Opinion
Gowran pitch and putt
BY MICHAEL O’LEARY Gowran Pitch and Putt Club have enjoyed plenty of success since establishing as a Pitch and Putt Club over 50 years ago at Regional, Provincial and National level, and as it’s a sport that anyone of any age can play, it’s a perfect way of meeting new people and getting involved with …
Heroes of the Land War
BY JOHN FITZGERALD Part 2 Continuing the story of the two Callan-based curates who championed the rights of tenants in an era of oppression and widespread cruel evictions. The previous instalment can be read on the Kilkenny Observer website). At a meeting organised in Callan Father O’Keeffe made a passionate address to the tenant farmers …
The Ps & Qs of those airport queues!
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran Purgatory is a place on earth. And it’s called an airport. There is no heaven on earth, this we know; we do know, however, that there is hell on earth. Look no further than Gaza. Indeed you may be going through your own personal hell at the moment in which case …
A.Vogel celebrates 100 years
BY CLAIR WHITTY A.Vogel recently celebrated 100 years since Alfred Vogel opened his first health food store. I was invited to the celebrations. I have to say, it was a lovely day of training, meeting like-minded people, and learning more about Alfred’s life and where it all began. Alfred Vogel, who was born in Switzerland, …
Keeping your home safe from burglary
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Our homes are our sanctuaries, where we should feel safe and secure. As we approach another winter season, it’s crucial to ensure our homes are not only warm and cozy but also well-protected. Unfortunately, data published in the past decade by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals a concerning statistic …
Gaza: when will the blood bath stop?
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON Our hearts go out to Emily Hand taken hostage by Hamas in the brutal October 7 attack, and her family as they wait for news of the eight-year-old Irish citizen initially assumed dead. Our thoughts go too to the more than 4,000 children in Gaza killed by Israeli bombing …
We’re here! New age of cool grandparents
THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS The other day I overheard my grandchild Faye ask her mother: “Mama, why is butter yellow?” It seems like only yesterday that my daughter was her daughter’s age – three in January – but I cannot for the life of me remember her asking such an out-of-the-blue …
Irish government must articulate the urgent demand for full and immediate ceasefire in the Middle East
KATHLEEN FUNCHION Sinn Fein TD for Kilkenny Carlow Sinn Féin TD for Carlow Kilkenny Kathleen Funchion has said that the outcome of last month’s European Council meeting on the conflict in the Middle East represents a failure of EU leadership. She has called on the Irish government to articulate the urgent demand for full and …
Wrong direction and rice cake coincidence!
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran A coincidence, according to my Oxford Concise dictionary, is “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection”. Touché. Couldn’t have put it better myself. And let’s cut to the chase here and to my recent coincidence which was anything but remarkable but a coincidence nonetheless. Yet, when I …
Health service suffers overdose of bureaucrats
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON To say that there were ruffled feathers at Budget time over the Department of Health’s whopping over -spend of a billion plus is putting it mildly. The situation, as other ministers feared that they would get less of the Budget cake due to the HSE’s insatiable appetite for funds, …
