That idea is as inevitable as it is welcome. Already Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey has told his employees that from now on, working from home will be standard practice for anyone who doesn’t have to sit in a communal office.

Measures to contain the pandemic have accelerated this evolution. The idea has gathered enough momentum, enough social heft to win that accolade of the zeitgeist — a three-letter acronym, WFH. Indeed the idea has so many positives, human and environmental, that it is important it is delivered in the best possible way. It cannot fail like that other revolutionary idea — decentralisation.

That idea might have had a far greater impact if the groundwork around it been more realistic, if the devil in the detail had been considered. Ironically, in time and if this is done properly, WFH could become the ultimate decentralisation.

To deliver that theory several practicalities have to be settled in sustainable, mutually-beneficial ways. All WFH ambitions depend on broadband. All Irish broadband services are in private hands and as our housing crisis, and more recently, our nursing home crisis, sadly show social need and profit are not always comfortable bedfellows. This, in time, may be the toughest nut to crack as the growth in WFH strengthens providers’ leverage.

Other issues, maybe more relevant in the private than the public sector, arise. If a person’s career moves into their home where does home life, family time begin? When does work end? An answer, in theory at least, can be offered but how might a badgered, isolated, and insecure individual make it real? Workers protections can be too easily cast aside when they are alone and captive behind their own front doors.

Will WFH workers be expected to provide office space and a broadband link? Working from the kitchen table may be an admirable response to the pandemic but it is not a long-term solution. How does childcare, or the care of an older relative, fit into the WFH equation? What will replace the comradery of a buzzing workplace?

These are, in the grand scheme of WFH, details that can be resolved if everyone in the circle shares the benefits. In time this will be seen as a thing of nothing but today a move towards WFH has the capacity to deliver positive, enriching change on many levels.

If done properly it can play a hugely significant post-pandemic role in rebuilding our economy while reducing pollution and enhancing family life. It would be foolish not to do all we can to make the theory real.