Covid — Five years on: 'I found it hard to readjust to life as it was before' 

Readjusting to normal life after covid has been especially difficult for young people, who are only now getting their first taste of 'normality'

Ava-Rose Gallagher: 'I missed out on a lot of teenage experiences, from my debs to celebrating my 18th birthday.'

I remember sitting at the kitchen table one night begging my mom to let me go to a disco in Killarney that March weekend in 2020. She told me it was too dangerous, I thought she was crazy and just overreacting. 

The next morning in the middle of English, teachers were called out of class, only to return shortly ahead of an intercom announcement telling us that we were being sent home for two weeks because of the pandemic. We were all delighted!