Hampstead Heath shows the value of urban parklands

It was a lovely evening when we landed at Cork Airport, home from our family reunion, this year in the Czech Republic, writes Damien Enright.

The air had a nostalgic stillness to it as we drove west, a sense of timelessness despite the 21st century cars and houses. The roads were very quiet, the cars were few.

I was surprised to meet so few. Sometimes, for a mile at a time, it might have been 40 years ago. It re-opened my eyes to Ireland. That Ireland is not like elsewhere was reaffirmed, and that we are immensely fortunate to live in a country where a slow peace can blanket the land of a summer evening. Gray’s Elegy says what I mean: “And all the air a solemn stillness holds...”