Matthew Johnston is leaving Dublin after five years and to say goodbye he made this touching video.
Yesterday he posted it on his Facebook page accompanied by the following passage (which be warned will tug on the old heartstrings):
“Time for my overblown, pompous, and unnecessary goodbye note…
I moved to Dublin five years ago, at a turning point in my life. I didn’t know what to make of it at first, with it’s unfamiliar faces, foreign voices, filthy streets, and shiny, yet inhuman progresses. Yet it still wormed it’s way into my existence, it is where I’ve become an adult, made (and lost) friends, fallen in love, made stupid mistakes, and grasped opportunities.
Áth Cliath might not possess exotic climates, bleeding-edge advances, or even competent overseers, but it is the friendliest, most welcoming and forgiving place I have known. Love, laughter, time and poetry are embedded in every brick of the city; it will hug you when you’re down, kick you when you’re ahead.
Leaving here, I will leave a part of myself behind, as well as friends and family, but I hope to fill the gap with new experiences. I know, more than anything, that I will return, because it is home. If you are lucky enough to be here, look beyond the rain, the mess and the idiots in charge, get out into that day and find your city.
This is my short love letter to the town I will miss.”
The video shows the different sites of Dublin accompanied by the words of Louis MacNeice’s Dublin and music from Is the Big Man Within? by Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh.
