Ireland was still covered in darkness as the US election unfolded but in Australia it was business as usual. I was at my desk in Melbourne not even pretending to be a productive accountant, as I clicked refresh on Google's US election tracker every 30 seconds.
It was a slow and steady day with Donald Trump leading consistently except for the briefest moment very early on when Hillary Clinton took an extremely insignificant lead only to be overtaken again for good.
Around lunch time it started to look like Trump was going to take it, but the West Coast states hadn’t been counted and so hope was not completely lost. But, after a couple of long, constant refresh-clicking hours, the inevitable was revealed.
I sat at my desk and called my best friend and my brother. With tears welling up in my eyes, I let them know what had happened. It was only when I made the phone calls that even the slightest trickle of the US election begin to slip into the office. Only then did my colleagues start to Google and to watch.
Their interest lasted only briefly. One of them asked me why I cared anyway as I wasn’t American. Another jokingly told me that there were more important things in life than politics and asked me whether I played Pokemon Go.
I smoke when I drink and try to avoid it during the day, but I took the lift downstairs and walked to the convenience store around the corner and bought a box of cigarettes. I smoked three and thought about what I had witnessed. I came straight back upstairs to write this.
US election update
I sit here with Microsoft Word open on one screen and on the other my US election update, which I keep refreshing. I know I can refresh it as much as I want but with 26 seats left for Trump to get to 270 and him clearly leading in most remaining states whose counts are yet to be finalised, I know there is no point.
It makes me think of home. Of all the Irish who will be waking up this morning to a new world order. I think of the headlines. I think of my armchair in my living room in Julianstown, Co Meath, where, if I were back there, I would sit drinking tea and eating toast trying to understand the gravity of the situation. It makes me miss our great country.
Down under is so far removed from Europe and America. Their overwhelming self-sufficiency means a cat getting stuck in a tree could make news before the results of a US election. That may be overstatement – the election coverage would happen, but the cat in the tree would generate more interest.
(As I write this someone two desks away from me is telling his neighbour that Trump has won and his friend says he doesn’t care as it has nothing to do with him.)
It is not acceptable to be quiet about issues because you are not affected directly by them. It is not acceptable to not move for what is right just because you are comfortable in your own little bubble.
Today Ireland, on a day that will no doubt be defined by the most scandalous American presidential election result we have ever known, let us take a moment to look at ourselves. Today Irish people, in the midst of the madness, I urge you to face up to the issues on your doorstep, social issues that may not touch you directly but are having a negative impact on Irish lives.
Be it repeal, homelessness, healthcare or teachers and their pay. Think about those things. Speak up about them and stand up today for a better Ireland. In a world full of ignorant people with their heads in the sand, in 2016, the year of anomalies, let us Ireland stand up and try to make some sense.
