Mairead Ronan has opened up about the difficulties surrounding the last few months as the world continues to battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The broadcaster and mum of three admits 2020 was a tough year for everyone, in countless different ways, but hopes there will be brighter days ahead.
Speaking to VIP Magazine, Mairead revealed when the country first went into lockdown last March, she – like millions of people around the world – thought the virus would be eradicated in a few weeks, maybe months.
“I was really naive. I thought by July, Covid would all be gone! My husband Louis was saying, “We’re going to have a year of this” and I thought he was away with the fairies,” she said.
“I found Lockdown 1 extremely difficult. I feel I’m quite resilient and tough, but it was really hard. It was like being on a treadmill and not being allowed off. Some days it felt like we were drowning.”
She continued, “I almost felt like I couldn’t complain because so many people had had the rug pulled from under them so it was like this silent struggle. I didn’t want to moan, but I was really struggling.”
Mairead, who is mum to Dara, Eliza and Bonnie, constantly worries about how it impacts her children, and the rest of the little ones around the country.
“My girls are so young I’m hoping they won’t remember it. But every time Eliza does a tiny cough she announces, ‘I don’t have the Covid!’ She’s four,” she told us.
“I would be concerned for the teenagers though. I think for them not being able to see their friends, the way they normally would have, has been very hard.
“I hope sport and dancing is not taken away from them again, because it’s such an important part of their lives. If they can go to school and sit beside someone in a mask, surely they can play a sport. My 13-year- old son Dara is rugby mad and no contact sport has been very hard for him.”
Pick up the brand new issue of VIP Magazine, on shelves now, to read her full interview.
