IT'S almost time to make those New Year's resolutions that you will stick to for two weeks – at the most – before resorting to just being your old fabulous self.
While you are reading this I want to imagine that you're eating the very dregs of the Roses tin – the coffee ones that are always left at the bottom – and dreaming that the spirit of Olivia Newton John will take over your body to haul you to the gym in the next few days to work on that 'new you'. I want to imagine you're smoking cigars, drinking whiskey and cursing like a sailor to get it all out of your system in anticipation of the January 1 new start.
This year I think I'm going to make serious resolutions to gain weight, save significantly less money and achieve zero goals so that at least I will be somewhat successful in my usually unrealistic endeavours.
What I do want to see happen in 2020 is serious change in Northern Ireland, for we have let everything we worked for just slip right through our fingers. We have become a society here which is just grateful that we are not killing one another, that anything apart from that is OK and acceptable and normal.
We have become communities who just want to make sure that our own families are OK, we have gone into our own trenches and have put our heads down. We close the door to the problems which have been allowed to grow and thrive beyond our living room windows. We have slipped back into survival mode and have lost sight of the bigger picture. It can't be allowed to continue.
I say we make 2020 the year we ditch the focusing on ourselves, on our own little kingdoms and just surviving, and start fighting for this place so that there is some semblance of good society to hand over to our children and their children.
This year we have seen an increase in violence, in sectarianism, in attacks on our streets, of the hatred and division that has blighted our society for decades and brought us nothing but heartache and pain.
I say 2020 is the year we take back control of Northern Ireland and stop allowing people to drag us backwards towards our darkest days, stop allowing our children to suffer in poorly funded schools, stop our elderly relatives having to wait more than 10 hours for treatment in our accident and emergency departments. I say this year we vow to stop being walked over and trampled on by politicians who care not a jot that we are all struggling as long as they are OK.
Our children's schools are crying out for help, laying off staff, are unable to afford books, after school clubs, special needs provisions and even toilet roll and yet we do nothing except accept it like sheep.
I say that 2020 is the year we start fighting back, stop accepting this absolute nonsense as normal. Push our politicians to get back to seriously working with one another to make things better or push for an election so we can put people in there who actually have the intelligence and courage to get over these hurdles for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland.
I say that 2020 is the year that we all say 'enough is enough'. We are all better than this. We can do better than this. Let's make that our New Year's resolution.
A very happy New Year to you and yours, wherever you are, from me and mine.
