BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR As part of its ongoing work to supervise the withdrawal of Ulster Bank and KBC Bank from the Irish market, the Central Bank recently published a report showing the trends in account closures and openings. The data shows a total of 292,996 accounts have been closed by customers in Ulster …

AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON How can someone get suspended from their job just because of a four- letter word? No, it wasn’t one of those words but the apparently inoffensive third person plural pronoun ‘they’. The matter didn’t end there but continued in a row which led to contempt of court proceedings and …

BY CLAIR WHITTY Constipation is a common condition that can affect children and adults. Being constipated means that you are not having regular bowel movements. This can cause bloating and discomfort, or it can cause piles from over straining. While constipation is not a serious medical condition, you’ll feel far more comfortable when things move …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Though our need to connect is innate, many of us frequently feel lonely. That sense of discomfort that results when one perceives a gap between the desire for social connection and the actual experiences of such. That’s how my psychologist friend from Magherafelt defines loneliness. Even some people …

Part 1 Old tales of the ‘Troubles’ were grist to the mill for Moriya Phelan, who lived up the road from my house in Baurscoobe, near Dunamaggin. {I never saw her name written down – but it was pronounced Morr-eye-agh.} When I was seven or eight, she was an old woman, would have been born …