Esther McCarthy: Valentine's Day is nonsense — real love is paying a grand to get the cat's leg chopped off

"...as I matured, I realised love is experienced and expressed every day in a billion tiny different ways not just on a random day in February, and not just in a romantic context..."

Esther McCarthy. Picture: Emily Quinn

“What a load of old SHIT.”

That’s a catchphrase from one of my very favourite comedic characters — Catherine Tate’s Old Nan — that succinctly sums up my feelings about Valentine’s Day.