With the emergence of multiple vaccines, Ireland is in a very different position today compared with five months ago, when we entered into the highest level of lockdown just after Christmas. Yesterday, the Minister for Health announced that more than half of the adult population had received their first dose of a vaccine, with over… Read more »

It is important to ask why a request to vaccinate prisoners in the early stages of the programme is met with vehemence and opposition. The force of emotion expressed reflects something of our punitive instinct around justice and this particular instance exposes how in the end, that desire is self-destructive.