Mrs Brown’s Boys star Eilish O’Carroll has said Ireland needs a national day of mourning when Covid-19 passes.
Brendan O’Carroll’s sister Eilish who plays Winnie McCoogan on the hit show said losing her sister Fiona during the crisis left the famous family lost.
Eilish said: “I hope we have a mass mourning day when this is all over and it becomes a party and a celebration of all the people who have lost their lives through this.
Commenting on her sister’s death she said: “Brendan managed to get there the night she died, we didn’t arrive with my other brothers until the following day.
“There was no funeral and no ceremony so being Irish we’re very used to that process.
“We came back feeling very bereft and very lost because we weren’t able to give her the send off, she truly deserved.”
Speaking on Virgin Media One’s, Six O’Clock Show, Eilish added: “I actually do get it with people now and it actually makes me cry.
“When I hear people who have lost their mum or their dad or an uncle who they’re close to, who they loved deeply and they can’t celebrate their life.
“They can’t be there for them, they can’t even be by their bed side, my heart breaks.”
The 68-year old said she’s had some dark days during lockdown: “I have good days and bad days and some days I wake up depressed - and I don’t suffer from depression.
“But It’s short lived once you start doing something.
“I love laughter and so I try to look on the bright side of things.”
The mom-of-two said it’s in times of depression and recession that we most need comedy.
She said: “Mrs Browns Boys first went out in 2010, a year when we were in a deep recession.
“I feel that when people are worried and stressed and they get a diversion, a moment where they’re laughing out loud, I think that can change how they feel momentarily.
“I think that’s why comedy is so successful in these times, because comedy is all about timing.
“The Irish have a great sense of humour and in tragic times somebody will say something funny and just lift you for a moment.”
