FROM SPANISH FLU TO COVID-19
LESSONS FROM HISTORY BY CAOILFHIONN NÍ DHONNABHÁIN Under British rule but in the midst of the struggle for independence, Ireland, like many other countries, was caught unprepared when the flu pandemic of 1918 hit. The 1918 pandemic was a catalyst for the development of public health systems in many countries. As that pandemic and epidemics of infectious diseases drifted from our living memories, health systems in Ireland and elsewhere came under pressure to be privatised. For example, the EU Commission demanded cuts to public healthcare in Ireland 63 times from 2011 to 2018. The Irish health service, with its mix of public and private and lack of capacity, was neither prepared nor fit for the Covid-19 pandemic. The Spanish Flu, as it was commonly known, hit Ireland in three waves from the summer of 1918 to the spring of 1919. It was a
anphoblacht UIMHIR EISIÚNA 2 - 2020 - ISSUE NUMBER 2
tumultuous period in Irish history, taking in the General Election of 1918, the rise of Sinn Féin and the establishment of the First Dáil Éireann in January 1919. Volunteer Richard Coleman who had taken part in the 1916 Rising and newly elected as the Sinn Féin TD for Tipperary Pierce McCann both died from the flu in prison, increasing public pressure for the release of republican prisoners. Dr Kathleen Lynn of the Irish Citizen Army was released from prison to help tackle the outbreak. It is estimated that the ‘Spanish Flu’ claimed 23,000 lives and infected 800,000 people in Ireland. Despite the significant loss of life, the impact of the ‘Spanish Flu’ in Ireland got little attention until recently. Two books
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