The sun is shining, the sky is a wonderful azure blue. In normal times, we'd be daydreaming about the long weekend and planning excursions to the beautiful corners of the country.
These are not normal times though. We are living in the age of lockdown and Ireland's ability to manage Covid-19 rests squarely on the ability of its citizens to stay indoors and refrain from the outdoor activities that make this country so exquisite on spring afternoons.
This will be a huge issue this weekend, with blue skies forecast and a bank holiday on Monday. Many people have already chosen to cocoon in holiday homes around the country. However, the communities in beautiful coastal towns are bracing themselves for a huge influx of people this weekend, and doing whatever they can to keep people away.
Case in point, this video from Michael Vaughan of Lahinch from Virgin Media News. Michael runs the well-known Atlantic Lodge on the way into Lahinch. His advice to people all around the country will be echoed by others in the coming days. 'Lahinch is closed'
"We've seen a number of people with holiday homes quietly slip in...
"We'd love to see you when all of this is over. But for the moment, our town is closed."
Michael Vaughan, hotelier, Lahinch, appeals to people to PLEASE stay home this Easter.@VirginMediaNews pic.twitter.com/dw4sYwjy0T— Richard Chambers (@newschambers) April 7, 2020
Michael said as much on Twitter last night.
You seriously wonder how we can beat the corona virus when anyone with a holiday home decides it’s ok to decamp to it in the past few days and possibly bring trouble to small villages and towns #stayathome wherever you have been till now !! @ClareFM @rtenews @LeoVaradkar
— Michael Vaughan (@MICHEALVAUGHAN) April 6, 2020
It's an impassioned articulation of an anxiety that people in Ireland's touristy towns are feeling ahead of the Easter weekend. From anecdotal evidence on social evidence, there have been signs of holiday homes filling up.
When you see reports of two kayakers requiring the service of the coast guard this week in Kilkee, you can see why they're nervous.
It gets better! I was moaning earlier about people heading to their holiday homes and caravans in Clare for the Easter break. Well these two went a step further. They ignored all the guidelines and advice, travelled to Kilkee and sparked a rescue operation too. https://t.co/zCqWdsPE2H
— Pat Flynn (@patsyflynn) April 6, 2020
Easter weekend could prove critical in Ireland's overall response to the virus. It's painful on mornings like this to remain in isolation - especially as this feels like it could be our actual summer arriving early - but just put that on urge on hold until that sunny summer day we're allowed to bring a bag of cans out and gather in larger groups. It'll be sweeter.
And since we can't head to Clare this weekend, we might as well do the next best thing: listen to Andy Irvine sing beautifully about it.
