IRELAND

ADRIAN FLAVIN SCHOOL HOUSE 1995-1997 MAYNOOTH, COUNTY KILDARE – AUGUST 2020

I retired from playing Rugby in 2013 and I moved to Maynooth from Galway with my wife and two sons to take up my role as Director of Rugby at St Vincent’s Castleknock College, Dublin.

There was a lockdown of the Schools on 12th March and they have been off since then returning early September.

All restaurants, bars and sporting events were also closed or cancelled shortly after and have been on a gradual phased reopening recently.

In any situation there is always something that could have been done better. The buy in from the people around the Country has generally been very good and guidelines - whilst frustrating at times - have largely been adhered to.

My sons were homeschooled by my wife and I for three months. All sporting events were cancelled which meant no Rugby for Schools or Clubs at the weekend so I had to find other things to fill my time with! Not being able to see my family in England has been tough, although FaceTime has been a very welcome substitute.

As well as the opportunity to spend some quality with my own family, the enforced break was a good opportunity to take stock and identify what is actually important in life. Although face to face interaction is important, working from home was also a viable option for a lot of people.

To coin a phrase, I think we will have a ‘new normal’ for a while until there is a vaccine or cure found. I’m a eternal optimist so I would hope that we will return to how things were before the pandemic, at least socially anyway. I’m hoping for a new normal where people are a lot more grateful for what they have as opposed to what they don’t have and where people look out for other people a lot more rather than focusing on ‘the next big thing’.

I absolutely loved my time at MHS and I have some of my happiest memories from my time there. The people, the School grounds, the Rugby, the staff, my fellow students and the mischief we got up to was certainly an incredibly happy time. A bonus of lockdown was reaching out and getting in touch with old friends that I hadn’t spoken to in some time and I hope that everyone reading this is safe and well. Feel free to contact me on social media!