Kisses of many deaths

I have been learning German since 1972, lived in the country. Watched their footballers win the World Cup in 1974, the year of my priestly ordination. And then I watched the footballers in Kazan on the Volga yesterday.

I attended Presentation Convent School. The Presentation Sisters have dwindled to tiny numbers in Ireland.

I was a pupil at CBS Synge Street Primary and Secondary School. The school is no longer the school it was and the Christian Brothers Congregation in Ireland has experienced years of shame and difficulty.

I was ordained a Dominican priest. Priesthood is in tatters and the Irish Dominican Province is not what it was.

I worked full-time in the newspaper trade, where I am still a columnist. The newspaper industry is in close to free-fall.

I worked for Ireland's largest international aid agency. Over the last number of years NGOs have been in the spotlight for corruption and lack of transparency.

Today I'm working for the HSE.