IN THE SPACE of just two days, things changed drastically with Ireland’s Covid-19 restrictions.

After a letter from NPHET to the government paved the way for the early scrapping of almost all Covid restrictions, the government was quick to response. The next day, Taoiseach Michéal Martin took to a podium at Government Buildings to announce that a lot of life as we knew it was going to reopen.

But why was this decision made – and how do people feel about it? Is there still a lot of caution around, and how will people adjust to the new changes?

To find out the answers to these questions and more, we turned to two experts: Professor Christine Loscher, Full Professor of Immunology at DCU, and Dr Pete Lunn, head of the ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit. 

They discuss the decisions behind the reopening, how things might play out in coming months, and what the latest research tells us about how people in Ireland feel about the changes.

https://soundcloud.com/the-explainer-podcast/why-is-ireland-reopening-now-and-how-do-people-feel-about-it/s-wI2O0kiCJGX?si=59c36c4f72ee421984212e6bdd723695&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

This episode was put together by presenters Michelle Hennessy and Gráinne Ni Aodha, and producers Nicky Ryan and Aoife Barry.