I was in Cork yesterday for a work event which I signed up to blithely in the summer when I wasn’t as busy as I am now and when I thought I could make a weekend of it. Then, the presidential election was scheduled for yesterday; my sister’s partner’s mother was the subject of a conference on her lifetime’s literary labour (admirable) and my sister and her partner were away providing moral and other support for the conference subject; and I also inadvertently booked myself in for the Picasso exhibition guided tour at 9.15 this morning (more anon, possibly). All in all, I went to Cork on Thursday and came home yesterday evening about 9.30 which was not at all what I had been planning.
Due to my exhausting schedule (and 9.15 exhibition tour on Saturday morning), I went to bed early and missed Michael who was out late. This morning I was (deep regret) up with the lark and as I passed Michael’s bedroom, I saw that it was empty. I scuttled downstairs to get my phone: he would definitely have texted me if he had been going to stay out all night. No text. I began to feel extremely nervous. I zoomed to the kitchen where, to my enormous relief, Michael and his father were breakfasting together. Michael was in his pyjamas gloomily scooping cornflakes into his mouth. He had only got in at 2 in the morning and he was off to the RDS to act as a tallyman on the presidential election count starting at 9. He enjoyed it once he got there but he was definitely thinking hard about his choices at 8 in the morning.
Like mother, like son it seems.
Incidentally, I thought of you when I was watching the film ‘Christy’ which takes place in Cork with local actors. I barely understood one word in three (but got the gist of it all right). A difficult watch, but recommended.
Well, yes, I suppose, up early to do dutiful things.
I have heard about this film and am really keen to see it. I wouldn’t beat yourself up about the accent; my mother lived in Cork from age 17 (with a gap of a couple of years in England) and she could never understand what our cobbler said and if there was any shoe repair to be done, my father, a native Cork speaker, would have to look after it.
Does this mean you didn’t actually vote, or did you vote in Cork?
Dutifully voted in Dublin on my way home from the station on Friday night. Felt virtuous but tired.
Quite interesting results in your election, especially regarding your new President!
Yes indeed, though as the president is pretty much a ceremonial role maybe not quite as interesting as it seems. We’ll have to see what happens at the next general election…