BIG NEWS! Ireland is officially on the other side of the omicron wave. This evening at the start of the 6 o’clock news, Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin announced that almost all COVID restrictions will be lifted effective Saturday at 6:00am. The decision was made after the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) gave the green light on lifting restrictions in its report to government yesterday. The restrictions that will no longer apply include:
• Early closing time for hospitality (restaurants, bars/pubs and nightclubs) and events (performances, sports, etc.)
• Limit on the number of households that can intermingle
• Capacity restrictions for outdoor events and indoor events, including weddings
• Physical distancing, seated only indoor tables, pods of six for activities
• Requirement to show a digital COVID pass showing proof of vaccination for all venues and activities, and the requirement to provide contact details
• Remote working for office workers (a phased return can begin as soon as next Monday)
However, masks will continue to be required in all settings where they are currently (shops, schools, public transportation, etc.) until at least February 28th, and passengers will still be required to present their COVID certificates for international travel.
In other news, Ireland marked two historic anniversaries this week:
• The 100 year anniversary of the handover of Dublin Castle by the British to the Provisional Irish Government in 1922
• The 50th anniversary of Ireland signing the treaty to join the EU in 1972
I’ve also made some progress (and experienced some setbacks) on some personal projects:
• Irish passport renewal: I only submitted my online renewal application on Saturday afternoon, so was shocked when my new passport arrived to my mailbox on Tuesday (!). My passport card followed a day later. They must be produced automatically by robots.
• Drug Payment Scheme Card: I also received this card in the mail this week, after only having submitted the online application last weekend. It’s really not much more than a piece of plastic that has my Personal Public Service (PPS) number printed on it, but it’s something I can show to the pharmacy to qualify for the monthly out-of-pocket max co-pay of €100.
• U.S. passport renewal: I finally assembled all the required components to mail my renewal application to the U.S. embassy — checklist, signed application, print photo, bank draft check, pre-stamped and self-addressed return envelope, and my current passport. The turnaround time should be around a month, fingers crossed.
• Ireland Driver Theory Test: My online / remote proctored test was scheduled on this past Wednesday. I had studied the material using a handy app with practise tests and thought I would be ready since I consistently scored a passing grade. However, in the actual test I failed by 1 question… so frustrating! What more, there don’t seem to be any additional online / remote proctored test slots available, so I guess I’ll have to go in person to a brick and mortar testing site. Sigh.
• Job interview: I was invited to interview for another job at UCD, very similar to what I do now but working in one of the colleges on a single research project. The 40 minute interview over Zoom seemed to go well. Unfortunately, I heard back the next day that they decided to offer the job to someone else. Disappointing! But there will be other opportunities.
In the meantime, the situation in my current job continues to get worse and worse due to the lack of staff on my team… I feel I am drowning in deadlines for critical projects, while the backlog of other work continues to grow. It is very stressful. I have a check-in with my boss on Monday to discuss the workload and priorities.
I haven’t been getting out for walks as much as I should or would like, but I have gone on a few evening strolls. The weather has been chilly but dry. The waxing and waning of the full “wolf” moon has been lighting up the Dublin sky for the past several days.
Until next time….
