There was one day this year when I laughed all the way through the job I was on and couldn't keep the smile off my face for nearly a week afterwards.
It wasn’t even on my own patch. It was my weekend on duty covering the midlands, west and north west. I was thrown a long-shot - was there any way I could track down a pair of newly-weds in their 80s in Offaly and see if would they do an interview?
'Sure I’ll give it a try', I said, not knowing this would become the highlight of my working year.
Mary Long and John Bermingham first met over 40 years before they finally got to tie the knot in October. Lots of things had conspired against them along the way, but they refused to be beaten!
What a pair of characters. They were just the best craic. Their happiness and sense of fun was infectious and they gave me and thousands of other people a huge and very badly needed lift.
Apart from viewers of the news that night, thousands of people watched and shared their story on RTÉ social media platforms – they went viral for all the right reasons and gave the nation a shot in the arm long before the vaccine came along.
I have to admit I had been starting to wilt before I met Mary and John but they got me back on track with my goal for 2020 which was to spread a little happiness in my own small way by covering as many positive and uplifting stories as I could.
Starting off the year it had looked like I'd be spending the first few months permanently in rain-gear as we lurched from one storm to the next. It wasn't all misery though - watching the big wave surfers on the coat-tails of Storm Brendan in Mullaghmore in mid-January was incredible and brought home to me what a tonic the sea can be.
Then when "you-know-what" took over the news, that 'tonic’ kept me going. Walks by the sea kept the head clear and even tossed some good-news stories my way in a year when community was what it was all about for me.
Communities rallied round to tackle local Covid-19 issues but also brought about welcome relief to the virus-dominated news with completely unconnected stories.
Some were linked to the sea, like the community in Gaoth Dobhair raising funds for Bád Eddie, an iconic boat wreck on the beach.
They have a plan to create the first permanent sculpture in the sea in Ireland, a stainless steel full-size replica of the boat incorporating what is left of the structure.
Not far away from there, meantime, a man who is no stranger to a challenge, was planning his next adventure.
In September Henry O'Donnell plunged into the sea at Carrickfinn beach with the aim of being the first person to fin-swim around Ireland while raising funds for charity as well.
He's well on his way by now, having rounded the south east coast in early December.
Drama on the high seas centuries ago inspired the people of Grange in Sligo to produce their own film on the story of Captain Francisco de Cuéllar and the Armada ships wrecked off their local beach at Streedagh in 1588.
Thankfully, filming had all taken place before lockdown and the editing and finishing touches were very cleverly worked out with people working remotely in Sligo and overseas to complete the film which premiered online.
That cleverness and creativity spawned by the challenges of Covid-19 stood out across the region and was often spurred by kindness.
We had cocooners in Clonmany in Donegal beavering away, isolated in their homes, making face masks for those who needed them in frontline and other services.
Moville Clothing, a family business making shirts for a hundred years, felt they had to use their skills to help so they dropped everything and switched over to making scrubs for health workers.
Chefs whose jobs disappeared over-night in Donegal Town when their restaurants closed, decided they weren't going to sit back and they got together to make dinners for vulnerable people who had to cocoon.
‘Chef Aid Donegal’ spread to other towns in the county and, with the support of An Garda Síochána, delivered thousands of meals to those who couldn't leave home.
Stuck at home too were many children with special needs who missed their routines and their activities.
They weren't forgotten by the staff and volunteers at the Bluestack Special Needs Foundation in Donegal Town though - they put a lot of effort into sourcing child-specific toys and other items into goodie bags which they delivered to each of their homes.
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A lot of this year was about people lifting other people’s spirits in ways which were simple but sincere.
We had Church of Ireland Rector, Archdeacon David Huss cycling around his four parishes in south Donegal on a "pedal powered pilgrimage", as he called it, to keep in touch with his parishioners.
Fr Colm Gallagher wrote individual letters to each of the children due to make their holy communion in Killybegs back in May to reassure them that their big day would still happen; and in June,Fr La Flynn, the Prior Lough Derg, took the boat out to the pilgrimage island to keep the centuries tradition of prayer alive there as he connected online with pilgrims across the country who would normally make the trip in the summertime.
Then, once restrictions were eased, we had people lifting their own spirits with home holidays and that’s where the sea came into play again for many.
It was fantastic to meet people from all over Ireland who had come to Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and Galway and chat to them about how they were enjoying the beautiful beaches, the stunning landscape and many other attractions along the Wild Atlantic Way. Some were ashamed to say it was their first time in the area and for many there was a new realisation of just how much this corner of Ireland has to offer.
Lots of people said they would be back and hopefully they will be. If they do return, I’d suggest extending their stay to include one of our offshore islands on their itinerary. The islands were pretty much out of bounds in 2020 but as the year drew to a close one of my last jobs took me to Árainn Mhór, the largest of the Donegal islands, for a story which, for me, sums up the spirit of 2020.
Árainn Mhór, like other communities, had its share of hardship and loss this year but one of the positive things to happen was that lockdown brought some of the younger islanders back home from places like London and Dublin to work remotely from their island homes out in the Atlantic.
This "new blood" as they have been called brought a new spark to island life and they played a central part in an initiative to "light up" the island for Christmas.
Never before had Árainn Mhór been lit with community Christmas lights but this year islanders got together and said it was time to bring a bit of cheer and joy to people at home and abroad at the end of a tough year.
They set up an online campaign to raise €5,000 and immediately donations flowed in locally and from the island’s diaspora in America, Australia and the UK. They doubled their target and now there are beautiful lights strung across the pier, the football pitch, the community centre, health centre, roadways and lots of other places.
Soilse Árainn Mhór, the lights of Árainn Mhór, now beam out across the ocean as darkness falls each day - a symbol of happiness and hope to the weary that there’s strength in community and better days lie ahead.
