Opinion

AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON You know those warnings about how much longer it takes to stop on a wet road? Right: it takes double the time to pull up, never mind turn round. The Government sometimes suffers seriously from wet road syndrome, they can’t stop until it’s too late to avoid a crash. …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS One of my abiding memories of my early school days is my father picking me up outside the school gates, on his bicycle — my mother having put an old cushion on the crossbar to make my journey across the city more comfortable. We were heading right across …

BY EOIN EVERARD With just one or two sessions per week, you can live a longer, more fulfilling life thanks to strength or Pilates training. In order to live longer, healthier lives free from illness and damage, people are always looking for ways to slow down the aging process. According to experts, strength training is …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Last week we looked at Master Trusts in general. This week we look in more detail through some of the questions we have received. What is a Master Trust? A Master Trust is a defined contribution company pension scheme set up under trust. It differs from traditional Defined Contribution pension …

AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON Some of the proposals to solve the housing crisis have been weird and far from wonderful. Like the one where oldies like me would be required to shuffle off into apartments and vacate their hard-won forever homes to make room for others. No chance in my case, as there’s …

BY CLAIR WHITTY Fibromyalgia is condition that I often get asked about. It can be difficult to get diagnosed as you can have a number of symptoms all going on at the same time. The most common symptoms are pain and extreme tiredness. You can feel pain in your neck, back, shoulders, back of head, …

BY NED EGAN Aye, this was the time of year that Jack Phelan loved. The long early morning walk, down past the rushing roaring Clonassy Waterfall, the mists on the familiar fields, the whirl and dash of fallen leaves, drifting and scudding along on their way to oblivion. The odd startled rabbit, fox, or hare, …

There was a time when you couldn’t walk through the neighbourhood without almost being knocked flat off your feet by children on bikes, trikes and scooters, or young lassies playing beds, kick-the-can or follow-the-leader, or swinging from the nearest lamp-post, or the boys as the sheriff and his deputies galloping off into the next estate …

This week, The Kilkenny Observer welcomes Kilkenny student Keela Ayres as she presents a short story for our readers. As a newspaper, we attempt to cover as much news as possible on various topics. The inclusion of a young writer, such as Keela, with aspirations in that field, is something we are happy to promote. …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Have you what is called or are in the process of setting up  a ‘one-man pension scheme’? A OMS is an executive pension plan with only one or two persons in the scheme.  The OMS is different from a PRSA or a personal pension as it is set up in …