It’s been a low energy day… lockdown fatigue is definitely setting in. I didn’t have the greatest sleep, so this morning I’m slow to get up and moving. After breakfast, I find myself getting drawn into reading news articles and watching videos, including a recent episode of RTÉ’s “All Walks of Life” series featuring the Tanaiste (deputy minister) Leo Varadkar. The interviewer and host is former Irish President Mary McAleese — Ireland’s 2nd female president, and the first woman in the world to succeed another woman as in a presidential role (Ireland’s first female president being Mary Robinson). President McAleese has a fascinating backstory… way back in the 1970s she co-founded the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, and apparently first became aware of the plight of gay people as a student in San Francisco. (see this Wikipedia article for more about her). She now serves as the Chancellor for Trinity College Dublin. At any rate, the interview was filmed as Varadkar and McAleese walked along a portion of St. Declan’s Way (http://www.stdeclansway.ie/), a 56-mile pilgrimage walking route from Cashel in Co. Tipperary to Ardmore in Co. Waterford that follows the bath St. Declan’s took to meet St. Patrick in the 5th century. Varadkar was Ireland’s youngest, first gay, and first multi-ethnic elected Taoiseach / Prime Minister. He has faced considerable criticism, but the show seems to have been received well, with viewers describing him as “honest and open” and “a decent fella” after seeing the interview.
Speaking of walking, I am determined to get out for a short walk in the afternoon despite the dreary, drizzly weather. The easiest destination that comes to mind is St. Stephens Green. The shops on Grafton Street are quiet with only scattered pedestrians like myself passing through:
I also pass by the Shelbourne Hotel where four Nubian statues from the 1800s had been replaced in December after their controversial removal last year during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests (see also this Irish Times article):
Until next time….
