THURSDAY 1 OCTOBER
On with Pat, and we discussed COVAX, a tremendous organisation that aims to provide vaccines to the developing world. So important that there is global access to the vaccines and COVAX are at the forefront of that. Health inequalities that have dogged the world since time immemorial, I would think. Will COVID-19 change all that? The pragmatist in me says ‘unlikely’, but the optimist says ‘maybe, in some ways’. Lively show with Pat, in any case.
FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER
Slight chill in the air this morning. Oh man, winter is coming. And respiratory viruses love nothing better. I shake off my sense of foreboding by thinking about the day ahead.
The Late Late was brilliant. I set up a box of dry ice. Added water and the CO2 gave rise to ’80s-style smoke. Just like a Duran Duran video. Ryan then spoke over it with and without a mask. The masks stopped the smoke spreading. It’s important to remind people of how effective masks are. We then spoke about the vaccine, and I rammed home the message that vaccines are the greatest contribution to human health above all else.
Just before I went on, I was told that Trump had just been admitted to hospital, so we broke that news on the show. We learned that he had been given the experimental antibody therapy developed by Regeneron, so we talked about that too. I pointed out that Regeneron have a huge plant in Limerick – the former Dell plant. Good to make it vivid for the Irish audience. That antibody therapy could well be the reason why he might survive. I told Ryan he had a 1 in 6 chance of a severe disease, given his age and the fact that he is obese. Looks like they’ve pumped every drug they can into him, including melatonin. We wished him a good recovery. Never thought I’d be talking about Trump on the Late Late, but there you go.
We also chatted about Inflazome, and I was happy to tell people that the trials will begin for the big diseases we are interested in. The money issue came up of course, but I pointed out that Trinity and the exchequer all benefit, and of course the investors.
After my slot I had a nice big cup of coffee in the green room. An almost empty green room, and no booze. Of all the times for me to make it on to The Late Late Show – no audience, no green-room craic, and talking again about a killer virus.
SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER
Went shopping in Glasthule and three people spoke to me. I’ve noticed that as soon as you’re not on TV, people forget. Kind of looking forward to that day.
Had a bit of an attack of the imposter syndrome this morning – the feeling that you’re not quite good enough. It was first reported in women who had been promoted at work and in successful sportspeople. It’s a natural protective measure. Be on the lookout for getting knocked down by a rival. Be on your guard against being full of yourself! I’ve had it in the past, including as a scientist, say when I’ve been asked to give a keynote address to thousands of other scientists at a big conference. It passes when I’ve got on with the activity that is making me feel it. This will pass too. (I hope!)
The feeling reminded me of something else I’ve come across. I decided to do some research and came across ‘do-gooder derogation’. This occurs when someone feels threatened in some way by a ‘do-gooder’. The attacker feels they are being criticised by the moral behaviour of the do-gooder. It’s like a knee-jerk reaction. So, if I advocate for mask-wearing, a non-mask-wearer might think I’m attacking them, and so they attack back. They see it as defending themselves, or perhaps calling me out as to my motives. I wonder if this evolved as a way to bring down a do-gooder who might have access to resources the non-do-gooder hasn’t. If the do-gooder is benefiting the tribe as a whole, it seems counterproductive for them to be attacked, and yet that is what happens.
Do-gooder derogation is made more powerful if evidence can be used to back it up. I’ve noticed I’ve been accused of being in the pay of pharma companies, and so there have been charges of conflict of interest. My defence is always that my connections are in the public domain, and that I have no shares in companies developing the vaccines and medicines I mention – and so won’t benefit financially. Seems to bug people, though.
Next time I see some hate maybe I should reply with, ‘It’s OK. I understand. You’re a do-gooder derogator.’ That should work a treat. On the other hand, they might just be assholes.
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER
NPHET have sent a letter to the government, recommending that the whole country go to the highest level of restriction, Level 5, for four weeks. I wonder what the government will do?
MONDAY 5 OCTOBER
The government will not move to Level 5, but instead the whole country will move to Level 3 from tomorrow. Ireland now has the highest number of confirmed cases in a single day since 10 April: 1,205. The second wave is here in earnest.
Leo Varadkar on Claire Byrne Live said NPHET hadn’t thought through their recommendation properly. Ooh! A spat! Not good for the country. The virus will love that. Varadkar publicly criticising his own advisers … Then to Newstalk, exploring how sniffer dogs are being deployed in airports to detect people who are positive for COVID-19. Man’s best friend indeed.
Good three-hour call with Roche – a big overview of all their immunology programmes and how NLRP3 might fit in with them. It gave me a lift. Makes the whole thing so real. There is big optimism there regarding severe diseases. The dream continues. It also got me thinking. I feel really fulfilled when I’m using the skills I’ve got – in this case, in the area of inflammatory diseases. I guess it’s like a footballer being allowed to play. I can lose myself in the scientific discussions sometimes. Flow achieved.
Got a nice poem today written by Con Feighery, immunologist extraordinaire. Con was a stalwart of Irish immunology for years, and when I came back from the UK to set up my lab he was so welcoming. Brings back memories of those early days and the brilliant Irish immunology community: Alex Whelan, Dermot Kelleher, Denis Reen, Cliona O’Farrelly, John Jackson. That first Irish Society for Immunology meeting I went to in St Vincent’s – I remember how much fun it was, unlike the stiff meetings in the UK. And now, all those years later, Con sends me a poem:
A badge of serious science
His white coat flung
Across broad shoulders
Long, lean body
In sloppy stance
A lop-sided smile
Dispensing complex information
To an appreciative nation
Or how to perform
A simple task
Wash your hands
Tutorial concluded
Joining the conversation
Time to discard the badge
Not quite Howie in design
Protective gear
Thrown with athletic ease
To the waiting settee
Outside Walter Reed
A medical assembly
In angulated format
All sharply suited
Buttoned-up white atire
The president’s commander
Carefully unmasks
Concealed information
Contrasting protection
Contrasting styles
Read all (well, nearly all) of Alex’s PhD thesis last night. Can do it at night because of no interruptions. Took about three hours. He has to submit it soon. It’s great! Didn’t have to make too many recommendations. So satisfying for him (and me too) to see it completed. He can be very proud of it.
Recorded the next biology lectures. I love doing those lectures, describing the building blocks that make up life itself. Couldn’t resist dropping in COVID-19 references. Wonder what challenges this new generation of biologists will face. They’ll never forget this year, nor will any of us.
The reviews of Never Mind have been good, although in The Irish Times Laura Kennedy wondered why I hadn’t discussed epistemology more. I almost sent an email saying, Epistemology is a load of bollocks! I should have covered it in the introduction, where I discuss the scientific method. It’s about how we know what we know, so it’s more philosophical. I guess what I mainly wanted to get across was that the most important determinant of scientific truth for scientists is reproducibility. That what is being described can be shown experimentally anywhere, anytime. Epistemologists worry about what scientific truth is. I guess I’m too busy making discoveries to worry about it, but it was fair point.
Then I had an interview with VIP magazine! The editor Bianca Luykx came to the house with a photographer. Lots of pics taken, with me holding up one of my favourite albums (Dark Side of the Moon). We had a great chat in the garden. Bianca got a bit philosophical when she asked me if I believed in God. I said no. If I’d said yes, do-gooder derogation might have kicked in. Hope the garden looks good in the photos. Divorce is no doubt imminent, which is the curse of being featured in such magazines, apparently …
WEDNESDAY 7 OCTOBER
Culled a few people I’m following on Twitter. Kept some key ones: Thomas Pueyo, Devi Sridhar and EndCoronaVirus.org are all good for COVID-19 stuff. Roger Highfield is a science journalist I love to follow. Every morning at 6 a.m. he goes for a walk in Greenwich Park and sends a photo. When I lived in London, I used to go there a lot. Makes me happy to see the pics. Roger and Devi are great exemplars of how to use Twitter. Keep it professional. And never retweet a compliment – Tony Connelly gave me that tip!
Zoom meeting of the COVID-19 Centre. Great news – we should be able to work directly on the virus itself in the New Year. It will be good to carry out experiments ourselves.
Then a Zoom call with Ann Devitt and lots of teachers. Ann is in the School of Education in Trinity and has a forum with newly trained teachers. Lots of questions came in about COVID-19 in schools, which procedures to follow, distancing, masks, activities like PE and art. I did my best to provide answers, banging home the three Cs and emphasising ventilation and hygiene. I think everyone knows these things, but it helps when they are verbalised.
THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER
There have been definitive cases of reinfection. Someone who had been positive four months ago was then tested again. They detected a slightly different virus, so it had to be reinfection. The question now is how common will that be? I told Pat’s listeners it would likely be a range: some will be completely protected, a minority might be reinfected and handle the infection poorly, but the majority might be reinfected but will handle the infection well. It could all be about the dose of virus – a high dose might mean increased chances. Like with most things to do with COVID-19, we don’t know.
On 2FM with Jennifer Zamparelli for a book plug and also COVID-19, of course. Odd how the two converge for me.
Tutorial with senior sophister immunologists, three of them, wearing masks, socially distanced. Good to have some (masked) face time with them. One of them said their granny was so proud to have a granddaughter as an immunologist. Wonderful that grannies are proud of immunologist granddaughters!
Prime Time came in to film. We discussed the numbers going up again. When, oh when, will we have a happy discussion?
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER
Very, very excited today! Trip to the UK – Cambridge, London and Oxford. Travel is permitted because it’s COVID-19 related. I will have to restrict my movements for two weeks when I get back. Dem’s the rules. I’ll just work from home.
Got a taxi to the airport. Babbled away to the taxi driver with the novelty of it all. Verbal diarrhoea. And to think I used to go to the airport every week almost. I knew I missed it, but I didn’t think I would be this excited! Terminal One was almost deserted at 11 a.m. on a Friday morning. It wasn’t possible to get the boarding pass onto my iPhone as I would normally have done. Went to check-in desk – flew British Airways (sorry, Aer Lingus!). No queue. One person there. Got my boarding pass. Had to fill in a form giving my address in the UK and Ireland and phone number. Strolled through security. Had my mask on but the woman said ‘You’re Luke O’Neill. I recognise your eyes!’ Had a nice chat. She said only 100 people or so had come through yesterday. One hundred!
Lots of shops were shut and I couldn’t get money from any ATM as they were switched off. Boarded flight. I’d say there were 20 people on board. I literally felt as if it was my first flight ever. The excitement. The flight attendant gave me a pre-sealed sandwich and a cup of coffee. Landed in Heathrow 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The flight attendant said it was because there was no traffic in the air so we could take a direct route. Followed a track to the Heathrow Express. Different route from before all this. Train was empty. Got the Underground around to King’s Cross. Everyone wearing masks. Silence. Made the train to Cambridge.
The novelty began to wear off at that stage. Felt a bit uneasy. Not many people about. Stations that we went through were all empty. Nobody smiling. A strange silence. I began to wonder, Should I be here at all? Got into Cambridge. Ah! My old stomping ground. Spent nearly three years here when I wore younger scientist clothes. Also lived here for six months while on sabbatical in 2016.
Good old Stevie was waiting for me at the station. Great to see him. Had to rush into his car though for a live interview with Kieran Cuddihy on Newstalk … on John Lennon! Seconds to spare. They know I’m a huge fan and it’s his birthday today. He would have been 80. Kieran tried to wind me up by saying he only really wrote teeny-bopper music. Good to have a bit of joshing for a change.
Drink with Stevie in one of my old locals, The Flying Pig. Very different from when I was last here. They took our temperature on the way in and then to an outside table. Most tables were full, but not many of them because of social distancing. We ordered our drinks online. Pints of IPA. I thought it would take forever but they were brought to our table. Loosened up a bit with the first, so we had another.
Then to dinner with my scientific collaborators, one of the reasons for my visit. Mike Murphy in good form – I owe him a lot for the recent successes we’ve had on immunometabolism. Thomas Krieg also there. He is coordinating a big grant we’re writing for the Wellcome Trust about metabolic change in heart disease and inflammation. Thomas is indeed a gas man. He’s got a sense of humour that matches mine perfectly. We had some laughs. Thomas is a physician in Addenbrooke’s Hospital and he told us about treating COVID-19 patients and how the hospital has been coping. He said it wasn’t too bad, which was good to hear.
Then back to Mike’s for the night. A lovely house outside Cambridge. He produced some port, and we, err … drank it all.
An excellent meeting. The trip was worth it for this alone as I got a couple of ideas. Shows how face time is so important for scientific discussions. And it’s more fun. Perhaps that’s the essence of it. If you’re having fun, maybe your brain relaxes and ideas emerge. We will go back to all this again one day.
SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER
Stevie drove me back to the station. It’s tough enough for him here. He’s just started but no social life to speak of.
Train to London. Again, very quiet. Then a taxi to my hotel, The Athenaeum on Piccadilly. Checking in was contorted. Long queue. Form-filling. No room service. Remote control for TV sterilised. Had my second meeting of the trip in the hotel, again on COVID-19. Possible collaboration with a company with some wonderful ideas. Again, the face-to-face was key. We went for dinner in the Hard Rock Café next to the hotel. All the staff wearing masks and 90 minutes table-time maximum. It didn’t really work. No buzz. Unease.
Back to the hotel by 9 p.m. What to do? Took a hot bath and had an early night in the huge bed. Very comfortable and a sense of luxury, which is nice. Took it all for granted for so long.
MONDAY 12 OCTOBER
More COVID-19 meetings today with Oxford collaborators: the role of the lymphatics in COVID-19 – an under-appreciated area.
Then to Heathrow. On the bus, something amazing happened. Got a text from Sarah at Gill to say that Never Mind was number one in the hardback non-fiction charts! Such a thrill. For the second time this year on public transport I felt a tear well up. They are interesting tears to shed. Joy, but also a sense of achieving something.
I guess the emotion is born of a long struggle, with many failures. I thought about all the hours spent working on the book. And not being fully sure of it. And now there it is. Another strange thing to happen in this year of COVID. Felt maybe like what The Beatles felt in America when ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ got to number one. Not that it’s anything like that but still, it’s on my mind. More like The Rutles, the spoof band based on The Beatles.
I will cherish this moment. It might never happen again!
Will be locked up for 14 days. This isn’t the worst because the government is banning all household visits from tomorrow and the country is going into another lockdown. It’s called Level 4. No visitors, six people max at a wedding, all gyms closed. We enter the second big lockdown of the pandemic. For crying out loud.
Got a text this morning to remind me of my quarantine and confirm my location. Impressed by that. Luckily, I can do lots of work from home. Was the trip worth it? Absolutely.
Watched two more episodes of Breaking Bad with Sam. Such a good way to relax: drugs, violence, mayhem …
THURSDAY 15 OCTOBER
Johnson & Johnson have paused their clinical trial because of an adverse event. Damn! Creating huge unease. I reckon it will restart, as these things happen in trials. The EU is buying up millions of doses of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi and AstraZeneca. We’ll get our divvy from those.
FRIDAY 16 OCTOBER
Took part in another online conference, this time with Tallaght Hospital. Some great talks from doctors there – one good one on how COVID-19 is a coagulopathy and how they are trying to treat that with anti-coagulants.
A lovely email from Ray Hammond, who told me that he had a summer job in the mid-1960s on Bray seafront, on the deck chairs. He said how he remembered my father: Now, Mr Kevin O’Neill had an English accent and when I read an interview you gave you mentioned that your dad had come back from England. I wonder, was that your dad? I’m almost certain it was as I remember him well and you are the image of him. He was a kind and gentle man. Another wee blub! I emailed Ray and indeed he was talking about my dad. He said he’d such good memories – first job, first bit of romance. He also told me that he saw Phil Lynott play in Bray, in Fatima House. A venue I well remember! Ah, memories. Lovely to connect with Ray.
And last week I got an email from John Mooney (my dad’s partner in the deck-chair business was John’s dad, Pat). John had emigrated to Canada many years ago. He emailed to thank me for all the work I was doing and to say how my dad and Pat would be proud. So nice of him.
SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER
Three name checks in today’s Irish Times. First, people were asked what they do to cheer up and I said I play ‘Monster’ by Welsh band The Automatic. It kind of sums up how I feel at the moment when it comes to COVID-19: ‘What’s that coming over the hill, is it a monster?’ Jennifer O’Connell put the piece together and said she loves that song too. It seems to have struck a chord. There was also a quote from my Royal College of Physicians talk and then a bit about Never Mind being at number one. The Irish Times online also quoted me from an interview with Brendan O’Connor. Good God.
Also got a big box of goodies from the An Post book awards because guess what – Never Mind has been nominated for Best Popular Non-Fiction award! I’ve been nominated twice before and didn’t win. I won’t hold out much hope. And if I do win, I won’t even be able to go up to the podium to thank people.
Cooked smoked ribs for dinner. Something different. Never made them before and we need variety, don’t we? They were OK. Sam and Marg were polite, but I know I won’t cook that dish again.
SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER
Looking at the week ahead and I’ve over-committed. I’ve listed 24 tasks. I find to-do lists great things altogether. I’ve always made them but as I look back over this year so far, they are all very long. I write them in my diary but also have them on an app on my iPhone. We love to-do lists because we get a dopamine rush when we tick off our tasks. I wonder for me is it about tension-release-tension-repeat? Say I have to do something like give a talk at a conference. I’ll wake up that morning and know it’s coming. A build-up of tension. Get out and do it. And then release. Our brains are mere biochemical machines, and we just drift along. Sunday rumination. Some year. I wonder how the money and fame (or should I say infamy) will change me?
Went to see Desiree today through the window in the nursing home. Sam came with me. Main topic was, ‘You’re getting cold out there!’ She always thinks of others. Walked home via the People’s Park and a guy shouted, ‘Love your stuff in the Indo!’
Got home and Brian dropped by. I lit a fire in the garden and we had some port. Nice.
MONDAY 19 OCTOBER
Rainy Monday. Interesting chat with Pat on whether vaccines will work as well in older people, whose immune systems aren’t as strong. I wonder if it will mean a higher dose of vaccine, as happens with the flu jab? Moderna and Sinovac are reporting a strong antibody response with their vaccines in older people. This is positive news.
Country now back in full Level 5. Can’t go beyond 5 km. Schools still open, though, thankfully. The government were finally forced into it. Why didn’t they heed the advice sooner?
Had a call today with Roger Preston in RCSI. (Roger is Ireland’s leading scientist in the area of coagulation – good to know that even if we can’t meet in person like we used to, we can still set up collaborations.) We have even better evidence that our itaconate molecule can block clotting. This is highly relevant to COVID-19. Itaconate is much lower in patients with severe COVID-19, and maybe that leads to clotting. This could be huge! Many anti-coagulants that can be used carry a risk of bleeding too much. Because itaconate is a natural molecule, made by our bodies, and because it is also anti-inflammatory, it might be ideal. Our company, Sitryx, are interested in making new medicines based on itaconate, so if we can get data on this it would be wonderful.
People keep asking me why I’m so optimistic when it comes to COVID-19. It’s because I’m a scientist and deep down, all scientists have to be. Experiments and ideas fail the whole time, so you try again and again because you know you’ll get there eventually. Those who give up are the ones who usually realise science isn’t for them. That’s fair enough. They become tax attorneys.
The night drew in early. Still no news on vaccine trials or indeed no big news yet on therapies. Hang tough now.
WEDNESDAY 21 OCTOBER
The darkness from last night still infecting my mind. But up and at ’em into the shower and the lift begins. Mind you, had to get up at an unearthly hour – 6.30 a.m. – for a Skype interview with Sky News. It’s a bit surreal. In the kitchen. Pitch-dark outside. Laptop positioned. Disembodied voice, ‘You’re on in one minute.’ Then the interviewer, but what she says is out of sync with her lips. And I can see my huge head on the TV. Max Headroom.
I’m just astounded by people’s kindness. Letters with offers of help in whatever way I want, others encouraging me to keep going with the media to counteract the nastiness that’s out there. And people offering their blood for research to make antibodies to help others. One woman wrote: I have enough antibodies for a whole army. People just trying to make a difference. To do their bit. Yet again, we Irish show what a decent people we are.
Some more funny letters:
Late March I fell in love, firstly with Tony Holohan but now Luke O’Neill. Thank you so much for all your hard work and sound advice. Now get on your bike and find that vaccine!
In conversation I have often heard ‘Luke says’ and ‘Ah sure, he’s one in a million’. I must confess I claim you as one of my own, as I am from the garden county.
My name is Eoghan. I love you, Luke O’Neill. You’re my favourite scientist. I got your Great Irish Science Book and I did lots of the experiments. I really want to visit you. I’m seven.
I always enjoy seeing you on TV, Luke. I live alone and it can be very lonely. My son lives in Manchester and rings me every night and I’m going over to see him at Christmas if I can. I hope it’s the right decision, Luke. Have a lovely Christmas – I will be thinking of you!
I am a former Franciscan missionary, now 82. God bless you and the insight you bring. Like when I was on the missions, you too have an important mission and I wish you every strength.
And I got a huge card, made by pupils in Carrakennedy National School and signed with good wishes. Good Lord, so kind and a bit overwhelming! I’ll write back to them as soon as I can.
The gifts also continue to pile up: bottles of wine, chocolates, endless masks (I’d say 50 or so by now), but also scarves, muffs, CDs and a lovely piece of lace made by a 90-year-old lady. The pattern said ‘HOPE’. And at least ten masses to be said for me and two miraculous medals. I am so, so in awe, and so touched by all this. Never in a million years did I imagine this.
THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER
Felt low on waking but perked up in the hot shower as per. Before I went on air with Pat, I tuned in and heard him laying into Minister Donnelly. He always seems to be in the thick of it. Unnerved me a little. We discussed studies showing commercial flights as places where infections spread. On one flight from London to Hanoi, 16 were infected by a single person. Also, an update on interferon as a therapy. A trial has shown a 79 per cent decrease in the need for ventilation. Now that’s good news.
Late morning, Brian dropped over to the garden, bringing takeaway coffee with him. Working from home means I miss my fix. Always buy coffee on the way in, usually Tesco coffee, but they’ve upped the ante with a new variety. I was always struck by how buying coffee on the way into work became a huge trend in cities all over the world. An alien might think that humans have an extension to their hands that appears to be a cup of hot liquid that then disappears in the evening, so it must be retractable!
FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER
Schools have been told to stop using a cleaning product called ViraPro. It contains methanol instead of ethanol. This is a more toxic chemical than ethanol. There’s always something.
Interview for the Dublin Book Festival. The promo continues! Sales have slowed a little, but that’s because of supply issues. The printer is printing more, yay!
It’s quite clear now that Hispanic and Black people suffer much more from COVID-19. Not clear why. Whatever it is, it yet again illustrates how unfair COVID-19 is. It reflects the divides in our society.
Something funny happened in the Spar. I was in the queue and a guy said, ‘You’re Luke O’Neill!’ I said yes. And he said, ‘I recognise your red Doc Martens.’
SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER
At around 8 p.m. there was a tentative knock on the door. And there stood the bold doctors Brian McManus and Colm O’Donnell – a former GP and current neonatologist – with booze. Pissheads! They asked me to join them down the seafront for an al fresco session. It was cold but we braved it and wrapped up well. Colm brought some of his homebrew, which has names like ‘Morphine’ and ‘Amphetamine’. Can’t beat medical humour. The sky was clear. Lights twinkling over in Howth. When, oh when, will the pubs reopen …
Passengers on a flight to Dublin infected a further 59 people in the country.
MONDAY 26 OCTOBER
Back into Newstalk after quarantine. The excitement of going into Dublin! The Slovak government are testing the entire army to check the feasibility of universal antigen testing. Johnson & Johnson have restarted their trial, hooray! But AstraZeneca is now on hold in the US. Bah! Pfizer announced that they are making 1.3 billion vaccine doses. Oh, please! This has to be a good sign. They have spent $2 billion so far, have fleets of planes ready to transport the vaccine as well as trucks that can each transport 7.6 million doses. Let’s get one of them into Ireland! Very exciting stuff. And holding such promise, but we must wait for the results of the clinical trial.
Gave a talk to Sanofi in France. Big session on immunology. They are developing a vaccine with GlaxoSmithKline, although they said it might have to be tweaked to make it better. Unnerving information. What if the other ones are like that?
We’re waiting, waiting. The world is hoping. Of course, the world doesn’t know about the challenges. But I am perhaps only too aware of them.
TUESDAY 27 OCTOBER
Had a cracking evening on Bressie’s mental health podcast, Where is my Mind? Went up to his studio off Camden Street. We had a superb chat. He wanted to cover depression (and my own bout of it), drugs and addiction, but we touched on loads of things. He also asked for The Metabollix to come along and record some songs to go with it, so we did!
Lots of them turned up and it was brilliant fun. Richie on trumpet, Seanie on sax, Brian on drums, Colm on guitar. All masked and socially distanced, so definitely strange. The last time all of us played was in the Dalkey Duck last March at the now-infamous superspreading event, when Ciara was with us and got infected, as did at least ten others. Incredible to think back to that night.
We went for it – recorded ‘Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow’ and ‘Johnny B. Goode’. Despite being in three different rooms we managed to get a bit of a buzz going. Bressie filmed a fair bit of it. I’m rusty and have forgotten a lot of the songs on the set list, but hey, if given half a chance … We wondered when the next gig might be. Has to be a huge celebration once we get out of all this, right? I have a dream that there’ll be a big concert somewhere, sun shining brightly, and we break into ‘I Can See Clearly Now’.
THURSDAY 29 OCTOBER
Pat and I covered the need for humidifiers – keeping the air moist really helps stop the spread of the virus. I told listeners to buy one – they only cost €20. Even a plant that’s been watered can be a source of moisture in a room. And jumping in the sea is a top idea! A UK study found that a protein called RBM3 goes up in people who do it. This protein protects against Alzheimer’s disease. The shoreline will be full of people plunging in and coming out into their Dryrobes, the number-one fashion item these days. People freezing themselves to feel alive.
Managed to do an in-person tutorial with junior sophister immunology students. Masks, distanced, 45 minutes. To get away from COVID-19 we covered the immunological basis for rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and psoriasis. It was really good. Yet again, I’m impressed by students, who are keeping it going in the face of all this.
FRIDAY 30 OCTOBER
Had to spend a fair bit of time working on slides for next week – a big talk to Roche about Inflazome. Thousands might ‘turn up’ and certainly most of the top brass. It’s to tell the company about Roche’s latest acquisition. Pressure, as one goal is to explain why they’ve spent so much on us! It has to be a tight 20 minutes. The head of communications in Roche is in charge and she says keeping to time is paramount. I asked her is it because they are a Swiss company? Worryingly, she thought I was being serious. I want to make my talk really good. It would have all been in person and would have been a big celebration but, as ever, COVID-19 put paid to that. It’s a good opportunity for me to gather my thoughts and put a tight set of slides together, as I’m bound to speak on this again in other situations.
SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER
Halloween. Nobody coming to the door. And we didn’t put up any Halloween decorations or make a pumpkin head. First time we haven’t done that. Might not have done it anyway as the boys are all grown up, but you never know. Saw a good cartoon, a boy saying to his father at Halloween, ‘So you’re saying to me the one night in the year I want to wear a mask and I can’t go out?’
Watched a fair bit of TV this evening. Just flicking and flicking and somehow always ending up on CNN. I know the ads off by heart now. Things looking really bad in the US, with cases rising fast and predictions of many deaths. And of course, the depressing pictures of people just not complying with guidelines.
And so, another month. Ireland is in a bad place. Cases surging. Weeks of being battered now. Winter coming on in earnest.