The value of upskilling

Being confined to quarters is opening up a world of online learning possibilities for Barry Stoffell as he discovers an upside to lockdown

- Barry Stoffell

As the stalking season here in Ireland stutters to a close, many of us are left reflecting on a season that never really happened.

Following lockdown 2.0 in October and November, the resumption of some form of stalking normality in December lasted about as long as a typical Irish summer — approximately three-and-a-half weeks. By the first week in January, COVID-19’s catastrophic Christmas present had us back in hard lockdown once more and confined to travel within 5km of home.

While deer management for essential crop or forest protection was not explicitly prohibited, the interpretation of ‘essential’ was largely left to the discretion of individual Garda. The general consensus among stalkers in my acquaintance was that stalking more than 5km from home would certainly leave you open to the hefty fines laid out for breaching lockdown rules, quite apart from being somewhat against the spirit of the restrictions.

With the accompanying closure of pubs, restaurants and the hospitality sector, the demand for venison — already severely depressed — dried to a trickle and I am not aware of a single game dealer collecting venison in Kerry. What had been frozen ahead of the festive season is still largely on ice and those of us fortunate enough to still be able to indulge in a bit of ultra-local stalking are filling our own freezers and those of our neighbours.

Positives

Like many, I am aware that in recent weeks I have been doing more than my fair share of grumbling. With this in mind, I reasoned that it would do me no harm at all to reflect on some of the positive aspects of this season amid the challenges that stalking is facing here in Ireland (and elsewhere).