19 July 2020: A Message from H.E. Ambassador Aidan Cronin
News
19 July 2020A cháirde Gael,
I hope that those of you who have returned to Ireland for the summer are enjoying being home and that those of you who decided to stay here over the summer are enjoying the sunshine and tolerating the summer temperatures.
Myself and my family fall into the second category, having decided that, with quarantine requirements at both ends, it was more practical to remain in Abu Dhabi. So for us, as it is for so many people, it’s a case of staying at home with occasional forays to the still-very-quiet mall for essentials. All outdoor activities are, of course, undertaken while wearing the now-ubiquitous face masks.
It really is remarkable to think that no more than five months ago a person wearing a mask in a mall here in the UAE might have attracted some quizzical looks, whereas now somebody not wearing a mask would…well, the fact is that there are no people here not wearing facemasks when out and about. It’s almost surreal, then, to tune into conversations all over the world where people are debating whether or not they should wear facemasks when, to us, it’s already second nature.
It’s not a particularly comfortable experience but we can’t let our masks, and the virus that they are protecting us from, define us. To quote Philippe in Alexander Dumas’s “The Man in the Iron Mask” -“I wear the mask. It does not wear me” and we are already learning to socialise and to work and to live from behind our masks.
Like other places of work, the Embassy has taken measures to safeguard the health and safety of staff and visitors and we are now fully open again and here to assist Irish citizens. As I always say, this is your Embassy, so please stay in touch and enjoy the rest of the summer.
Slán go fóill.
Aidan Cronin
Ambasadóir na hEireann/Ambassador of Ireland
Abu Dhabi
