In the unremitting gloom of the first six weeks of this year, you might have been under the illusion that spring was on hold.
As we were blanketed by cloud and with the perpetual threat of precipitation, there was a grey pall over the country and over all of our moods...
But nothing holds back spring, and without the earth's crust wonderful things have been happening, bulbs emerging, ewes heavy with progeny, and blossom on twigs and sprigs.
Yes, spring is springing.
And who better to help us herald it in but Ireland’s new professor of poetry, Vona Groarke - she talks to RTÉ Arena above.
Listen to more from RTÉ Arena here
