We accepted with incredible tolerance significant withdrawals of our personal liberties and freedoms to do our part for the greater good.

We did so without knowing how long this emergency would last. We hoped it would be weeks, but as time has passed, we now know it will be months and maybe even longer.

So far, despite the shocking number of deaths in Ireland, our efforts are working on a public health point of view.

As the medical numbers have shown, we have succeeded in suppressing the curve of reproduction of the coronavirus.

But that phase of the journey we are on is coming to an end.

That unity is cracking as it is clear the path out of this emergency will not be quick, easy or pain free.

As the old saying goes, ‘there are rough seas ahead my boy’.

“We have been battered by a wave of destruction, but we have endured,” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said in the Dáil on Thursday.

“Our new enemy is complacency and there is a danger that if we relax our guard, we can be overrun.”

As highlighted by concerns at Cabinet this week, and more specifically in a memorandum from Varadkar to his ministers, there is a recognition that the next steps will not be as easy or as straightforward as the road travelled so far.

As revealed by Fiach Kelly in the Irish Times on Thursday morning, a confidential Government memo delivered to ministers warned that the next phase of the coronavirus crisis has the potential to be “far more divisive” as the full implications of the pandemic sink in with the public.

Kelly’s story revealed that ministers were told that while the initial stage was “both swift and unprecedented, and was experienced by everyone together and in a relatively unified spirit”, this may change as the

long-term effects come into play.

“This includes unemployment, reduced income, increased debt, closure of businesses, reduced educational opportunities, restrictions on movement and social interactions, and ultimately the loss of loved ones.”

The note, the tone of which was described as “jaw-dropping” by sources, outlined the challenges ahead, such as the difficulty of opening some sections of the economy and not others, reducing income supports and tightening procedures for those entering the country, as well as opportunities.

The implication of the note, with its unusually charged language, is that very difficult decisions are to be taken and that any course taken will be bitterly divisive, with many people feeling abandoned or coming off second-best against more sheltered sectors of society, such as the public service.

In very pointed language, the memo also touched on political accountability, in what some were interpreting as concern about a caretaker government dealing with such a crisis.

“The issue of government formation and the role of the Oireachtas is outside the remit of this note.

"However, given the scale and impact of the decisions that will have to be taken in the coming months, it would be important that measures are put in place to enable proper political debate and public accountability.”

That vacuum of accountability created by the inability to form a government since the general election on February 8 has allowed unelected officials to grow in stature to a point where legitimate questions about who is in charge are now being asked.

Labour leader Alan Kelly sought to raise very serious and legitimate questions in the Dáil about how huge economic issues are being decided at a time of national emergency.

"As we reported yesterday, Kelly said he is “seriously concerned about transparency in decision making in this crisis”.

Kelly raised alarm as to the workings of the National Public Health Emergency Team, the primary body advising the Government on its response to Covid-19.

In the Dáil, Kelly said he looked up the membership of the NPHET and it seems to have grown substantially since it was set up from 13 to 45 members.

He asked did the Government agree to all the new members who joined it and if so where is this documented?

He demanded answers from Varadkar who appoints the members of NPHET.

Kelly also asked the Dáil about why only notes are recorded of meetings and not detailed minutes: “There is a difference.

Minutes reflect the record of the meeting and must be agreed at the beginning of the next meeting. Notes could be a subjective view of what happened.

Were all these notes agreed by all the participants after each meeting? Future generations will want to know where people stood on decisions.”

He asked why are notes or minutes no longer being published since the end of March. I would have expected that all minutes would be published continuously given the crisis we are facing. This isn’t acceptable, he said.

Kelly also posed the question that when the chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, made the decision last week that we would have to get to 15,000 tests a day and 100,000 a week by May 5, did he do so with the agreement of the HSE which ultimately would be responsible for making such a testing regime possible in such a short space of time?

But then came his most important questions:

“Who is NPHET ultimately accountable to? Who makes the final decisions? Do NPHET have to consult with you or the minister for health before making formal announcements that affect all the citizens of this country? I presume they do. But how does that happen?” Kelly asked of Varadkar.

He said ultimate decision making cannot be in the hands of the few. Elected office cannot be subservient even in this crisis, he said.

Kelly’s questions gave voice to the growing sense of unease as to how the crisis is being handled, but more importantly how the crucial next steps are taken.

Like just how will restrictions be lifted?

Which group of people will be able to go back to work first? Who will be last? What supports will be in place for those who have or will lose their livelihoods?

At what point do emergency payments stop being paid? How do you return the health service back to where it was or do you even try?

Really big questions are being taken at a time where Dáil oversight is non-existent.

Thursday’s round of statements are no match for rigorous committee hearings, persistent asking of written parliamentary questions, or priority questions to the Taoiseach or line minister.

With the current interregnum now more than 10 weeks old, none of those things can happen until a government is formed.

The success of the country’s suppression of the Covid-19 virus was made possible by a collective national effort. The way things are heading, there is no guarantee of such unity as we move to recover the country and that could be disastrous.