Pandemonium

The Inside Story of Ireland's Pandemic: Every Decision, Every Player, Every Text, Every Leak

Ireland's lockdowns were among the harshest and longest in Europe. As the state was battered by waves of disease time and again, unparalleled pressures and untold tensions emerged as the country went to war with Covid, and policymakers and politicians did battle with each other.

How were the key decisions made? Who held all the power?

Boasting unrivalled access to the key decision-makers and drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and thousands of pages of documents, including confidential and unpublished material, Pandemonium reveals the moves, the power-plays and the – at times jaw-dropping – tactics of a government with the health of a nation in its hands.

'If a movie is ever made of how Ireland responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pandemonium may well provide the script … You will feel as if you were in the room when key conversations happened and decisions were made.' Professor Luke O'Neill

'Illuminates the corners of institutions usually able to operate in the dark' Fintan O'Toole

'A page-turner … an exceptional insight' Matt Cooper

'Unflinching and unrelenting' Dearbhail McDonald



Jack Horgan-Jones is a political reporter at The Irish Times. He has previously covered politics for the Business Post and TheJournal.ie.