Day 15 - Lockdown in Ireland

News came in this evening that Leo Varadkar was giving another public address on RTÉ1 at 8.30pm. What could it be? Personally, I thought that it was going to be just another update. It turned out, however, that from midnight tonight, the entire country is going to be locked down. Leo doesn’t like using the word “lockdown” but that’s essentially what it is.

It won’t change much for us, as we haven’t really left the house in two weeks. The main message was that we won’t be able to leave our house except for essential food and medicine supplies, or to exercise, and “brief exercise” is only allowed within a 2km radius of your house. I felt emotional hearing all of this on the television. While it won’t change much for me, the symbolism of it is quite upsetting.

RTÉ now even have a little note permanently in the corner of the screen that says “stay at home!” The Late Late Show was presented by Miriam O’Callaghan tonight as Ryan Tubridy has a “persistent cough.”

I spent a lot of the earlier part of the day on Zoom with my chemistry classes. The sun was shining down again though, so I also found some time to sit outside, until I heard my neighbour in his garden saying “mummy is sick!” Then I went indoors! I also fitted in a Zoom social catch up with my work colleagues in the early evening.

My brain can barely keep up with all these changes in the world. Most of the time I’m ok, but every so often, something bursts through in my mind where I go “what on earth is happening?!”Read more