May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, 
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

It’s St Patrick’s Day. Springtime has definitely arrived. It’s Pádraig’s Namenstag. A national holiday in Ireland with festivities across the Country, the biggest one being the St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin. There is green Guinness, people die their hair green, and even President Biden wears a green tie when the Irish Taoiseach presents him with a bowl of (green) shamrock in the White House.

We had a St Patrick’s Day party in An Saol with traditional live music offered very generously by two Dublin students. There aren’t many happy occasions for the families attending the An Saol National Centre, but the St Patrick’s Day get-together most definitely is one of these. We were all a bit shy with the singing and promised ourselves to do better next year. Staff and clients brought in home-made cakes and buns; and there were coffee, tea, and soft drinks to wash it all down. It was a happy day.

The next occasion to meet up will be 03 April in the National Concert Hall, where Ireland’s most famous and hugely talented Jazz singer Honor Heffernan and her friend have organised a fundraiser for Teach An Saol.

Please let your friends know about this wonderful concert and consider joining us for what promises to be a wonderful night in great company. Tickets are available directly from the National Concert Hall. All musicians will perform for free and all proceeds will go directly to the An Saol Foundation’s Teach An Saol project.

Last week, Pádraig had a rare visit to a hospital to investigate to which extend an eye surgeon could help his eyes to stay open more easily. We decided to get opinions from as many surgeons as possible before taking a decision on how to proceed.

The visit brought back many memories from what now seems to be a long, long time ago. But, as always, it was very educational. We learned about the procedures the eye surgeons perform. And we were reminded that many doctors are risk averse and don’t see the need for surgical interventions with severely disabled people like Pádraig, unless the intervention is critical.

It became apparent that even an eye consultant can underestimate the importance of being able to see.

This was the first consultation of, hopefully, several. We are learning and as we do, have more very concrete questions. For Pádraig to be able to open his eyes more easily would make a massive difference for him – and make it easier for people meeting him to feel his presence.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!