Irish musician Niall Breslin, also known as Bressie, has opened up about feeling ‘terrified’ during the coronavirus pandemic after a family tragedy.
He shared how the pandemic became “very real very quickly” for his family after his uncle contracted coronavirus and sadly passed away.
Bressie also shared how he moved in with his parents in the early stages of the pandemic, out of concern for their health. He shared how it was a ‘privilege’ to be able to do so, but didn’t think he’d be back in his childhood bedroom at the age of 40.
Speaking on Ray D’Arcy’s radio show, he shared, “I was also saving for a deposit on a house but I was terrified at the start of the pandemic and I was the only one in my family who could work remotely.
“So I said to my parents, ‘I’m going to come home’. We didn’t know what was going on, we didn’t know how bad it was going to get. And I lived with them for the entire duration of the pandemic and it was an absolute privilege to be able to move back in with your parents.
“It’s not what I thought I’d be doing at 39 years of age but I did it and I shared my 40th birthday on the same day Kim Kardashian had her 40th – she went to a private island with her mates and I had macaroni and cheese with my mum in Mullingar.
“I did have that moment where I thought, ‘If someone told me where I’d be on my 40th birthday… but it was a very special moment.”
Continuing, the Blizzards star shared how his uncle passed away, which made him quite worried about his parents. “My mum lost her brother to Covid early in the pandemic when we still weren’t sure what this was or how bad it was. Her brother passed away and I think that kind of made it very real to our family very quickly.
“I remember saying to my mum and dad, ‘We’ve got to take this really seriously. I know it’s difficult to hear and you have to cocoon and you have to stay inside and all that.’
“I was bringing the groceries in, I was washing them, I was a bit over the top a the start and then it felt a little easier by my god that was a difficult period for all of us. Radio and podcasting is what got me through the pandemic”.