Opinion
When positive action is controlling the controllable
BY ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST LIVING costs are rising fast and predictions are they will worsen over coming months. This is, at least for the individual, uncontrollable. You can choose to worry about it but sadly any fretting is likely to be futile. That doesn’t mean just getting on with things is the best course to …
Time to spring clean your financial affairs
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR IT is springtime once again. The days are longer, the sun is shining into every nook and cranny showing up the cobwebbed corners of the house. Hence, the spring clean, the deep scrub. While you are putting some elbow grease into sprucing up your home ,why not spend some time …
Ukraine: the peaceful weapon of women’s power
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON I am literally climbing the walls. My beloved has Covid and as a close contact I am isolating. I can’t find my usual solace in the radio or the papers; I find the reports on Putin’s genocidal war on Ukraine unbearable. I feel shame and despair at that as …
Let’s celebrate Mother’s day
BY CLAIR WHITTY Mother’s Day 2022. It’s difficult to believe that after two years we can finally meet up for Mother’s Day and maybe go for coffee or lunch, and hug each other properly to celebrate the occasion. This year I have fantastic news, my daughter is now a mother too, she had her first …
The indelible human spirit that defines Ukrainians
THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS In half a century plying my trade in journalism, I have found myself on three occasions smack bang in the middle of what are euphemistically termed ‘conflict zones’. In short, war of one kind or another. For three years in the late ‘70s I covered the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe ‘bush …
Energy retrofitting grand if you can afford it
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON Look before you leap should be the watchword before getting caught up in the toils of carbon reduction on the home front. With our homes accounting for a quarter of carbon emissions from energy consumption and continuing to rise, we all want to do what we can to help …
Juices for good health
BY CLAIR WHITTY Organic freshly pressed juices are a fantastic way to support your diet and improve your health. Making the juices yourself is the ideal way to go. But, if like me, you don’t have a juicer or you know that you just won’t do it, then freshly pressed organic juices like Biona are …
Why we must support local business
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Ireland is a favourite destination among expats, according to the website www.internationalcitizens.com. It’s a friendly country with an excellent educational system and a high standard of living. But they warn, if you are considering moving to Ireland to live, the cost of living should be a primary consideration. We recognise …
Much to learn from the more experienced
BY ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST CULTURAL differences are plentiful between West and East. Some things are better here, others there and a myriad of nuances exist which are neither superior nor inferior but which fit in with the ambiance of their surroundings. The world is beautiful because it’s different. However, this doesn’t mean we can’t learn …
Time again to give up your auld sins
THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Brought up in that austere Catholic Ireland of the ‘50s and ‘60s, the 40 days of Lent was my penance enough to the world but, even in my annual endeavour to “give up sweets”, I always allowed myself a break on Sundays from my sacrifice and would gorge …
