Lads, not only are we not out of the woods yet – we may only just be getting out of the car and grabbing the wellies and the picnic gear.
But what we can say so far is that Ireland, in most respects at least, seems to be playing a safe and steady game when it comes to Covid-19 – especially when compared to the US and UK.
Yes, the panic buying was a bit mad. But people were spooked and given what we were warned was coming, we can’t be too hard on them.
What we have mostly seen is people being sensible, communities coming together and our leaders – and more importantly the heroes who fill the ranks of our frontline services – rising to the challenge.
There’s still a long way to go – although if we were ever to have a Spring heatwave, 2020 would be the year to have it.
But now the initial fear has died down a bit and the long hours of social distancing and isolation stretch out before us, we have to show patience, common sense and kindness – even if your four-year-old has put your iPhone in the dishwasher.
There have been reports and rumours of a tiny number of pubs doing back-doors and lock-ins. It goes without saying this is reckless and dangerous anti-social stupidity.
But let’s not grab our pitchforks and torches and form an angry mob just yet. The guards can deal with this – and the publicans involved can explain just exactly what the feck they were thinking the next time their licence comes up for renewal.
Spreading rumours about the local you heard was letting a couple of auld lads in the back-door will not help anybody and it could ruin livelihoods and reputations.
One pub near me has already had to do a Facebook post totally denying they had drinkers in the premises and we’ve all seen the local rumours flying around.
Drop a line to your local gardai if you’ve got a good reason to. Hopefully you won’t. It’s interesting the reaction to the pubs closing in Ireland was almost universally, “It’s for the best”, while in the UK a lot of people and media commentators were screaming blue murder. So that’s one national stereotype demolished right there.
A World War One general once described war as: “Months of boredom punctuated by moments of terror.”
And while “terror” may not be the right word for what we are going to be experiencing at times over the coming weeks – and let’s pray it’s just weeks – a lot of us will come to understand what that general was talking about.
There’s also the waiting. And your heart has to go out to the parents of Ireland, who have now played every board game dragged out of the attic eight times and are desperately trying to come up with new ways to keep the kids from tearing the house apart.
My sister has two pre-teen boys and by the time this is over, they’ll have the skills and experience to face Conor McGregor in the Octagon.
Whatever about the economy recovering, once this ends the family therapy sector can look forward to a golden age of earnings.
We’re in a waiting and hoping game now, hoping we don’t see the devastation that has visited countries like poor Italy and waiting for normal life to return and a summer to enjoy.
And if anybody needs me, I’ll be trying to get the phone to work again after two cycles at the bottom of the dishwasher.
This week I'm loving
When our nearly four-year-old finally gets to sleep every night
This week I'm dreading
Five or six weeks before we see a pint again...
