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There came a lull the other night while Storm Boelo was raging when I had occasion to look out at the night sky and it suddenly dawned on me that Newport is the centre of the universe. The moon was full, well maybe not, but it seemed so, to me. With the naked eye I could see, and my eye sight is not that great anymore (one very gammy one!) the man in the moon who appeared to be looking down, very specifically, on me. I could swear that he was in awe of what he was witnessing down here on earth. I can’t say that he winked at me, perhaps it was a wisp of cloud that created the suggestion of a wink but, in any event, he was clearly conscious of my presence.

Met Éireann has a lot to answer for. It spends hours on end with graphs and charts and the wonderful Nuala Carey and Linda Hughes and Gerry Murphy, not to mention Michelle Dillon and Siobhan Ryan (come back Joanna Donnelly, all is forgiven) painting the country yellow and orange and warning of land saturation and falling trees and stay at home warnings and dire consequences for the Dublin marathoners.

Our weather forecasters do a wonderful job in alerting people to the possible uncertain consequences of storm and rain and power outages and accidents and they get nothing but grief from the country’s critics that they never get the forecasts right, well not correct in our (whoever our is?) area, as if Storm Boelo cares about any specific concerns certain “important” people feel they have an exclusive right to know. For God’s sake, it is simply nature in action, in the same way that it has been in action ever since God hung the moon in the sky for our delectation.

Here, at the centre of the universe, we have endured storms and hurricanes and all sorts of weather phenomenon except the tsunami (well not that I’m aware of, but who knows what might have happened in a past pre-historic iteration of our insignificant little world) and we have survived reasonably well intact and have, to a large degree, retained our sanity and sense of proportion.

Perhaps it had to do with the Dark Skies Festival which extends over a magical couple of nights across Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy and the stellar (no pun) programme of guests lined up to entertain the wonderful people who travel to the centre of the universe to take delight in the simple pleasure of gazing up and taking note of what nature presents to them. They bring weather gear with them and come prepared for whatever nature might throw at them. They don’t complain. They tog out and walk the walk.

When I was in my prime, in the early days of Newport Astronomy and Mayo Dark Skies, I even led some of the walks from universe central to Burrishoole Abbey where, in the ancient past, the abbots, fed up with studying scripture, took to the skies (figuratively) and studied the far more interesting stars. The wary bring torches on the night walk with them, the unwary simply rely on the dark to provide the light. It is something of a phenomenon to me that the eyes adjust to the darkness and see their way.

As often as not clouds obscured the view of the skies from the Abbey and no amount of beseeching the abbots to work their good graces with God would get the clouds to move on but, as sure as God made small apples, on the return journey to universe central, around the Cahergal area, the disappointed stargazers would see the clouds move and the Milky Way, in all its splendour, would stop them in their tracks and hold them spellbound.

Andromeda would appear, trying to muscle in on the glory-seeking Milky Way. To the night walkers, I was the guide with the Midas touch. I had brought them to Nirvana. I might have explained, but, glorying in the adulation, I didn’t bother. It had nothing to do with me and all to do with dark skies. In most of the so-called civilised world we have, because of light pollution, destroyed the beauty of the firmament. We have been fortunate here in Mayo.

Despite my current conviction that, here, we are central to all that matters, I have to admit that I am a recent convert to the theory that, if we wish to be at peace with ourselves, all we have to do is look up and savour the good things in life. Being at the centre of the universe is easy but, somewhat paradoxically, it is also incredibly complicated. That is, if you want answers. If you want Life explained. If you want Time explained. If you want to understand everything. If you can’t simply accept that nature is everything and has all the answers.

Boelo is not trying to tell us anything. He does not really care. He is not trying to do us harm. He is simply doing his thing and he is at it again now as I write, pouring down another bunch of acid laden raindrops to further saturate the land and irritate those who have yet to come to terms with nature.

During the aforementioned lull, I was fortunate to see the North Star, hanging there to the left of the Moon, winking at me with a pale blue eye. The Moon, when full and at its brightest, does not like to share the limelight, but Polaris is never reluctant to intrude.

These are little things that I would never have seen, never mind have any knowledge of, were it not for Derek and Fiona who introduced the wonders of the sky to Newport Astronomy Club, Ged and Georgia, Peter and Amy and Brian (Wilson, the Belmullet night sky photographer) and a host of other fascinating astronomy buffs who have entertained and astounded amateurs such as myself with the delights that Mayo’s dark skies has to offer, free of charge, to anybody who cares to look up and stare and wonder.

Had the full moon arrived a week earlier this column might have been written last week and could have been a plug for the Mayo Dark Skies Festival which runs in Ballycroy, Mulranny and Newport over the (past) weekend. As you read this, all I can do is apologise for the full moon’s tardiness. The Dark Skies Festival has passed and, unless you were there, you have missed out on one of the most special occasions of your life.

Dark Skies, for most people, is a somewhat nebulous concept, but it is also very simple. Electricity is a wonderful boon to mankind but it is also a disrupter. Used sparingly and with proper downlighting controls, it can serve mankind. We don’t need to light up everything. The Wild Nephin National Park and the Visitor Centre in Ballycroy has no need of being lit up. It is magnificent in the darkness and generously assists us in our appreciation of what is going on above us. The Milky Way has never looked better than it does right now.

Newport Astronomy Club and Mayo Dark Skies have opened eyes (well mine at any rate) to the simple things in life. The Dark Skies programme of events is a smorgasbord. There is, or rather was, as you are now reading this after the event, something for everyone. There was a somewhat unaccommodating weather system, there was a grand opening with Eoin Warner in Ballycroy and enchanting dark sky walks as well as some history on Blacksod Lighthouse and the West Mayo Flying Column, stargazing sessions at Burrishoole and The Bothy, the impact of light pollution on wildlife with Darragh Ennis (you know, the Dub on The Chase, who is a bit of a genius), Ella MacSweeney, the lives of the whales, dolphins and porpoises with Richard Sabin, our own Derek Dempsey with the story of Pluto (the little planet, not the dog), and many others with fascinating insights.

And, of course, there were planetarium shows, treasure hunts, seashore safaris, careers in wildlife with Kate McAney, corncrake vocal patterns with Andrea Parisi, John Zarnecki, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burness, the inevitable Gala Ball, the Lantern Walk and the Concert Finale in St Patrick’s Church with Jack Lukeman and his mystic blend of rock, folk, blues and cabaret.

I’m sorry to be late, but you’ve missed a great week end with nature and the skies in Universe Central.