Opinion
Heart of darkness throws light on our well-being
THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS Diarist Anne Frank wrote: “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” And she knew about darkness in her short tragic life. We are amidst the darkness in these short, dank days and never-ending nights where many a candle is lit and …
Midnight Bells and Moonlight Blessings
THE KILKENNY OBSERVER CHRISTMAS SHORT STORY SERIES Celebrating writers in our community ’23 The Kilkenny Observer Newspaper is delighted to present our ‘2023 Christmas short story series’. We have invited four writers from Kilkenny to submit a short story over the coming weeks, which we hope you will enjoy. This week we welcome Joseph Kearney …
Time to deal with the menace of right wing extremists
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON The rhetoric about right-wingers here is dismissive. They don’t represent us, we are told, they are motivated by hate, unlike other countries they will never have enough support to have political clout. They seem to merit no more attention that an annoying cloud of gnats. But the riots in …
A brief history of theatre in Kilkenny
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran Outside of Dublin, Kilkenny possesses the greatest collection of medieval documents and records in Ireland. One of those documents refers to a dramatic presentation at The Market Cross in Kilkenny’s High St in 1553 when a play entitled ‘God’s Promises’ was performed. The play, written by John Bale, the Church of …
Keeping your festive spending in check
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR We all love a present, especially at Christmas, but New Year debt and financial worries we can do without. Sometime we lose the run of ourselves at Christmas and end up with unwanted bills to accompany the chills of January. It can take some households seven months to repay Christmas …
Government must do more to protect women and girls from gender based violence
KATHLEEN FUNCHION Sinn Fein TD for Kilkenny Carlow Sinn Féin spokesperson on children, Kathleen Funchion TD, has called on the government to do more to meet the needs of victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence. Today marks the start of the International 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, an annual event …
The perfect gifts
BY CLAIR WHITTY It’s that time of year again, doesn’t it come around so fast? Are you keeping an eye out for stocking fillers or interesting gifts to share with a loved one, a friend or secret santa? Here are some gift ideas. Essential Oils, incense sticks, and oil burners, body and facecare gift sets …
Wanted: an RTÉ to be proud of in future
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON After months of rows over undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy and inquisitions of RTÉ executives by the Dail Media Committee, which probably broke viewership records, a plan to save our cash-strapped public service broadcaster emerged last week. But what is public service broadcasting and why do we need it, …
Group celebrates 600th “Heritage Walk” with another blast from the past…
BY JOHN FITZGERALD The Kilkenny Heritage Walkers marked their 600th outing last Saturday. The big occasion coincided with a tour of the site of the former city jail from which IRA volunteers staged a daring breakout in 1921. Mayor Joe Malone addressed the walkers in the lush surrounds of Castle Garden before the dedicated men …
Abraham Lincoln & JFK: uncanny coincidences!
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran Last week The Kilkenny Observer made for interesting reading regarding the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, on November 22, 1963. I found the article: ‘25 facts about that fatal day in Dallas’ quite engaging. I think it’s fair to say that people my age …
