Fermanagh country musician Mairaid McMahon has recently released a new song to inspire hope during this time of crisis.

Written and recorded by Mairaid during lockdown, her song ‘When This Is Over’ has had a very positive response online.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Mairaid shared the inspiration behind her song: “I wrote ‘When This Is Over’ a few weeks ago, and it was partly to try to cheer myself up and focus on the positive things that might be different when this is all over.”

She continued: “My husband and I had been chatting about how we want to take life more slowly and appreciate how lucky we are, and I kept saying the words ‘when this is over I want to do this or that’ so I just wrote them down and it all came together quite quickly. I got in touch with Wayne Thorose of Ballyrose Media and Recording Studio in Roscommon, and he was so good to work with and has been really supportive and encouraging throughout this.”

“We emailed back and forward, shared tracks and before I knew it the video, filmed in our front room, was ready,” she added.

Having been writing country music from the age of 10, Mairaid explained that she rarely performs for anyone other than her immediate family. “My family have been encouraging me for years to get my music ‘out there’ but I’ve never had the confidence before to sing them in public. I’ve tried pitching them to different artists over the years, but it’s a tough industry and can be hard to get a ‘break’ - especially when this is just a hobby for me,” said Mairaid, adding: “Working full time and having a small person (my two year old daughter) to look after can be quite demanding too! In recent years you’d be more likely to have heard me playing at mass in St. Mary’s in Lisbellaw than singing my own stuff, as I never really had the confidence.”

But something made Mairaid reconsider when she saw other artists sharing their music on social media during lockdown: “When I saw that Wayne was offering to do online collaborations, I thought it was worth a try.”

Commenting that she is “overwhelmed” by the response to the song on social media, Mairaid said: “It’s been incredible to have received that kind of response to a little song I wrote, but if the words give someone a little bit of encouragement and hope for the future, then I’ve done something right. I’ve had messages from people as far away as America telling me how much they’ve enjoyed it, which is incredible to me!”

“I find writing, playing and listening to music really therapeutic; a good song can take your mind off anything you might be going through and make you feel totally different for a few minutes. That’s my real wish for this song: that it gives people a few minutes of hope that things will be better when this is over,” Mairaid told this newspaper.