It has been another tough week, but in this time of social distancing and self-isolation, it's worth reminding ourselves of the brilliant ways people are managing to stay positive.
Here are 5 uplifting stories that put a smile on our face:
1) In Convoy, Co Donegal, Melissa Coffey is making face masks for immunosuppressed people.Melissa said: "A friend of mine asked me to make face masks to help her patients from contracting Covid-19. We discovered the demand for these nationwide is more than any one person can manage themselves. "So my husband and I set up a Facebook group called 'Homemade Masks for Covid-19 Ireland' and we are going to show people how to make these themselves at home."
2) Food bloggers, Russell J Alford and Patrick Hanlon, otherwise known as the GastroGays, are encouraging people to get cooking, with no supermarket visits required. Patrick said: "#COVCookClub is all about using things you have in your house. Quite a few of us have a cookbook at home gathering dust. We want people to pick it up and choose a recipe and use the ingredients that you already have in your fridge or cupboard."
3) Colm Lougheed and his friends in Cork are organising online quizzes using software usually reserved for large conferences. Colm said: "We set up livequiz.ie which can accommodate up to 5,000 teams. We do a free live quiz every Tuesday which starts at 9 pm and we also do a pay-in themed quiz every Friday at 9 pm too. This week’s theme is Harry Potter."
4) In Swords, Co Dublin, Sorcha Dooley is running a window art competition for children stuck at home. Each of the winners will get an Easter Egg. Sorcha said: "I put up a post last week on our River Valley Residents Facebook page and within minutes I had so many people responding saying their kids were delighted. Parents were asking who we can donate eggs to and I said leave them at my door to make sure of social distancing and we’ve been inundated with donations. It’s great because we have an egg for all the kids involved."
5) After the success of the Balcony Bingo session in Irishtown to celebrate Mother's Day last weekend, the organisers have decided to do it again this weekend. In between every game there will be a fitness instructor doing balcony exercises.The event will finish with a family quiz with prizes.
