“Some people on the political side were a little bit unsettled by the amount of power that seemed to be wielded with almost fiat authority by the civil servants”
Pandemonium, by Jack Horgan-Jones and Hugh O’Connell, brings readers inside the rooms where these power dynamics played out during the greatest challenge the state faced. While the pandemic is the backdrop, the book’s real achievement is that it tells a story of how government works that will stand the test of time.
Ed Brophy speaks to the authors about what the book tells us about government and "the unknown man" who shaped Ireland's pandemic response.