Cascarino

Thanks, I can get it from there hopefully.

Is there a link to his visit details?

https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/411734-is-seaweed-the-solution-to-sustainable-biofuel

Plenty of time left yet.

The City route would have been great as it gave an opportunity for a day trip with savings on a London hotel stay, but between airline and ATC staff shortages it has been unreliable and not worth the risk. They need to run it effectively for a few months to ensure an increase in passengers.

Barclays don't offer credit cards. Natwest Group are pulling them from island residents. There will not be many options left.

Be careful what you wish for. Dublin airport has ignored the CTA completely. You even need a passport to fly from Kerry to Dublin, as you have to go through passport control in Dublin despite not leaving the country.

Ashford's resignation speech has taken his lack of self awareness to a new level. No contrition whatsoever, just praise for himself. No remorse for the shambles that took place on his watch.

The provision of the census forms in Foxdale is nothing to do with the government. It is a community initiative led by a Patrick commissioner to give easy access and assistance to Foxdale residents who may be struggling with the form or have difficulties getting hold of one. Just locals being neighbourly.

The letter says census night is tonight. If they had stated on the letter we had a three week window to complete it then I'm sure it would have eased the pressure.

https://covid19.gov.im/general-information/isle-of-man-exit-framework/ With the roadmap still indicating Level 2 from May 29th, is it likely the government will deign to update us beforehand with current plans?

Is the Tax/NI burden really on those on low to middle incomes? 1st £14k is tax free then £6.5k at 10% A married couple with one employed earning £41k would have a tax bill of £1,300. NI about £3,600. The main area that couple would be caught is with VAT and those rates are set by the UK.

I think they have some secret database that churns out what they want to report. Ireland's rate is higher but within the defined parameters but still subject to the same controls as India. They have to start treating us as adults not imbeciles.

Hopefully the online appointment system will return. It must be more efficient for the practice (and certainly is for me)

That did raise an eyebrow. Do we not have laws against that here?

Definitely, I would be happy with any variation of the above that is well thought out and accelerates the coverage of those most at risk.

Just getting back on topic (and apologies if I have missed this being posted earlier). We have no Covid in the community on island and we have restricted borders which reduces our risk of Covid further. The vaccine we are using gives 90% protection on top of the position we are in already which reduces the risk significantly for those vaccinated. Why are we insisting on giving the second dose to people (with 90% protection) first, to give them an extra 5 percentage points, rather than give more people the first dose and then come back to the others for a second dose?

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/situation-updates/weekly-maps-coordinated-restriction-free-movement EU traffic lights system in place now has less restrictions on Ireland, but IOM Govt do not appear to have anything in place to differentiate between travellers from different jurisdictions. The information is available so it just needs a framework.

It's not government bashing. But we must plan for the next stages now. We have enough information to make informed decisions now and not just wait and see. They may change slightly over the next few months but at least there will be a roadmap we can plan around. The island has already suffered economically. The earlier we can take action in a safe way the quicker we can recover. Regardless of whether you wish to be vaccinated or not, there must be some thought process around the scenarios. If the world changes again then the plans can change, but at least we can understand the rationale (as being allowed to discuss it with government is not feasible) and act accordingly.

Any word on a defined policy from the government to get us through the next few months? The parameters are relatively clear now. Hopefully it will not just be a cut and paste from the UK as our risks and situation are different. They mention a rate of infection that will allow border restrictions to ease but are not clearly defining the measurement or at what rate it will change. Ireland is much lower now. Are they considering other countries (not just the UK) when setting border policies? We have the opportunity to progress a speedy vaccination program but there is no clarity on timeframe or priority. Are our vaccination priorities necessarily the same as the UK, if we have a closed border with no community transmission? Should we be focussing on people who are going off island who may have the most risk? If someone is vaccinated, will they be subject to the same restrictions? On the basis that we have a low risk already and the vaccines are circa 95% effective, that person would be a minuscule risk to the island. Will they then be allowed to travel freely without the requirement to isolate? We may have this situation by the start of January so it would be useful if the government made a clear statement. How are we going to monitor this? Will we accept vaccinations from other jurisdictions? Will we accept private vaccinations on island? With the scenarios changing rapidly now, a level 4 border restriction is not a logical approach from January as there are new factors which change the risk profile significantly. The government needs to define it now so we can prepare for it and not leave it to last minute decisions. Any announcement will need a certain degree of flexibility but there is no need to keep it a government secret. The civil service have so far refused to engage with the general populace but there are a great many entities from businesses to sporting activities that are willing to work within a framework but are not been given a chance to input in to it.

A public spat is never good but the government are not good at engaging. Whether the decisions the government are making on Covid are right or wrong, they have a large impact on all of us and should not be shrouded in secrecy. Unfortunately taking matters to a public forum appears to be the only way of getting a response from the civil servants making the decisions.

In terms of relocation. That would be a major pain and not something that appeal greatly, but moving half of the workforce to somewhere that would allow controlled movements is definitely on the cards.

Travel is way down for sure but business activities are carrying on. I am getting daily calls from clients letting me know they are now travelling, with expectations that I can do the same and arrange to meet. Lack of activity has been the cause of the losses for the first six months but that is not the case now. The rest of the world is moving on (albeit in a stilted way with some quarantining along the way) and there is a pent up demand to move forward. It is about risk management now. The courts have shown they are not shy about prosecuting which will keep an element of discipline.

As a concrete example, my previously profitable company ran a loss for the first six months of the year and is eating in to reserves to keep staff employed. No government help has been given. The outlook for the rest of the year is not much better as our client base is not on the IOM. Pipeline for 2021 is drying up as no client development has been possible. Zoom etc is a great tool but no substitute for face to face in a relationship business. I fully support border restrictions, but it has to be risk based and done in a sensible manner. If it carries on for much longer we will need to relocate from the island.

Just had a weekend in Ramsey and Vellikas and The Ravioli House were both excellent. Gelatory was great for ice cream but unfortunately was closed Monday.