Diverse as it is, Europe contains only three units blessed with all-round coastlines: Iceland, Britain and - no controversy courted - if we depoliticise it and treat it as a single geographical entity, Ireland. All are blessed with stunning coastlines that I won’t put mileage to as there are many ways to measure them resulting in sometimes illogical differences but, mile for mile, kilometre for kilometre, Ireland has to be at or near the top of the Stunning League.

Actor and playwright Donal Courtney, a son of Killarney, recently immortalised the wartime exploits of Monsignor Hugh O‘Flaherty - a senior member of the Roman Curia, nicknamed The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican and active in saving almost 7,000 threatened lives from the time of the German occupation of Rome to its final liberation by the Allies in World War II - in a one-man play premiered in that town and entitled “God has no Country“.

I’m at odds with Mr Courtney: IRELAND is God’s Country.

It’s emerald green and with a mild but always changing oceanic climate. Its people aren’t shy - and never have been - to show their nationality, as is evident from a pavement stroll on any weekend night. It’s largely unspoilt and unless one’s totally without feeling, it’s a country that assaults the senses across every field, around every corner. It repays open eyes and ears with one-hundred percent interest.

Just as the country is blessed with natural beauty, so I was blessed with the energy to still enjoy it.

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