We need to talk about Paul..

Guys…I’m jealous. I’ve never been jealous of a television or movie star before. I’ve never felt the green monster rise up inside me when watching a talented and handsome actor or a famous sportsperson just be really cool in their day to day lives. That is, until one Paul Mescal came along.
He dazzled us all in Normal People. Women want to be with him and guys want to be him. I have never seen someone fit that clichéd phrase so perfectly. He ticks all the boxes.

1. He played Gaelic football (Irish national sport) at intercounty level, captaining some underage Kildare teams.
2. He can act.
3. He can sing.
4. He’s a handsome bastard.
5. He seems genuinely likeable.

Jaysus, even I’d love to bring him home to my Mam!

Unfortunately, I’ve a bone to pick with Paul. Now, I wouldn’t be totally aware of Paul Mescal’s whereabouts at any given time, but from his Instagram it seemed that he was living in London during the lockdown and quarantine. Then the now famous encounter between himself and Phoebe Bridgers happened in Kinsale, Co. Cork. A week later he was melting our hearts with his powerful voice alongside Dermot Kennedy in London’s Natural History Museum. He was also at the Bafta awards posing with a measuring tape between himelf and Normal People co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Look, I know I’m about two weeks late with this piece about Paul Mescal’s travelling. I was annoyed when I first saw the tweets about him and Bridgers. For weeks influencers and ordinary people were being lambasted by tweeters and the government alike for going on holidays and setting a bad example for their followers and the people. Then, when a pretty young singer and Ireland’s most charismatic man do the same thing they are lauded with praise. All sense of injustice went out the window. People were tweeting their support for the couple despite no self-isolating taking place. I know that the tweets were a bit tongue-in cheek but still, there cannot be vitriol for one set of famous people and praise and joy for another.

A week later he was singing his heart out onstage and going to the Baftas. He has probably dealt with so many different members of crew, makeup and hair and other professions. He more than likely doesn’t have the virus but still, what sort of example is that to set. What sort of feelings are we meant to feel when we are told not to travel abroad, but Ireland’s newest hero can host Americans, travel between England and Ireland and possibly infect people working behind the scenes at these events. Not to mention the airline staff and other services he may have used in that time also.

I don’t know how serious I am about this. A part of me is taking the piss but more of me is genuinely annoyed. If the neighbour you don’t like is putting up instagram stories from all over Ireland, then England with multiple different people and then tweeting about being home, you would judge them heavily. Why is Paul Mescal getting a free pass?