All schools and colleges closed!

I went in to teach today, as normal, but by early morning there was an update online that Leo Varadkar would be making an important announcement at 11am. I kept a web browser open on my computer during my lesson and, sure enough, at 11am Leo Varadkar appeared outside his hotel in America (where he’s visiting Trump for St. Patrick’s Day) to say “I need to talk to you about coronavirus and covid19.”

On hearing the news that all schools and colleges would close from tomorrow, I gave my class a break and headed down to my manager’s office. I was the first to break the news to her, but her boss in Dublin was already ringing the phone when I entered the room. We’ve prepared for online teaching, but there’s still a sense of nervousness about the building as the news filters out.

I know the shops will be chaotic this evening, so Peter and I head to Tesco at 1pm to stock up for the next two weeks at least. The shop is very busy and things like toilet roll are flying off the shelf as soon as they’re put out! We got another packet, but I think we’ve enough at this stage!!

In the afternoon, I was back in college for my last class of the day. After sending home an obviously sick student who had travelled here from South Korea’s two weeks ago, class proceeded as normal. By the end of class at 5.30pm though, the building was eerily quiet and the maintenance staff were trying to empty the place as quickly as they could.

I went straight from my college to collect Peter from UCC. People were streaming out of buildings with computers and books, and there were cars everywhere loading up with stuff. We headed home with all our bits and pieces, ready to begin a new type of normal. I don’t know how this is going to work out, but we’re ready. I think we’ll start tomorrow morning by organising our space to make it comfortable for us both to work in. Interesting times ahead!Read more