The incredibly soothing sounds of Christy Moore's voice were heard on Ireland's radiowaves this morning, and they were like a balm to the soul. Christy's took a call from Ryan Turbidy on RTÉ Radio 1 from his own cocoon lair and regaled the nation with stories about the Clancy Brothers and his stretching regime and buying a guitar for three pounds when he was 17.
Moore is 74. He is in that highly vulnerable age bracket we hear so much about and so it was interesting to hear him speak about the people who have headed to or are planning to head to their holiday homes this weekend. Christy seemed legitimately angry at the prospect of such selfish behaviour.
He said the response of so many people to this crisis "makes me feel so proud, but I suppose it's sad to hear about the miscreants who behave so badly. I had a thought on the people flocking to their holiday home. It's like those people spitting on staff at supermarkets. Those people are spitting at the nation. They're saying we don't mind, we're going to go out. That makes me sad and a little bit angry. I'm 74. When I think back on my behaviour when I was 24, there's a lot of madness and mayhem and wildness. Maybe its alcohol-fuelled, others don't give a shit really. Thankfully they're a small minority."
Moore's anger with these buffoons was palpable, and his saying the word 'shit' caused Tubs to audibly squirm in his chair. For the people who are happy to ignore the stay at home message from official Ireland perhaps hearing it from Christy Moore, the greatest living Irishman, will cause them to think twice. When you go to your holiday home this weekend, you are causing injury to the great man.
Otherwise, Moore sounded in great spirits. He says he's doing 'Kildare yoga' every day, which mostly involves stretching.
He says the thing he misses the most are hugs.
"Most of all, I miss hugs, I miss hugging my grandchildren, but at least we can talk on the phone, once a week, my son brings the two grandchildren over and we talk through the hall door."
He gave a shoutout to his grandkids Sonny and Sylvie and said he'd see them at Easter.
His final message was ultimately inspiring: "do the suggested things with compassion and care."
Photo credit: Rihardzz / Shutterstock.com
