Within the Spokesman’s Service, I became Head of Project for the launching of the RAPID database of Commission press releases. At the time, I did not realise how fortunate I was to be involved in that project and how significant it would be in the Commission’s advance into the information society.

Nor did I realise, as I accepted invitations to speak on the European political scene to visiting groups at the Irish Institute of European Affairs in Leuven, that 1986 would be the peak year in which I was the Institute’s most frequent lecturer.

1986, otherwise, was one of those years when there seemed to be a great deal of action with relatively little drama.

Avenue du Monoplan was hit by a lot of noise and dust in the house as Avenue Orban, which ran along our frontage, was completely rebuilt to lay a new service road between the hedge and the tramline and to re-lay the tramlines in a way that would allow the experimental planting of grass between the rails and on either side of them. When the work was completed it proved in fact to be a major improvement in terms of appearance and amenity.

It was a year in which the family seemed to spend a lot of time in transit, in particular visiting Dublin to prepare for the move which would bring Florence to Glastonbury to live in the newly-built house we had bought for her on a small estate just five minutes by foot from John’s house.

Then we were in Glastonbury to celebrate her 80th birthday in June. Later in the year we were on the move again for holidays and to reorganise Justin from school to university.

On one of these trips we spent a few days in Glasgow, primarily to see the Burrell collection, and then decided we should try to look in on the Edinburgh International Festival. To our surprise we found convenient hotel rooms and all took immediately to the spirit of the Festival, its Fringe and Film Festivals. Each of us – Justin and Patricia were with us – saw that at almost any time of the day or night there would be something of interest.

I became a Friend of the Festival and we began to think of Edinburgh as a potential venue for family holidays or regular visits in the years ahead.

Read more: 1987 – An Irish Art Exhibition in Brussels