In our first issue of the year, our Managing Editor Lisa Connell said that empathy, hope and queer joy in will help us in 2021. We are seeing small glimmers of this manifesting as the COVID-19 vaccine starts to be rolled out.
Yesterday, Dr Fidelma Fitzpatrick received the vaccine and sent a message of queer hope and joy by wearing Mother’s iconic ‘We Will Dance Again’ t-shirt.
The Royal College of Surgeons shared the photo of Dr Fitzpatrick on their Instagram along with the caption ‘We Will Dance Again’.
Dr Fitzpatrick is a Consultant Microbiologist in Beaumont Hospital Dublin and a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Intermediate Cycle of the undergraduate medicine programme in RCSI.
While our beloved Mother club has been forced to stay closed since March, it hasn’t stopped the crew who have continued to keep us connected with merch, kitchen discos and most recently the powerful video, We Will Dance Again.
Described as their “love letter to the dance floor” the stunning project was a collaboration between Irish videographer Joe McGovern, Irish electronic powerhouse, Daithí and actor Shaun Dunne who provided his dulcet tones for the voice over. The words themselves were penned by our sequinned sister and Mother co-founder, Cormac Cashman.
The Mother crew explain that We Will Dance Again is “an ode to our nighttime culture, to queer spaces and to the artistry and creativity of all of the talented professionals that make club nights, live experiences and gigs happen. It’s a promise that we’ll be together again and an acknowledgement of all that we miss about not seeing our communities.
“That’s what we miss most during these strange, solitary times and it’s what keeps us focused on getting things back to the way they were when it’s safe to do so. We wanted this video to be a virtual hug to our extended clubbing family, and to everyone really.”
While the pandemic is entering a third wave and Ireland faces tough lockdown measures, we must celebrate moments like this and appreciate that queer hope and joy can be found in the hardest of times.
© 2021 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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