One journalist says a special tribute should be paid to Ireland's youngest in recognition of their sacrifices during the pandemic.
Barbara Scully says children have probably lost more than most in terms of growth and experiences.
She told The Hard Shoulder we should start planning now.
"I think that we now need, I think Government need to start planning something really impressive and special to thank and to appreciate what our youngest and our most precious citizens have been through in this last two years.
"And I think that's more important than this bank holiday thing.
"I'm talking about primary school children, who have had a horse and cart driven through their lives in the last two years."
She says children have missed out on things that they can't get back.
"I do believe that children are resilient in the main, but obviously not all children are resilient, and some children will find it more difficult to deal with this than others.
"But I think all children have missed out on so much, and we can't restore that to them - we can't give that back to them."
'Two years is half your life'
She says as well as missing school in the very beginning, they then had to "put up" with being home-schooled by stressed parents.
"There's kids who should have started swimming lessons two years ago, and... we're just getting back to that now.
"They've lost communions, parties, confirmations... and whereas we can't give any of that back to them, I do think there hasn't been enough recognition and talk about how we need to be very clear in saying to them 'We appreciate the sacrifices that they have made'.
"Two years for me - I'm ancient - is really nothing; but two years, if you're four, is half your life."
Barbara says this could be a free, national festival open to all.
"I would love to see a whole weekend - Mardi Gras, fiesta, festival - purely just for our children.
"It should be nationwide and it should be completely free - it should be absolutely free of any corporate spewing sponsorship.
"I would like to see street parties, I'd like to see parades, I'd like to see carnivals."
And she says this should be inclusive for all children: "Children in Direct Provision, Traveller children, children with special needs, children with disabilities - everybody and include everybody.
"I don't think there has been a recognition from Government of the sacrifices that these kids have made.
"It's kind of just been expected that they'll row along in, and they have".
She says children are special, as the measures were mostly to protect other people.
"In this instance, the curtailment and the sacrifices they've made haven't been necessarily to keep them safe.
"It's been to keep vulnerable people safe and to protect a broken health service."
