Dad’s World with Jonathan deBurca Butler

“THERE’S another one down here that we could go to,” said Fionn’s uncle. “This one will be too crowded.”

It had started out full of hope. A little pre-dinner trip to the playground with granny-in-law, Uncle Austin, my two boys, and their little cousin Layla.

We were in a leafy Dublin suburb, the sun shining through the trees, and before we sat down to our feast, we would clear out the cobwebs and arouse our appetites with a bit of a run around and a half-hour on whatever climbing frames and tunnels were on offer.