Going the Extra Mile

After a last minute swap at work, I was able to support +Niamh, my mother and Clodagh, who were doing the VHI Women Mini Marathon. Before the start of the 10km, we went via the Mansion House, so Niamh was able to collect her t-shirt for Laura Lynn and also gave me a final chance to have a sneaky look inside. Of course the girls had to have a picture taken outside of the Mansion House before the race. Niamh and Clodagh had entered as joggers, so set off about 15 before my mother did, so I waited until she started and decided to walk with her to keep her company. However at UCD I saw Niamh and called her as she was about to pass the 6 km point mark. In the process of chatting with Niamh, I lost my mother and tried to find her again and finishing the chat with Niamh. so somewhere between the 5km and 7 km I lost both of them. I tried running to catch up with Niamh, with the calls I had with her, I just seemed to be about 0.5 km behind. At least at the finishing line, we  were able to find each other just about. All of them finished faster than last year and should be very proud of completing the 10 km especially this year in that horrible wet and windy weather. Well done girls!

As the weather was so nice on my day off on the 9th of June, decided to make the of most of it having a summer themed gin based cocktail over lunch at Yamamori, before going shooping to get some last few bits before Niamh's birthday. Somewhere between the Brother Hubbard, Panti and Oscars, I managed to lose my shopping, which would only happen me. As we were both off the next day, we decided to celebrate Niamh's Birthday a day early and go to the zoo and experience the brand new Sea Lion Cove.

Despite a slight queue at the entrance, once we were inside the zoo, it was off a flying start as the weather cleared up and the sun came out. We got to enjoy all the new habitats and baby animals dotted around the zoo. Between the sun, playfulness of the animals especially the penguins, sea lions and rough housing of the monkeys, Niamh seemed to be having a chilled out birthday day out. As the weather was so nice, we strolled back into town and stopped in Oscars Smithfield for a drinks and meal which was scrumptious especially the Maltster cheesecake which topped the day perfectly. When we got home, I gave Niamh her birthday card and her present, A necklace, bracelet and watch set.

I met Niamh after work on her birthday, for an early evening birthday meal at a place she wanted to try for ages, FX Buckley, where I was able to surprise her with a birthday desert which was nice to see the surprise on her face. For Saturday Niamh had won free finger food and private booth in Whelans which made a pleasant change.

After a busy weekend in work, was nice to chill and actually enjoy Bloomsday for once. We spent a lot of it, at Meeting House Square for songs, performances and reading from Ulysses which was hosted by Panti Bliss. Later in the week I was finally able to hear my friend Graham J Norton sing live at the Sugar Club. I was just blown away by his voice, his whole gig was captivating from start to finish, especially his debut single Life on Mars, his duet with Mary Coughlan Under Clery's Clock and an original I Miss You Most on Sundays. Graham is someone to watch.

 

 Our Parents arrived up on Friday the 19th for my father's birthday, luckily enough Niamh was able to meet them off the bus, as I was working late. I of course met them all for a quick after work drink before the walk home. I managed to have the apartment kitted out with banners, balloons and have a birthday cake waiting, which I was able to have lit before my dad got into the apartment. He was surprised and delighted as he wasn't expecting it. The following morning, as we waited for Niamh to finish work, my folks and myself decided to do the +Teeling Whiskey Distillery Tour. My parents did the Small Batch tasting one and I did the Trinity small batch on. Our guide Maire, was very informative, funny and helpful. After our whiskey tour, we checked out the nearby food markets before heading to Christchurch for the Dublin Garden Festival, which had some impressive food carts and other various stalls. We meet Niamh for lunch near Temple Bar, although the musician was very good, the food on the whole was below par and over priced, so shocker really for the location. We made use of the sun by walking down Quays towards Sir John Rogerson's Quay which was hosting the Mexican Navy vessel, ARM Cuautémoc for the weekend with free entry. We ended up doing a pub crawl on the way back home, finishing it with a takeaway pizza and of course a night cap. The following morning being Father's Day, we gave our dad, his card and presents to celebrate, before eating and relaxin prior to our parents getting the return coach back to Ennis. We all agreed was such a lovely weekend, especially getting the opportunity for all of us to hang out together.

Ireland Said Yes - #IrelandSaidYES

My postal vote for the referendums arrived after my mother posted them up to me, so on my next day off May 12th, I went to the nearest Garda Station to me and got the required form stamped, so I could vote. Once I voted in both the Marriage equality and Presidential referendums I posted it soon afterwards at the GPO, to the Returning Officer in County Clare. I felt great being able to do my part for the cause.

With days to go to the Referendum, everyone was doing their part to get everyone involved. Especially the national and local groups of YES Equality, political parties and even certain companies such as +Ben & Jerry's who were promoting the yes vote with free ice cream at various locations around Dublin every day beginning with the One Family Day at Wolf Tone Square. A big help in the national canvassing by the YES Equality group was the bus that was raised by donations from ordinary people, which toured 66 locations around 26 counties with 27 days in the lead up to the vote. The amount of hard work that was undertaken during the campaign showed the heart and passion from all groups and both sides in this referendum. What got us to this moment, has only been possible thanks to people such as David Norris, Colm O'Gorman, +Katherine Zappone, +Panti Bliss, Grainne Healy, Brian Sheehan, Eamon Gilmore and various other politicians.

A pleasant break from all the referendum talk, was watching the +Eurovision Song Contest semi finals that was held in Vienna Austria, even if some of the acts were good, bad and plain weird. I somehow ended up in +TheGeorgeBar watching the results of the 2nd semi final on Thursday. Unlucky poor Molly didn't qualify for the final although it was a good laugh being out. It was surreal waking up to seeing and hearing about all about the #hometovote and the thousands coming home from abroad to vote especially on the most important civil issue of our generation. I was near tears reading all the hashtags and stories on social media, the extent people were going to vote. Waking up Saturday morning to all the buzz and excitement across every news outlet that there was such an early indication of a Yes result from referendum and that even the no side had conceded was amazing. After enquiring how my only local polling station at home in Clare did, I was beyond thrilled to hear that it was passed by 57.7%.

I decided after lunch to make my way towards Dublin Castle, where the crowds were gathered for the final official result was being announced. Soon after I arrived despite a mishap involving my water bottle bursting, I soon made friends with various people especially after the arrival of Panti and her interview by the press which was done just in front of me which itself was an unreal moment in time.


During the wait for the result, the atmosphere within Dublin Castle was getting more and more excited. Throughout the afternoon various important politicians and people arrived to be interviewed by the international press in particular Colm O'Gorman, Senators Katherine Zappone and David Norris who had such a warm welcome from the crowd when he arrived as none of this would have been possible without his 40 year struggle towards this day. +Niamh  got the bus up from Clare at lunch time and was trying to make it up and into Castle before the big moment. Luckily enough there was a slight delay, my phone died but people I was with were nice enough to let me use their phone to contact her. She was waiting to get in, as soon as she was off the bus with her suitcase and all, as she got nearer the phone coverage went into meltdown. Even from outside the castle, Niamh could hear the crowds from within booing when Roscommon-South Leitrim turned red on the map meaning they had voted against the amendment. I hugged her with relief and joy to see that she got in before the announcement. The poor thing had been queueing for over 70 mins trying to get into the castle. Come 6 O'Clock and even after the arrival of Minister Leo Varadkar, the most prominent gay minister, we were still waiting on the results from 3 Cork constituencies. The crowd were getting restless and antsy waiting for the announcement, when someone started singing the National Anthem   Amhrán na bhFiann, soon everyone joined in the singing including the politicians. Finally at 18.50, Returning Officer Ríona Ní Fhlanghaile declared that Ireland had passed the Same-Sex Marriage referendum by 1,201,607 votes (62.1%) to 734,300 (37.9%). We all within the grounds of the castle descended into cheers and celebration. It was an amazing moment and feeling to being actually present when such an important announcement was made and even more so that I was able to celebrate it with my sister. That moment cemented Full Citizenship to all gay Irish citizens. 

 After the announcement, the crowds started to disperse to continue the celebrations, however it was finally time to get Niamh home with all bags and charge our phones. However soon as I got home realised it was almost time for Eurovision, so decided to finish off the perfect day, rushed to get a bottle of wine and watch it. Even though neither of us went out, we were still up drinking celebrating at about 3 am and finding pictures of me in the background of the crowd during the Panti interview from around the globe. Finally getting up about midday, we decided to continue the celebratory tone of the weekend by going to +Brasserie Sixtysix for Sunday Brunch where I had Espresso martini, sure needed the cure as I was #hungoverforequality, when I noticed the Sunday papers and had a browse, what did I notice within the Sunday Independent, was one of the picture of me in the crowd. It was really the perfect end to such an amazing weekend, one that I will remember for years to come and where I was on the 23 May 2015 when the referendum was announced and passed.