There is nothing like a jolt to kick start the New Year and remove you from the cosy embrace that the Christmas break provided, even if the woolly jumper was ripped to shreds by the chaos that the omicron virus brought with its antigen testing and covid anxiety. Suffice it to say I had a jolt and it was enough to snap me out of my contemplative torpor. So now the focus has to be on the year ahead and what it holds.
Well to start with we might have revealed to us one of the greatest medical mysteries of our age. Does Prince Andrew sweat ? Ever since his calamitous interview on BBC’s Newsnight I have been troubled by this question. If, as I suspect, the NY Judge says the current case against him should go to trial, he will have another reason to sweat. As this is unlikely to happen before September, he may have to send a lot of shirts to the laundry. The next option for the Prince and his lawyers to contemplate is do they make a move to try and settle the case and if so, for how much. He must already be racking up hefty lawyer fees with presumably the Queen picking up the tab. How would the British public re-act to a large settlement paid out as a result of the Prince’s gross errors of judgement. The Queen would have to cover this out of her private resources as the British public would not tolerate this being covered by the public purse. In any event, there is going to be a very large bill. What is astonishing to me is that the Prince still holds some important positions in the military, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. However, it now transpires that officers are uncomfortable having to drink the Prince’s health at regimental dinners and one veteran has said he should step down lest he “ put a stain on the regiment’s proud history”. If the truth be told, he has no understanding of the concept of being an officer and a gentleman, because he is neither. I say unequivocally he should resign.
The other great medical mystery of our time is how tennis superstar No Vaccine Djokovic thinks he can get around Australian rules. I’m with the Aussies on this. No jab and you’re out.
There is no question the omicron virus is placing the HSE under enormous stress. I’ve been in regular contact with a friend of mine who is currently in A & E in one of Dublin’s hospitals and he is amazed by the level of care he is receiving, despite the pressure they are all under. If only the system can hold through this current wave of the omicron virus, I think that 2022 presents a much sunnier picture. As a nation we are highly vaccinated. The government has just signed off on a deal to purchase €90 million worth of those anti-viral drugs which will help with the treatment of the virus. However, the next couple of weeks are going to be rough. Then I genuinely feel we will see omicron in retreat. It will start to run out of victims to infect. We will rapidly arrive at herd immunity and we can start restoring our collective sanity.
Across the Atlantic look on the bright side. We may have an aged US President but he ain’t Donald Trump.