Stephen Bolton on a Newstalk breakfast highlight – 13th September 2021

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Host:Now the Irish Naturist Association has reported a 68% rise in membership over the past 2 summers. Is Ireland facing a nudist awakening? Stephen Bolton, a spokesperson for the Naturist Association joins us now. Stephen, are we, what’s behind this rise, the huge rise in membership, do you think?

Stephen: Good morning. And I, well, I think there’s a number of factors why anything will increase this, this largely over the past 18 months. And I think it’s due to, you know, people being, you know, working from home for the past like I said, it’s 18 months now this week we’ve been on lockdown. So there’s, people have gone from wearing their, you know, formal wear to work to wearing their favorite tracksuit bottoms or leggings for the past

Host: To letting it all hang out?

Stephen: To wearing nothing on a nice warm day. Yeah. And I think it’s maybe the deprivation, the sensory deprivation that we’ve been dealing with as well. You know, if you’re sitting in front of your computer screen and if you’re lucky enough to have a spare room to then move into this living room to, you know, watch your TV in the evenings, you know, you’re not getting out. You’re not enjoying the getting out and enjoying the air, not feeling the earth, not feeling the nature around you. So maybe that’s why people are just moving towards it just a little bit.

Host: I mean, when I think of people going around with no clothes, I kinda think of Germany. Because you see it a lot in Germany. It’s just you get the bus through that park in Berlin and, like, you look around and Yeah. Half the people around you are naked. It’s not something we, in Ireland, are particularly comfortable. I’ll put, lay my cards on the table. I’m not mad about the idea of walking around in the nude, I have to say, even in my own house. So…

Stephen: Yeah. No. No. No. That’s …

Host: What is it? What’s the appeal, do you think?

Stephen: It’s a comfort thing for a lot of people. It’s not having tan lines as well, is a thing. And like I said, it’s reconnecting with nature. Feeling the breeze on your skin is a beautiful feeling.

Host: Okay. And if you are going for a swim, you know, in the in the sea or in a lake or whatever like that, your togs will hold water for half an hour and your skin doesn’t.

Host: Okay.

Stephen: It’s a comfort thing.

Host: And do you think this increase is going to increase? Is it sustainable?

Stephen: Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely. Like you said, you were in Germany. You might see these kind of things. We’ve all been on staycations for the past year and a half as well. This has, people have become more aware of their local beaches, their local, you know, woods, somewhere they can go to and just Okay. You know, hang out. Yeah.

Host: Alright. Okay. Alright. Well, listen, and thanks, indeed, for talking to us. Stephen Bolton, their spokesperson for the Irish Naturist Association.