This very day a year ago I got a phone call from the BBC in Belfast asking if I would take part in a discussion programme on Radio Ulster later in the week.

On the Sunday, the show’s host Dearbhail McDonald, a couple of other panel members and I dissected current events.

Two of the stories included the passing of SDLP giant Seamus Mallon and the restoration of Stormont following a so-called new deal.

Every January is different in one sense, but in another the beginning of 2020 was much like any other. One of the stories we briefly touched on at the end was from the other side of the world, people being affected by a new virus in a place called Wuhan in China.

I marvelled at the apocalyptic scenes of deserted streets in a far-off land and the few people who ventured out wearing masks, and almost bemused said, “let’s hope it doesn’t come here".

“Let’s hope so,” said Dearbhail and we moved on to the next topic.

Now look at us. We’re being told by the authorities to stay at home, children can’t go to school, many people can’t go to work, only food and other essential shops are open and our hospitals are overrun.

We live under Draconian measures, the like of which we would never have imagined. These are strange times, incredibly tough times and we wonder when we will return to normal, or even to what is being glibly called the “new normal".

As much as I hate that expression, the hope is that the future will see us recalibrate our values.

Early in the roller coaster of 2020, we were persuaded that we were all in it together, and indeed there have been many engaged in selfless acts in helping others to cope physically and mentally. But sadly, as the song says, there’s good and bad in everyone; and the problem with our human nature is that there’s also a lot of selfishness in us, and there are those whose stubbornly believe we know better than anyone and have a sense of entitlement that we won’t be told what to do. Furthermore, we engage in confirmation bias and just listen to the views of people who hold similar opinions, thereby backing up our view of the world.

The arrival of a vaccine against Covid was the best news we’ve had for a long time.

Sometimes I wish scientists could also find a substance that would provide immunity against our thran selfishness, and inject some empathy for others into us.

Like many hospitals across Northern Ireland, our own SWAH is under serious pressure and last week had to issue a public appeal to off-duty staff to come in as they were in danger of being overwhelmed.

One of the consultants there Dr. Susan Connolly took to social media to explain how she stopped at a shop, completely exhausted from her time working at the hospital, to see people without masks and failing to observe rules. It was, she said, soul destroying.

“Every one of us has a personal responsibility to behave,” she wrote.

That’s at the heart of this crisis, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, we live in a world of self. To the point of cruelty at times. In the wider world, even in the last week or so we have seen several examples of how attitudes can hurt and destroy lives. Personally, I watched in horror at the RTE documentary on Monday evening about the homelessness problem in Dublin, and wondered how we can live in a world which creates such misery for people.

I read, too, the reporting around the mother and baby homes scandal, and found it disturbing in the extreme to think that people in a church supposedly based on love and mercy could run a system which treated young unmarried mothers with such barbarity; 9,000 children died, many more forcibly adopted and the lives of their mothers ruined by callous and degrading treatment. And don’t forget the report dealt with cases right up to 1998.

In another issue last week, the Belfast Multi-Cultural Association’s base was attacked and badly damaged by fire.

Patrick Corrigan, of Amnesty International NI, set up a justgiving page to help the Association, which he points out carries out valuable work across the community, running a food bank and distributing food parcels to the needy, homeless and vulnerable. Patrick set a target of £10,000 for donations to get them up and running again, but the last time I checked kind people wishing to “say no to racism” had contributed £66,000.

It’s heartening to see people dipping into their pockets, even as other vested interests make vast profits out of Covid and there are attempts to limit Universal Credit.

In a world where racism, a lack of empathy for the homeless, the increasing reliance on foodbanks and many other issues are rightly highlighted, the leadership of people like Patrick Corrigan and Susan Connolly remind us that there are still plenty of good and decent people around and we should win out over those who don’t care about anyone else.

As regards the Covid crisis, people are entitled to ask questions about how the situation has been handled.

I don’t think it’s cognitive dissonance to say that my opinion is that over the past 12 months we have been poorly led by experts and politicians, whose lack of strategy and vision – not to mention communication with the public -- has been damning. It’s got us to the point of a lockdown which is creating serious problems for now and for the future.

But on the other hand, I have to say there is probably no alternative for now. We are where we are, and anybody who doesn’t stick to the rules while people die and the hospitals are overwhelmed needs to wise up.

The big hope for us is the vaccine, and we know that soon this situation will pass.

The month of January is supposedly called after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, and of transition. Its figure is depicted as having two faces, one reflecting on the past and one looking to the future.

We surely hope that as we look back on years of past failings and in particular the horrible events of 2020 that we will learn from the wrongs, and in particular that the new normal must mean more kindness, more tolerance, more thought of others and generally a better way of doing things.

The good guys must win, but we have to make it happen.