New document, same old plan?
That, it seems, is the scenario most likely to emerge on Tuesday when the Government publishes its new-look Living with Covid strategy.
We know for a fact that the roadmap will be slow, cautious and conditional, with precious little likely to change in the immediate future.
As is typical with any major lockdown decision, details have begun to trickle out over recent days, courtesy of a notoriously leaky Government.
But many will be waiting anxiously for the official announcement before they'll fully believe the details of the plan.
So here's what we know about how the next two days are likely to pan out.
Monday
Covid subcommittee meets
The Cabinet's Covid subcommittee is meeting this evening to go over the finer points of the Living with Covid document ahead of its publication tomorrow.
The group – which consists of Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, and Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath – will nail down the strategy ahead of a full Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting will take place at 6.30pm, so it's probably safe to assume that if there are any changes to the plan, we'll hear about them tonight through the media.
Stay tuned.
Tuesday
Full meeting of Cabinet
The full Cabinet will meet in the morning to discuss in detail the various aspects of a plan that has 'cautious' as its middle name.
Ministers will lobby for their sectors, presumably – but there's unlikely to be too much in the way of back and forths, given that the finer points of the plan will be pretty set in stone by then.
The meeting will take place at 10am, and will conclude with the signing off of a document that looks likely to have a major impact on Ireland's next few months.
Taoiseach's announcement
The details of Micheal Martin's announcement haven't yet been confirmed.
But it's understood the Taoiseach will tell the country about the plan sometime this evening, possibly on the Six One News. But the plan, as always, is subject to change.
But based on similar lockdown announcements over recent months, it seems likely that the confirmation of the plan will come in a live broadcast on RTE News.
Then we'll have all the info we need about our next few months.
