OK, that was May put to bed and while the early summer did tease us recently with a few decent summer days, it did end pretty grim and that optimism started to disappear.
Will it be a good summer after all, when will we take a break and where will we go?!!
These thoughts were running through my head while I flicked through the news in The Irish Times and I read about more intense bombing by the Russians on Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine and I wondered about my buddy over there, Paul Niland.
Paul who is originally from Ireland, is a journalist, a political commentator and the founder and CEO of Lifeline Ukraine, a national suicide prevention service. He has been living in Kyiv for nearly 24 years.
After reading an article in The Irish Times back in February 2022 about the likelihood of Russia invading Ukraine, I reached out to him to see if he was interested in being a guest on my Win Happy podcast and he kindly agreed.
Since then he has been a regular guest providing the listeners with valuable insights during the different phases of Russia’s war against Ukraine. While these have been extremely valuable they have given us a huge understanding of the Ukrainian people and their resilience. I have also got to know Paul quite well and how much this place means to him.
I was fairly sure that Paul wasn’t worrying about the weather this summer and his holiday plans, so I reached out to him to see how he was and to once again come on the podcast. To my great surprise I was greeted by lots of optimism.
He was hoping it would also be a great summer but for very different reasons!!
My chat with him was fascinating as always – he spoke about the routine attacks by Russia, Orban’s defeat in Hungary, EU membership, Trump the Russian asset and the drone expertise which has allowed the Ukrainian military reach deep into Russia providing their citizens with a taste of what it is like to experience fear during this pointless war started by Putin.
He also spoke about attending concerts and how music is reflecting the unbreakable spirit of Ukrainians and the role it is playing in what he believes is the the inevitable path to Victory!!
If you fancy listening you can find the episode on all the usual apps and directly via this link
I hope it’s a great summer…
Greg
Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 