The level of ignorance in the republic about the North does stop me in my tracks sometimes
The main northern misunderstandings about the south are:
- assumption that Republic is poor when it's richer than the North
- exaggerated idea about difference between the NHS & HSE, ie lack of awareness of free healthcare for children, old, unemployed etc
There's an odd idea that the republic is unstable/a banana republic even though it's long been just another boring wealthy northern European country... I've experienced those assumptions over the border that I must be a slum dweller/peasant lol
In a way ignoring stuff like the 12th is a luxury. In another, it's part of how many people in the republic are just comfortable and confident with the state as it is, it's an unquestioned foundational reality without borders being an issue or question.

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More from @NaomiOhReally

13 Feb
The baked beans placement is very contentious here
God my mouth is watering at the thought of a light, floury potato farl 😋
If I had the chance I think I would simply have everything in this image.
Plus an enormous pot of Barry's, thick sodabread, marmalade and kerrygold 🥰
Read 5 tweets
5 Feb
What countries are doing best on fully vaccinating people?
A more complex picture than the UK-EU rivalry would suggest.
UK is bang on the EU average, outperformed by Denmark, Italy, Ireland.
Israel beats everyone; poor Canada, which bought and paid a tonne, is the laggard
You can play around with the data here.
UK is ahead on giving the maximum number of people a single shot.
It reflects different choices. EU countries broadly are going more by the book. The UK has taken more risks, they may pay off, we'll find out. ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinat…
Look we can do dumb nationalistic shouting or we can analyse policy choices. I know which one I would prefer.
Read 4 tweets
30 Jan
Thread on something really important.
At the outset of the pandemic, @DrMikeRyan called on us to "break the chains of transmission".
We haven't. The chains now number over 100,000,000 people.
Why? A central measure is often overlooked: isolating those exposed to the virus.
The above graph by @Paul5cott compares policy measures around the world on isolation and quarantine.
A lot of focus has been on reducing the random seeding of new chains of transmission through travel.
That's important - but only one part of containing Covid-19 spread.
It sounds simple: if everyone who currently has the virus right now could be kept separate from other people for about two weeks, infections would drop to zero. Pandemic over.
But individuals cannot achieve it alone. Isolation only works within a system of support and enforcement
Read 14 tweets
29 Jan
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has held discussions with Ursula von der Leyen amid deep unhappiness in the Irish government at the use of Article 16 -- seen as "completely unnecessary" with "explosive political implications" according to a government source
irishtimes.com/news/health/eu…
UK government spokesman says Michael Gove has been in touch with EU Commission's Maros Sefcovic and that the British government is now "carefully considering next steps".
Hours since its publication, the European Commission's vaccine export control regulation has been unpublished from its website
Read 8 tweets
28 Jan
My understanding of AstraZeneca's EU doses:
- contract signed in August
- EU expected over 100 mln doses delivered by end-March, possibly 120 mln
- in early Dec, AZ revised down to 80 mln
- on Jan 22, AZ revised to 31 mln
- distributed proportionally: eg Ireland's share is ~1.1%
Meanwhile, on Jan 13, AstraZeneca chief Tom Keith-Roach told a UK parliament hearing it was scaling up vaccine deliveries "very rapidly" and by mid-Feb would be able to deliver two million doses to the UK every week.
Up to that point, 1.1 mln doses had been delivered to UK.
AZ and UK govt have represented UK doses as made in UK, and visa versa for EU.
However, on December 8, the UK's Vaccine Taskforce manufacturing lead Ian McCubbin told reporters that
"The initial supply... actually comes from the Netherlands and Germany."
reuters.com/article/uk-hea…
Read 14 tweets
27 Jan
The EU has asked AstraZeneca to make the contract public as it disagrees with the interpretation put forward by CEO Pascal Soriot, according to an official, who suggests this could be a breach of the contract confidentiality the company had insisted on.
The EU believes there are stocks of vaccines produced in Europe, that it wants to be delivered to the EU to fulfil its contract.
The factory that has an issue is not the most vital to supply, according to official.
"We are trying to get the vaccines that are somewhere in Europe."
The idea that there are separate supply chains for the UK is not reflected in the contract, according to official.
Two factories located in the UK are the primary ones slated for EU supply, followed by one in Belgium (which has a problem) and one in Germany, official says.
Read 5 tweets

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