I wasn’t even going to apply for the post, but Jack found it in the newspaper and almost broke his neck to get it to me, insisting it was just the step up I needed. A fresh start to go with our new life as a married couple.

‘They’re going to love you!’ he told me on the morning of my interview. City life was busy and fast, and I still enjoyed every day at St Patrick’s where I’d cut my teeth as a teacher and was so attached to the pupils and parents who were now so familiar, but he was right, I needed a challenge. I needed a change. I’d tried to pour some energy into writing songs in the evenings, but it just wasn’t happening, so instead of forcing it, I decided to take a crack at a fresh start in a new school. When I got the job, my family were absolutely over the moon, but I was devastated when it came to leaving St Patrick’s. Although I know it’s early days and a big change, I’m still not sure if I’ve done the right thing for me.

‘I do believe if you fell into manure you’d get up smelling of roses,’ my sister Emily said when she came round to celebrate my news of moving to a ‘very posh school’. ‘Mam and Dad are wondering if they could announce your news in The Times just like Jack’s parents did when you got engaged! You’re definitely going up in the world!’

There was no doubt about it, life was moving on really fast for our family, with Matthew and Martin now settled, not in Dublin, not in Loughisland, but across the country on the west coast of County Galway where Martin had taken a career break in dedication to seeing Matthew walk again. It was a bold and brave move but, just like me with my new job and new home, I could see that Matthew also needed some fresh energy to allow him to really shift his life up a gear.

‘You’re playing a blinder,’ Jack reminded me this morning when I left for work, nervous again about a whole new day ahead. ‘Plus it’s Friday and we’ll have some fun tonight.’

I’m so glad it’s Friday.

I sing along to Ed Sheeran on the radio, then the familiar voice of the DJ who accompanies me on my journey home most days announces his next track with news that makes my ears prick up as I approach the rainbow-coloured village of Ardara.