… because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7

It all began away in a manger, with no crib for a bed. That was the beginning. Since then, the world hasn’t been quite the same.

Pádraig went into town to see the manger on O’Connell Street, the ‘Portal‘ on Talbot Street, the Dublin Winter Lights installation at the GPO, Henry Street, and the lights on Dublin’s North Side. The vibrancy of the city, the magic of the lights in the darkness of the early winter evening, and the buzz on the streets was contagious.

Pádraig got the socks that everybody at Christmas is hoping for: retro colours and non-matching so that you will never have to sort them out after the wash. Another retro present was a turntable, one of those very basic ones like in the old days – but more than good enough to finally play the vinyls people had given him over the years, including Bell X1 and the new Paul Noonan venture HousePlants.

As in previous years, the highlight of this year’s concerts was Bell X1 just before Christmas who this time had selected The Helix as their venue, rather than the more open and perhaps louder Vicar Street. Pádraig agreed with his friends who accompanied him that it was the best ever Bell X1 concert they had attended. And that means something…

We believe in new beginnings, even if we have to start at the very bottom, under very basic conditions, because, currently, there is no room in the inn.

We hope for the lucky one, like the one that came in eighteen to one. I’ve got a feeling this year’s for me and you. But we can’t make it all alone.

So put your dreams with our own. Believe. That’s the beginning. And then – the world won’t ever be quite the same again.