Sandra Harris Writes

  WHY NO LOCKDOWN CAN CANCEL MY HALLOWEEN. BY SANDRA HARRIS. © 'Foul feet smell something horrible...' 'I must think of a brick wall...' There's been a lot of talk this year regarding the 'cancellation' of festivals like Halloween and Christmas. True, the Paddy's Day parade and festival back in March were physically cancelled due to COVID-19, but no-one was banned from getting stinking drunk in the privacy of their own home in honour of our national saint and watching cheesy 'Oirish' films like Darby O'Gill and the Little People and War of the Buttons till their eyes went square . That's what I'm saying. Any number of physical events can be, and have been, prohibited in the national interest, but no amount of legislation or lockdowns can cancel a feast day itself, or the good feeling it habitually engenders. Halloween in particular is not just one calendar day. It's a feeling that you keep in your heart all year ro...

HERE WE GO AGAIN... ANOTHER LOCKDOWN! OPINION PIECE BY SANDRA HARRIS. © Today was the most depressed I've felt in a while, and this has been by anyone's standards a pretty depressing year. It's because tomorrow Ireland goes back into national lockdown for six weeks, courtesy once more of our friend the global pandemic, caused by COVID-19, alias the coronavirus, the only international killer that's not wanted in countries all over the world. I came up with that last bit of witticism myself, so don't you journalists out there go stealing it, now. Anyway, even though we've been living with certain restrictions for months now and have adapted to them somewhat, it's going to be a real wrench watching our favourite shops and restaurants having to close again till December. They'll be losing some of the biggest weeks of the year, shopping-wise-and-footfall-wise, and the three and a half weeks they'll be allowed to open in December probably won't b...