Joyce Fegan: 2021 - Into the new year, into the void

In the chasm between the comedic farewell to one year and the tragic welcoming of another, there is an air of something no one can quite name, perhaps doesn't want to name — apprehension, writes Joyce Fegan

A woman walks past a closed pub with New Year 2021 balloons in Brussels. The pandemic of 2020 is a chance to permanently reorder our world. We can do away with the rat race, hours-long commutes, a housing market where families are evicted indiscriminately, a society where double jobbing and nixers and side hustles are needed to make ends meet. Picture: Francisco Seco/AP

When thinking about this column space over those doldrum days between December 26 and now, few things came to mind. Who wants to read any more reflections on 2020? Who needs another Covid column? And what could anyone possibly say about 2021?

This is not an ordinary new year or New Year's Day, and 2020 was no ordinary year.