Happy St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patricks Day from Djbox in Dublin, Ireland. But this is a Patricks Day with a difference. St. Patricks Day in Ireland.... Our national Day. A day when everyone is proud to be Irish and so many people celebrate Irish heritage, culture and family ties, and thousands flock to our small rock on the very western edge of Europe. But... Today, this Patricks day is different, very different. Temple Bar usually thronging with revelers drinking pints of Guinness and singing Irish songs is barren, pubs, clubs, bars and Hotels are closed, and there are no parades or celebrations. Instead of songs and dancing, warnings and guidelines of self isolation, social distancing and hand washing have taken priority, and rightly so. 140,000 people have lost their jobs, the events and hospitality industries are decimated, and peoples futures are uncertain. Many business don't know when they will re-open and some wonder if they will re-open again at all. This is Ireland, we don't give up, we don't stop and we don't let fate decide our future. We have always faught and battled and this is no different. We are staying home, we are avoiding contact with the older people in our population, we are social distancing and we are doing as we are advised. We are the country known for music, poetry, song, dance and the craic. That has not changed or gone away, it's just postponed until we beat this virus. We will not be beaten by a virus. We will work together as a country to flatten the curve, we will observe the guidelines given to us by the people we trust and we will get through this together, as a community, a county and as a country. Good times will return, this will be a memory and a story we tell our kids and grandkids in the future. Temple Bar and pubs and bars will re-open, pints will flow and the music will play, let's do out part in making sure we are all here for it when it happens.