Opinion
Why it’s time to reinstate real Christmas
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON A lot of Christmas is about memories and tradition. We were busy making a Christmas cake in a cookery class where I volunteered as a helper last week. “Were you ever told not to slam doors when the cake was in the oven?” I asked “Oh yeah, you’d be …
Irish gifts for Christmas
BY CLAIR WHITTY Christmas is coming and most of you will be looking for gift ideas. I recently wrote about buying practical gifts, shopping local and buying online from Irish websites. But, what about going one step further and buying Irish brands. I think you’d be surprised how much you’ll find. By shopping local, buying …
‘What’s the craic?’ she’d say, with that beautiful smile
THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Back in the Eighties there was hardly a red-blooded Irish male who was not in love with the wonderful Sally O’Brien and “the way she might look at you” from across the crowded local pub come Christmas week and everyone having the craic as only we Irish know …
Snow Goose!
BY NED EGAN In Irish legend Leprechauns bury pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, but since a rainbow can only be seen at a distance, the gold is forever illusive – and elusive. In Greek and Roman mythology, Iris – the Goddess of the Rainbow – was one of the messengers of …
Calling time on a great tradition…
By John Fitzgerald The Beer Festival dancer whose performance I described last week told admirers that he only did his Cossack act when he had passed a certain threshold in the course of a given night’s drinking. His exact words, rightly deemed inapt for publication in a local newspaper, were “I dance like f…when I’m …
World Cup blues… and how to be charming
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran I am in Wales visiting family. I am in Wales on Friday, November 25 in my son’s sitting-room watching the World Cup, Wales versus Iran with my grandson and granddaughter, ages three months and three years respectively, along with my daughter-in-law, a tad older! I am waving a Welsh flag. I’m …
So, just how fair is our tax system?
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR The most recent tax statistics for the year 2021 have been released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). According to the report COVID-19 restrictions impacted some tax revenues in 2020 but in 2021 we see a return to more normal tax receipts. A total of €93 billion in tax was collected …
Feel confident in your skin with Trilogy clean natural beauty
BY CLAIR WHITTY I think most of you know that I love Trilogy skin care products, they work for my skin and I keep going back to them. Every year Trilogy bring out some lovely gift sets for Christmas and they are always fantastic value. This year is no different, they have several limited-edition gift …
Sinn Fein: why it’s time for second thoughts
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON Sinn Fein are the most popular party with the prize of forming part of the next Government. However, last weekend a poll revealed that the party’s support had dropped four percentage points. Could it be that voters are having second thoughts? The drop coincides with the playing of taped …
There will be light at the end of this tunnel
THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Okay, so the bad news is that the EU is about to enter recession as growth forecasts for 2023 are slashed due to prolonged inflation and the war in Ukraine. The EU Commission’s Autumn Economic Forecast projects GDP to fall this quarter with the contraction to continue in …
