Dáil figures show quietest of Christmases at Shannon Share
A MERE 1,461 passengers arrived into Ireland through Shannon Airport between November 30 and January 3, according to figures presented to the Dáil by Minister Eamon Ryan.
The number doesn’t include passengers who were on flights that stopped over at Shannon, before going on to other destinations.
The majority of the passengers, 1032, came from the UK. Another 213 came from Poland, 78 from Italy, 45 from France, and the remainder from a large number of countries.
December would traditionally be a rather busy month at Shannon, but even before the recent Covid wave, traffic had almost completely ceased.
17.19
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says that if the government was to undertake a Zero Covid strategy, it would be difficult to unseal the country. When do you ever unseal? We would expose a naive population to the virus at one point, he says.
He added that Nphet and government find Zero Covid frustrating that Zero Covid would lead to Ireland living like New Zealand : It s a false promise . Nphet have never advised Zero Covid, they advise that we suppress virus to lowest level, added Mr Martin.
There will be a cautious approach taken to reopening and that vaccines are a big change .
Coronavirus – 17 more people die with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland as 422 new cases confirmed
Updated: 25 Jan 2021, 15:57
THERE have been 422 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Northern Ireland today, along with 17 deaths.
This brings the total number of cases to 100,741 and the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 1,747 in the north.
1
Ambulances lined up at Altnagelvin Hospital in DerryCredit: Pacemaker Press
Of the deaths reported today, 12 took place in the past 24 hours - with five deaths having previously gone unreported.
There are currently 828 people being treated for coronavirus in acute hospitals across the north.
Health officials also revealed 74 Covid patients are in ICU - with 50 requiring ventilation.
The long-running saga over who will run the state-subsidised, startup-focused National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) has come to a conclusion with the award of a €17m, five-year contract to a consortium headed by Patrick Walsh’s Dogpatch Labs.
The NDRC will give a minimum of 13 startups per year €100,000, workspace and access to further funding sources and established “mentor” entrepreneurs.
As the figurehead of the NDRC consortium, Mr Walsh will receive a salary that’s “under six figures”, he said.
Last year, the outgoing CEO of the NDRC, Ben Hurley, was paid €254,000, including a one-off payment. In the three years prior to that, he was paid €160,000 per annum.