Editorial: No time like the present to reminisce

As the saying goes, nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. Maybe it’s the strangeness of the past year or a symptom of the tail end of the hazy days of summer, but there is a feeling of a growing appreciation for taking time to pause and reflect. Perhaps it’s just that we are all finally getting to meet up a little bit more, to reminisce, or dig out some old pictures.

Nostalgia is bittersweet. We look back on our younger years through rose-tinted glasses and realise it can be hard to appreciate the moment when you’re in it. There’s no doubt, there has been always been a great appetite for reading and perusing the old pictures and stories in the Kilkenny People’s archives.

The Front Pages of Yesteryear column published each week is always immensely popular with readers, looking back to what graced the pages of this newspaper 50 years ago. Gerry Moran’s columns also often contain wonderful vignettes of Kilkenny life in days gone by, which evoke positive memories for people.

In recent weeks, our Flashback web posts — featuring picture galleries and reminiscences of past events and days out — have been browsed by tens of thousands of readers and proven of huge interest.

Coinciding with the Bank Holiday weekend, we featured galleries one of the really great weekends in Kilkenny in the last decade — the Bruce Springsteen concerts in Nowlan Park, eight years ago now. It has been great to get such a positive response from people, looking back on great nights, halcyon days, and old friendships with younger faces.

Cork await
A mouthwatering fixture awaits this weekend with the promise of an epic semi-final tussle with Cork at Croke Park.
It’s a privilege to have another Sunday to look forward to at this stage of the summer, and it’s also fantastic that up to 24,000 people will be able to attend the game. Here’s hoping it’s a great day out for everyone in black and amber.