foundation. If article turning you like that stay away from them until you can reflect on that.
@JusticeForJoe: further, Joe Moore and I are not in the same camp; I do not share many of Joe’s opinions regarding Covid. The difference is that Joe and I can have an actual honest and civil debate, questioning and answering each other. You can’t. The second anyone brings up a question or utters even a slight difference of opinion, you call them a Covidiot and openly question their intelligence without ever even engaging the point. Yes, I came out fists flying today; but only because for several months you have been attacking me and I’ve had enough of your slander, bile and lies. The worst part is that you don’t even seem to realise that you attack almost everyone around you – that is another classic symptom of a sociopath.
I hope that doesn’t mean we are going to be locked in forever. Hopefully this the last lockdown. I have been living in Ireland for several years and I must say people changed.
Irish people used to be more easy going but since that pandemic started people changed a lot. There is so many bad things. I am reading comments here and people getting really upset so easy. For example all that issues with traveling and penalties for breaking the rules. At beginning people were saying 100e is not enough should be 500e week later no 5000 etc.
Than some people were saying no should be prison sentence. I think if someone going away and coming back to Ireland negative PCR test should be ok plus maybe 5 days quarantine in hotel and repeat test after 5 days just to make sure but putting people in hotel for 14 days doesn’t make sens unless government want help hospitality industry this way.
Another thing I have noticed anyone with some uncertainty about vaccine is marked as tin foil hat or Gemma supporter.
Covid is not the same like flu there is no doubt people dying in my wife’s nursing home over 20 people died due the outbreak.
Myself and my family we all got infected I still have a lot issues and I am not sure if they ever go away. I just wondering if people are going to change back I think this pandemic has permanently changed some people mentally.
I am really concerned about my daughter’s if they will able to live in such World. I hope my comment haven’t offended anyone is just my humble opinion.
@artur filip: Every thing you said is completely true. It shouldn’t offend anyone but it should make people take a long hard look at themselves. The vitriol in a lot of comments here at times is horrendous. Everybody blaming everyone else. If anyone dares query lockdowns, vaccines etc they are pounced upon immediately as conspiracy theorists or worse. The nature of this country has changed dramatically in the last year and definitely not for the best.
@artur filip: It’s certainly having a devastating effect in a huge number of ways. It’s happening the world over, though. I don’t think we’re all that unique. I really wish you the very best with your recovery.
@artur filip: I think its the pandemic coupled with social media and using it to fill the time. I’d hope that maybe as life returns to normal the majority won’t have the time to get outraged about the small things anymore. When your living as restricted as we are now people look to social media to fill the gap in their lives and give them a sense of purpose. Once the busy “rat race” of everyday life resumes hopefully we will only be left with the extremists still spreading such vitriol.
@artur filip: People are just under a lot of stress and their true nature gets tossed aside in the mayhem. Things will change back and things will be really good again.
@Vanessa: I know, but with vaccine rollout now and summer coming things should be coming back to semblence of normality. There will still be restrictions for quite some time but it will be an endemic disease that we will just have to live with. Just like all the other ones we lived with before Covid.
Please amend the article to make it accurate. 2.7M people died “with” covid. Not “from” covid.
While tragically the number of deaths with covid this winter in Ireland is significant, it may be reassuring for those who are worried that overall mortality this winter is below average for Ireland. In fact November and December show the lowest sustained average mortality for many years. Source: https://www.euromomo.eu/graphs-and-maps/
This is clearly a deadly virus when out of control – but this winter is having nowhere the impact on overall mortality here in Ireland than it did during the first wave.
@Conor Kiely: Why do you think Ireland is no excess deaths while England is extraordinarily high excess and then Scotland is high excess ? Strange don’t you think ?
@Joe Moore: Simply because we are doing a better job at supressing the spread of the virus than England are right now. While the numbers of cases and deaths last April and this January in Ireland look comparable on the graphs – they are not as we are doing 5 times as much testing now as we were then. We pick up a lot of weak positives where the virus is present but people are asymptomatic and do not have the disease. This applies to both case numbers and death numbers. Testing protocols vary across countries and test-kit manufacturers, and the UK’s are different to ours so the covid numbers are not very comparable across countries. January’s spike here was significant – but effectively suppressed by the extent of our lockdown and adherence to same.
@Conor Kiely: This is Misinformed nonsense, it has been corrected multiple times but keeps popping up.
Ireland and most other countries (Russia was an exception, requiring an autopsy which suppresses their true death toll) record deaths from / caused by COVID-19 based on Death Certificates, that list a cause of death i.e. “the underlying causes of death”.
The underlying cause of death and subsequent sequence of conditions / diseases that lead to a death is listed a death certificate in sequence e.g.
A death certificate is filled out by a doctor who treated the patient. The guidenace is provided by the WHO, which most government agencies follow. The international standards allows countries to be compared:
“A death due to COVID-19 is defined for surveillance purposes as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to COVID disease (e.g. trauma).”
Notice the guidance says “due to” i.e. from, caused by, the result of. The guidelines also say…
“There should be no period of complete recovery from COVID-19 between illness and death. A death due to COVID-19 may not be attributed to another disease (e.g. cancer) and should be counted independently of pre-existing conditions that are suspected of triggering a severe course of COVID-19″
In Ireland, if a death is subsequently found not to be from COVID-19 a denotification will be issued and a death incorrectly assigned will be removed.
I noticed 4 denotification were issued last week.
Your confusion is probably due the UK’s policy of recoding all deaths within 28 days of a positive test as a Covid-19 death. This is unique to the UK, as far as I know. However, they also have a second list based on Death Certificates, which follows WHO guidance. This is maintained by the Office of National Statistics. Deaths from COVID-19 are similar to the stats for deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
@Conor Kiely: “We pick up a lot of weak positives where the virus is present but people are asymptomatic and do not have the disease.”
Testing asymptomatic cases and close contacts was suspended between December 31 and January 29. During this time we only tested cases that had symptoms. So the big increase in infections in January wasn’t due to testing mild or asymptomatic cases (weak positives).
Also, did we see a big jump in infections after we resumed testing close contacts on Jan 29th? No, we did not.
This shows that testing close contacts (some of whom are weak positive) doesn’t contribute much to the number of infections detected, maybe 10%-20%. At least small enough that it wasn’t noticed when resumed testing close contacts.
Also, a weak positive test in a person who is a close contact may be due to them getting tested within their incubation period, before they fall ill with symptoms. That’s the point of contact tracing, finding people before they fall ill and infect others.
In that case they are presymptomatic, not asymptomatic. About 25% of cases remain fully asymptomatic, never experienced symptoms. Asymptomatic cases are likely capable of infecting others, but the rate they do so is unknown but at a likely a fraction of the rate a person who has symptoms. But the risk is there.
@Cono Kiely: “In fact November and December show the lowest sustained average mortality for many years.”
This is also highly misleading.
Euromono data ends in December. But we experienced, so far, 1,420 Covid-19 deaths in January and February. We had 138 Covid-19 deaths in November and 168 Covid-19 deaths in December. That’s why excess deaths in Dec and Nov weren’t increased.
I really would love you to explain why you think statistics for November and December on Euromono somehow prove Covid-19 deaths in January and February didn’t happen.
Please explain.
In fact, RIP shows that excess deaths peaked at 50% higher than normal this January, 150 death notices were posted per day by the end of January, when the average for the time of year should have been 100 per day. In fact, the number of deaths reported in Dublin, in January, was higher than the 1st wave of the outbreak last spring.
“Levels of posting to RIP in South Dublin (Eircodes A94, A96, D14, D18, D16) have surpassed the first wave of the #covid19 pandemic. Dublin South was the least affected region of Dublin in terms of excess mortality in the first wave:
@David Jordan: Now David you are drawing conclusions that I did not infer, and there are some inaccuracies in your responses. Testing of asymptomatic cases was not suspended in January, only close contacts. We did over a half a million tests in January and many were positive but asymptomatic – as would have been alluded to in the daily briefings.
I never said statistics for November and December on Euromono somehow prove Covid-19 deaths in January and February didn’t happen. Where on earth did you get that from? Very misleading response. There have been deaths caused by covid in all these months – and also deaths where people tested positive with covid. Despite your request for me to expIain January’s deaths – I did not mention January deaths in my post at all (apart from stating that January’s spike was significant but we did a good job in suppressing it). I only said that – despite covid – our overall death rate in Nov/Dec was below average – which is quite unusual for Winter months.
Even the HSPC’s own hub reports the total death as “includes probable and possible” and in it’s weekly reports us “Number of deaths among confirmed cases” – not “deaths from covid”.
You’re reacting like I’m some covid denier when I’ve said this is clearly a deadly virus. I’d expect a less reactionary and more considered response. My overall point is that if overall mortality is down – people’s outlook does not need to be so negative. It’s hard enough for folks – and surely a good-news story if less people died from Oct-Dec than normally do?
@Conor Kiely: “Where on earth did you get that from?”
From what you wote…
“While tragically the number of deaths with covid this winter in Ireland is significant, it may be reassuring for those who are worried that overall mortality this winter is below average for Ireland.”
No it’s not below average anymore, as there were 1420 deaths in January – February, with excess deaths posted to RIP peaking at 50% higher than the average for the time of year.
However, I have to admit I was rash in thinking you were claiming this despite a lack of data.
I see on Euromono, data for Ireland continues to February, but as yet the excess deaths in Jan and Feb aren’t picked up on the graph. There must be delay in reporting to Euromono. If we chech back in a few weeks, .I expectthe excess deaths to show up on the graph.
As for the reason why non-Covid deaths were down in November and December,…
Social distancing measures resulted in fewer non-Covid deaths due to far fewer cases of influenza and pneumonia, an ironic benift of the pandemic and the social distancing measures we imposed.
Now thinking about it, since non-Covid deaths are down, that means the excess deaths connected to Covid-19, seen in January and February on RIP, are greater than inferred from the increase over the 5-year average. The baseline is lower, so Covid-19 deaths are somewhat higher then the 50 deaths per day initially calculated.
“How COVID-19 is changing the cold and flu season”
“Measures meant to tame the coronavirus pandemic are quashing influenza and most other respiratory diseases, which could have wide-ranging implications.”
@David Jordan: there you go again David. I specifically mention November and December as having lower than average death rates but you ignore this and nitpick at my reference to “winter” by quoting January statistics, despite my referencing the January spike, and despite these 2 months (Nov/Dec) having the highest monthly reported covid death rates in the 2nd half of the year. Crikey – talk about extinguishing any little crumb of positivity ….
Is it really the vaccine that has caused a drop in cases? It hasn’t been given to that many people. Or is it that we are locked down and realising that we need to take it seriously? I still see college age people clustering outdoors unmasked at take-outs, but I also see more people masking on the street.
@Rathminder: we are the equivalent of a small town in terms of population compared with the likes of India. Their cases are plummeting even though social distancing and lockdowns are virtually impossible there. That gives me hope that previous infection in the community can give some future immunity.
The EU experts need to shut up and hang their collective heads in shame ! How many people in Europe are dead now because they could not manage the procurement of the various vaccines or the timely rollout ?
The UK are actively trying to persuade their last unwilling vulnerable people to please come and take the job as they want to have 15 million vaccinated by Monday ! And all we do is sit and wait.
History will write the European effort as a Disastrous Failure.
@Seamus Mac: Good question . We are told it would be chaotic and we would be at the end of the queue as a smaller country . I don’t believe that’s true . Despite any differences I think the UK would supply us with the AZ independently and we would be looked on favourably by other producers too. I just think we are slavishly following the EU’s say so while they are admitting their culpability and , of course , it would involve a lot of effort .. something there’s not much of on offer at Leinster House.
With the vaccine role out, we should almost be at the end. At least that what I keep reading in all the comments. Looks like it will take a long while.
@Virgil: unfortunately I think not. If any thing I get the impression that restrictions will be ramped up. There has been a slow quiet move recently to down play any positive outcomes the vaccines may have and that is concerning. I have been positive to now on a return to some semblance of normalcy but in reality I see nothing opening in a meaningful way this year anyway. I’d say the next great saviour to be rolled out will be based on treatments and we will be still locking down until that great hope runs out of steam. What’s after? I really don’t know.
No $h1t Sherlock. Of course it’s going to remain with us. It’s time the government started planning for getting us out of this and actually living with Covid rather than rolling lockdowns. It can’t go on.
So in other words shaming people for using public transport or walking in the Wicklow mountains is going to continue forever? And people who use aeroplanes are going to be criminals forever?
Please give it a rest. We’re already stuck at home for another few months at least as cases fall across Europe. There’s several vaccines all with ~90% efficacy being rolled out at pace across the world. Why the hell should it be with us indefinitely? Messages like this from people who wield power are more likely to make people give up than comply
Evolution of a species, in the face of an exterior force, doesn’t have to remain in a one state of reaction. That’s why we call it evolution. Hopefully we will evolve /react to the virus as a species that best suits us, as a whole.
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Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. The choices you make regarding the purposes and vendors listed in this notice are saved and stored locally on your device for a maximum duration of 1 year.
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Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 155 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 202 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 162 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 125 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 126 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 54 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 51 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 181 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 80 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 114 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 120 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 53 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 67 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 38 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 126 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 129 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 98 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 70 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 122 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 109 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
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