'I knew we'd be ok because of science.. But I was getting death threats for putting the info out there'

Immunologist recalls how he kept positive as Covid hit - but warns new virus could emerge. College gave him armed bodyguard after 'flashpoint' with anti-vaxxer mob

- BY LARISSA NOLAN

PROFESSOR Luke O'Neill says the pandemic feels like "yesterday and a lifetime ago at the same time" as he marks its five-year anniversary.

The immunologist - one of the most famous faces in Ireland during lockdowns - said he always kept positive throughout, as he trusted the science.

In an exclusive interview with this paper, looking back on Covid being declared a pandemic in March 2020, Luke recalled: "I knew we would be OK because of science.

"I knew science would beat it in the long run.

"I wasn't sure how long it would take exactly, but I knew we'd get to it."

His hopeful words come with a warning - another pandemic will happen in the "relatively near future" which he hopes the post-Covid world will be more prepared for.

The top scientist recalled the March 12 emergency announcement - five years ago today - made by then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during his St Patrick's Day trip to the White House.

Luke said: "We all know exactly what we were doing that day. It was the landmark moment we remember so vividly."

For Luke - professor at Trinity College's School of Immunology - it changed his life in more ways than most and he has mixed emotions about it.

Standout memories for him vary from having an armed bodyguard due to death threats against him, to playing the Electric Picnic with his band The Metabollix when the restrictions lifted.

Luke said: "When the pandemic hit, I became a household name. It was that transition that was the weirdest thing. That was certainly a shift."

The popular prof was on every TV and radio station in Ireland, due to his ability to communicate science simply and clearly. His slots on Newstalk's Pat Kenny turned into three or four weekly appearances as the public appetite to know everything about the virus grew.

In the beginning, the 60-year-old from Bray, Co Wicklow did not see how controversial it would go on to become.