Sinead Burke Gets Happy: What Makes Me Feel Good

Sin?ad Burke (otherwise known as Minnie Melange) is a young Irish woman that we can’t get enough of. To get to know her even more, check out our feature on her over yonder. Here she fills in the blanks on our ‘what makes me feel good’ series, as part of our ‘Get Happy’ campaign, celebrating our fabulous IMAGE.ie redesign. How would you finish the sentences below?

Before bed I read whatever Roe McDermott, Sarah Griffin, Kitty Catastrophe, Louise O?Neill, Sin?ad Gleeson, Jeanne Sutton and Neasa Connolly have pointed me towards on Twitter throughout the day.

My family are my safe space. They mean everything to me.

The song that will always cheer me up is Heathers? ?Forget Me Knots?. I had the pleasure of speaking with Ellie and Louise for the inaugural ?Extraordinary Women? interview and without doubt, they are two of the most talented musicians, songwriters, singers and women that we have in this country.

?The song I can’t not dance to is the Scissor Sister’s ?Let’s Have A Kiki?. Erratic dancing always ensues. Dive. Turn. Werk.

My happy place is sitting around the dining room table where my brother and sisters are shouting over each other to inform us of their news, challenging each other’s opinions and laughing in a way that makes your ribcage hurt.

My perfect day would be spent surrounded by my closest friends and family, exploring some element of Dublin which I’ve been blinkered to prior to that moment.

The one thing I eat for a happy tummy is lots of sushi from Kokoro on South William Street. (As a side-note: I’d wholly recommend taking it to-go and sit outside on the new bench area in the midst of the Creative Quarter.)

All I want in life is to continuously attempt to meet the high expectations and objectives that I set for myself.

Life would be nothing without people who agree with you, who disagree with you, who challenge you, who make you think, who confide in you, who allow you to confide in them, who make you laugh, who listen to you, who trust you, who support you and overall, who allow you to be you.

To me, the definition of happiness is sitting across from someone who inspires and interests me and being fortunate to ask them questions about their aspirations, their challenges, what excites and angers them and what makes them think and tick.

My ultimate guilty pleasure is? There’s so much shame and embarrassment freely attributed to things in the world, without sounding overtly obnoxious, I’ve tried to stop feeling guilty about what I enjoy. Thus, the cheesiest song would be B*Witched’s ?C?est La Vie?, movie is ?Chalet Girl? and food would have to be a 3-in-1.

My cheer me up people are two of my best friends, James Seaver & Darren McMahon. They are simultaneously some of the most talented and hilarious people that I’ve ever met. We clicked straight away and they know just what to say to make a smile stretch the breadth of my face.

Life is too short to abstain from eating the slice of cake.

I wish I could tell my 16 year old self that knowing who you are and what you want to do or be are not questions that need to be answered in that moment. The most invigorating experiences are those when you embrace being you, are present and most importantly, don’t check your phone when it beeps!

When I’m old and grey I hope that I continue to be curious, I hope that feminism is a word and a reality that we embrace and that equality really is for all.

Follow Sinead on Twitter @MinnieMelange