Ireland’s chief medical Officer Dr.Tony Holohan lead Ireland through the Covid crisis with patience and kindness. This man who appeared on television every evening informing us of the Covid statistics and answered our questions so kindly explaining things to us. Meanwhile at home his wife Dr. Emer Holohan was dying of advanced blood cancer. On Saturday she was moved into palliative care. Thursday he announced that his dying wife and two teenage kids needed him at home. He is stepping down temporarily.What a brave and dedicated man. He was so professional and heroic as he lead us daily through our pandemic at a time when he had great suffering at home.
His Speech:
“From today, I’ll be taking time out from all of my work commitments, with my family.
“My wife Emer was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, in 2012.
“She’s had a number of difficult years with her disease and was admitted to palliative care last Saturday.
“Now I want to give my energy, attention and all of my time to Emer and to our two teenage children Clodagh and Ronan.
“I’ve spoken with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health today and other colleagues about this, and they’ve all kindly offered their support and best wishes to both of us.
“A plan has been put in train for others to take over responsibility for different aspects of my role.
“The department will issue a statement in due course when that has been finalised.
“I can confirm that Dr Ronan Glynn, who’s worked alongside me for the duration of this pandemic, has been appointed acting Chief Medical Officer and will chair these press conferences from now on.
“As a husband and father and as a public health doctor, I’m conscious that we’ve been through tough times together over the last number of months and many families across the country have been affected by the course of Covid-19, suffering pain and the loss of loved ones.
“I hope that we can all remain working together, and continue to stay vigilant, to keep our social distance and take personal responsibility for our own health in the first instance, as well as looking after our family members and friends and those we care about most.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their ongoing support, understanding and respect for my family’s privacy and I ask that this can continue. Thank you.”
#thankyoutony
ANNETTE J DUNLEA 
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