"Home is now an office, classroom and a campsite. A little over a year ago I moved from Dublin to Westmeath, and it's fair to say isolation is lot easier with a bit of space. The weather has been amazing, so the tent is up in the garden. It doubles as a cinema and (chilly) night away from the house.
"Rethinking how we work, means RTÉ presenters, reporters and editors are doing what we can from home. With schools closed I'm the same as most parents, pretending to be a teacher and wondering where they get their patience from!
"The dining room has been turned into a classroom, desks dragged from bedrooms and a bell that rings at 9.30 am. Honestly, we've a bell! The children's 'real' teachers have been brilliant, every morning a list of work arrives, with a welcome dose of 'do what you can but don't stress'.
"While the kids are doing their school work, I've an ear to Today with Seán O'Rourke and an eye on the newspapers. The online subscriptions are really handy right now. The newsroom's daily news meetings are now done by video conference, so can be accessed remotely, and thankfully there's a mute button on my end!
"As a so-called essential worker, I'm allowed travel to the RTÉ studios, and mostly all I pass on the motorways are trucks, ambulances and gardaí. When an ambulance passes it's an eerie reminder of the reality of this virus.
"News by its nature is unpredictable. A few months ago when we were knee deep in Brexit and the General Election we'd never have imagined how we'd be working today. In the studio Caitríona Perry and I are always two metres apart. To maintain physical distance with our colleagues we are spread out at the desks in office and all of us presenters are doing our own hair and makeup. It's necessary but strange.
"Travelling home from work I listen to audiobooks, my favourites of late are American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, and Grown Ups by Marian Keyes for the much-needed giggles. At home there's a stack of books by the bed, they normally sit half-read for months, but I'm pleased to be working my way through them now. Christina Lamb's Our Bodies, Their Battlefield is what I'm reading at the moment, it's a frightening account of how women and children are abused during war. It's a powerful and important book.
"On my days off Zoom is the new going out, for celebrating birthdays, chatting to my mam and sister, or having a Friday night kitchen disco with friends.
"I adore radio, ever since my schooldays presenting on the school radio station Cool FM, and radio is always on in the house. The power of radio to create a sense of communion is quite something, especially in these lonely times, when people are cocooning, living alone, or missing friends and family. RTÉ Gold on Radio 1 at the moment is fantastic and on Sundays it has to be Cerys Matthews on BBC 6 Music.
"On the days when I'm not presenting the news, I try to keep the radio and TV news consumption until the evening. Despite the children's new grasp of Covid-19 lingo they don't need to hear about it 24/7.
"Life in lockdown and isolation is slower, and people seem kinder. No dashing to after-school activities, more time to chat over the hedge to neighbours, and enjoy the simple things. A number of friends have lost parents to Covid-19 and before it's over we'll all know someone.
"So many people have missed out on mourning and celebrating important life events. My friends in the health service are anxious, my neighbours who work in nursing homes are exhausted. It's a cruel irony that it's taken something like this for us to reassess how we live and work. I think we'll all need a hug when this is over, just not yet."
