LIFE DURING PANDEMIC NATIONAL LIBRARY’S NEW ARCHIEVE

• Published date: 16 April 2024
• Author: JADE WILSON
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

Taken between 2020 and 2021, the archive comprises close to 200 digital images and features the work of more than 70 press photographers across the country

The collection includes photos of social distancing; widespread mask-wearing; vaccination centres; sports teams playing to empty stadiums (and prospective spectators watching through locked gates); deserted streets; healthcare workers in full PPE, as well as how people communicated with the elderly or medically vulnerable, and communities coming together – in a socially distanced way – to pay respect to the work of frontline workers.

It also captures photos of key officials, such as Taoiseach Simon Harris, who was then minister for health; former chief medical officer, Dr Tony...