From flash mobs to All-Ireland double for Cork, here are some famous faces' hopes for 2022
Clockwise from top left: Caitriona Twomey, Francis Brennan, Tara Flynn, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and Liz Nugent
In June 2021, I gave up smoking and drinking. I was never a gambler or a sex or drug addict, so I should probably be looking for new vices. The only thing I have left is my addiction to social media. Ten years ago, when I joined Facebook, I swore that I would never degenerate to Twitter, but it turned out that Facebook was just a gateway drug and now I spend a shameful amount of time on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. So I am determined to kick at least one of those next year.
To be honest, I don’t really believe in new year’s resolutions. I think every day is a good day to decide to be more tolerant, decent and generous. I’ll be working on that for the rest of my life.
My new year’s resolution is to read more, to walk more and to create a bit more time to spend with family and friends.
I want to do a lot more swimming in the sea too, throughout the year. And an All-Ireland championship double for Cork too.
All of us in the Arts, have big, thundering, juicy hopes for 2022 for what we’ve lost out on during the last two years.
I hope that spontaneity will return without meticulous planning.
I hope for flash mobs and crowds of abandon or deciding to go to that far out pub at the stroke of midnight for one last pint just for the hell of it.. without certs or passports.
I am mindful of being more mindful... of our wise, older generations who pass us by.
I plan to be more active - physically, and about our planet and to take responsibility for those whom we put in power. I plan to spend less time online - and to get in the ocean more.
I plan to travel. And to appreciate that. Ironically when I was sick with Covid, I rediscovered albums. Listening to an album from start to finish. I lay slumped on the couch and absorbed Aimee Mann’s new one which is a beauty - all New York sass and Bacharach horns and streetlights and city dreams. And Led Zeppelin’s first four because I never have. I might listen to all Beethoven piano sonatas next.
Our wish for 2022 is that all Deaf Children in Ireland will be given equal access to their education. We hope that children like our son Eoghan, whose first language is Irish Sign Language, are given the right communication support in school to help them reach their full potential.
We hope that this year the Government will establish an official Irish Sign Language support role for Deaf children so that they are no longer denied their rights to a full and meaningful education.
They have so much to contribute but they need a secure bridge to enable them to express their ideas to the hearing world of their classroom and wider school community. Let’s hope that 2022 will be the year that all Deaf children go to school not just to survive but to truly thrive.
I’ve been losing sleep lately, not only worrying that I can’t fix things in this world of ours, but wondering whether I can even help. New Year, New Me: I resolve to be more of an a-hole. (Intentionally, like.) I’ve tried caring for ages now and honestly, it’s far too stressful. Meanwhile loads of people have been getting on just great jumping queues, spreading rumours and breathing directly onto strangers during a pandemic. So, no more holding the lift for the lady with the buggy (she’s got a buggy, hasn’t she? Lots of shopping storage underneath her baby and a sturdy handle to lean on when she’s tired). Instead, splashing people queuing near bus-stop puddles etc. Now, maybe guilt will keep me awake, but if my fellow a-holes are anything to go by, seems I’ll sleep as soundly as a baby on top of buggy-shopping. And I could use a good eight hours.
I know Covid has been in our lives for quite some time and looks like it will continue in the New Year. One of my wishes would be that we get rid of the face mask as soon as possible as I really do miss people’s smiles.
It’s not that when I meet someone, I know they are smiling, but when one cannot see it I find it a huge disadvantage.Especially with children I notice it a lot.A warm smile for a child says something about you but is lost behind the mask.
Roll on the days when we can return to sharing our warm smiles with each other.
I have never set new year's resolutions, thus, I don't ever have the (inevitable) disappointment of breaking them.
What I will vow to do, is to keep on keepin' on. Through love, loss, the dark and the light, the rise, and the fall.
To keep jumping into the Atlantic ocean on a daily basis - resetting, rejuvenating, reawakening.
To keep creating. Music, stories, songs.
To keep our tradition alive - le mo cheol agus mo teanga. Gan iad, bheimis caillte. If we don't have this, what do we have?
To keep digging deep, instead of spreading far and wide.
To love.
Dance.
Sing.
I always try to keep resolutions additive rather than take something away or give something up. In terms of my own work and art I try to give myself one big skill to learn over the year. That used to be solely based on drawing, but last year I had to learn animation fast to help out with the TV shows. I now have the bug for it so the resolution for this year is to learn more animation skills. Of course... I wouldn't mind if I hit the old rowing machine a few more times too.
My daughter bought me an Apple watch for my birthday, and I need to get my steps up. I have a new dog and I’m sure he’ll walk the feet off me too. I’m out in the Penny Dinners van all day, and I don’t make the time for a walk, so I need to start walking my way back to health.
In Penny Dinners, our New Year’s resolution is that we will leave no-one hungry or hurt on our watch.
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