EARLY November saw GPs and pharmacies start getting work under way on the Covid-19 vaccination booster programme, as vaccine clinics ramped up their efforts ahead of any winter-related surge in illnesses.

Dr. John Porteous, of Maple health Care in Lisnaskea, gave this paper an insight into the early roll-out of the booster programme, describing the pressures of hundreds of people getting their booster jabs, but also welcoming the turn-out and high community response to the initiative.

There was a cross-community response of a different kind as anger mounted in November over Westminster’s proposals for a de facto Troubles-related amnesty.

The British government’s proposals raised in 2021 to effectively roll out a full amnesty for the Troubles period brought rare all-island agreement on the island of Ireland, with political parties on both sides of the Border slamming the proposals.

Former UDR Greenfinch Dianne Woods – whose uncle and aunt, Thomas and Emily Bullock, were murdered by the IRA on September 21, 1972 – spoke to this paper about the highly-controversial proposal, describing her “anger, despair and disgust”, echoing the calls of many families for both answers and justice related to a wide range of Troubles-related incidents.

Politicians were also busy discussing a wide range of other topics at a local and national level in November – with an Impartial Reporter photo referenced in Stormont as an example of the dire state of Northern Ireland's crumbling rural roads.

Photographer John McVitty’s dramatic shot of a man fully standing deep inside a pothole was referenced at Stormont by DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, raising the spectre of lurking craters rather than potholes awaiting motorists across Fermanagh’s roads.

Unlike last year’s Remembrance Sunday events, which were severely impacted by the first year of the pandemic, this year’s events had a much greater air of normality about them.

Despite the continuing pandemic, the restrictions and safety precautions in place this year enabled towns and villages, and ordinary citizens, to mark the day with much greater access, and in much greater numbers than seen in 2020, enabling the day and related events to pass off with great dignity and respect.

The Northern Ireland Protocol popped up as a divisive subject this month, sparking both pro- and anti-Protocol protests and actions around the county as the Brexit issue rumbled on, heading towards the end of 2021 still without any agreement on the finer details of any post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.

In another notable blaze to strike this year, the Timoney Windows and Toughened Glass factory in Garvary was gutted in a devastating blaze in late November.

Thanking the community for their support, and expressing relief that nobody was hurt in the freak blaze, the long-established family firm said it was still in business and would look to carry on after the fire, which drew 60 firefighters and fire tenders from all across Northern Ireland.

Finally, in statistics echoed by Trusts and hospitals across the land, the South West Acute Hospital showed that it was battling some truly grim wait times at its Emergency Department, as the relentless pressures of the pandemic, coupled with general illnesses and the slow but steady rise of winter illnesses, badly impacted on wait times.