Keeping the flame alight
One of the main advantages of working from home, as we in the Cork Independent have been doing since March, is that you can take your office with you anywhere.
For the past number of weeks I’ve been in Dunquin, a few miles west of Dingle in Kerry.
I’ve spent summers in Dunquin since I was a baby, weeks at a time when I was on summer holidays in school, but since I’ve ‘grown up’ (apparently), I usually only manage to make it west for the odd weekend here and there. Muddled priorities, I know.
Dingle, a tourist hotspot for visiting Americans in normal circumstances, has been packed (at a distance) this year with staycationers. Like so many small towns around the country, Dingle has suffered hugely at the hands of Covid-19. While the town is far from its usual self, some businesses have thankfully been able to trade to some degree this summer.
Last weekend, I went out to see Fungie the dolphin, something I hadn’t done in about 20 years. There’s a fella who doesn’t shy away from a hard day’s work! He didn’t quite have the same bounce that he did all those years ago, he’s over 40 now in fairness, but he kept his side of the bargain, popping up and down over and over again from his underwater home.
The captain of the boat explained that he had branched out his business in the past five years to accommodate longer tours that take in the Blaskets and surrounding areas. He made the decision, he said, having realised that Fungie can’t keep going forever and provisions for a Fungie-less future needed to be made. Considering the Dingle tourist trade that is dependent on Fungie, there’s going to be a gap to fill at some stage down the road.
It got me thinking about all the changes people around the country have had to make over the last few months, particularly those whose businesses were affected.
Where it’s been possible, people and businesses have adapted and persevered. Even though we’re all a bit fed up by everything, the good side of Covid – people rallying in hard times – is certainly one positive to be taken from 2020.
A number of GAA stars spoke of their own struggles during lockdown on RTÉ’s ‘The Toughest Summer’ last week, a documentary that showcased how the GAA community dealt with the challenges posed by the pandemic. It was a fantastic programme.
Reflecting on the last few months, former Mayo footballer David Brady, who featured in the show, said: “As a community and as people, we are stronger now than ever before and I won’t say it’s thanks to Covid, but it’s thanks to the way GAA people reacted to it and kept that flame alight.”
And the same too can be said, not just about GAA people, but about Ireland as a whole. We’ve kept the flame alight and long may that continue.