Opinion
When women are no longer defined by motherhood
THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Here’s a couple of salient facts: for the first time in the history of humankind, globally, fertility is at its lowest, and there are arguments about how this will impact on climate change. Secondly, for the first time in history, half the women in Ireland, England and Wales …
Pensions: understanding what drives markets
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR According to the March Pension Fund Statistics (Q4 -2021) report published by the Central Bank total assets in the sector grew by 4% over Q4-2021 to stand at €135.5 billion. This is due to increases in pension fund reserves (€2.8 billion) and investment fund shares (€1.9 billion). Irish pension funds …
Balance blood sugar naturally
BY CLAIR WHITTY Let’s talk about balancing blood sugar levels and ways to curb sugar cravings for a healthier you. Long term problems associated with blood sugar imbalance can result in problems like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, chronic inflammation, hormone imbalance, and increased risk of cognitive problems. Prediabetes is a health condition where blood sugar …
Saving friendships from the aftermath of Covid
BY ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST Two years of limited socialising, or none at all, left scars. We’re out of practice in the art of being around others. Navigating inevitable bumps in the roads of friendships isn’t secondary nature anymore. Psychologists say that two years apart from our friends created new tensions. We’re quicker to overreact to …
Be creative… find your everyday nugget
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON The thing about working as a journalist is that you spend lots of time trying to have bright ideas about things to write about. Some of the ideas may not be so bright and are likely to be shot down by critical editors with remarks like: “People don’t want …
When I’d ball my eyes out for poor Jesus
THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS In the Catholic upbringing of my youth, there was no more an austere day than Good Friday. Curtains were drawn – as respect for the death of Christ – we kids were not allowed play football out on the road – indeed, play at all – and the …
The changing Irish attitudes to our health
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR In March 2022 Webdoctor.ie, Ireland’s leading online GP service, compiled the National Health Watch Report in which they surveyed more than 1,600 people across Ireland. The report covered various areas of health, including physical health, diet and nutrition, smoking and alcohol consumption, and mental health. According to the report six …
Healing with dandelions and nettles
BY CLAIR WHITTY Dandelions, are they weeds or herbal healers? According to ancient folklore dandelion is helpful as a bitter tonic, a laxative, and was valued for liver, gallbladder, and urinary problems. It was traditionally used to treat warts by applying the milk from the stem a couple of times a day. Today it’s used …
Good luck? Bad luck? Who can say?
BY ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST We all experience bad luck. Events do, however, also take favourable turns for us. A problem many people have is the enjoyment of these occasions is fleeting, whereas the pain of being “unlucky” endures. This encourages negative thinking. There was once an old man in China. Well, the fact that he …
In defence of women… and that Oscar slap
AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON Sometimes where to draw the line when it comes to gender can be quite confusing. Take two recent issues. How do you respond to the question, “Can a woman have a penis?” which was put to the UK labour leader Sir Kier Starmer recently. And who do you think …
