Posts in category

Opinion


AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON THERE was a time when I wanted to be a farmer’s wife. I loved the warmth of a cow’s flank when milking, the smell of the hay barn and catching brown trout in the river on my uncle’s farm in Co Down. I cherished that rural dream for …

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THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Okay so, you are walking down the street. Suddenly, you fancy a bottle of diet whats-it. Immediately, next to you, a vending machine appears, filled with those diet what’s-its. You grab a bottle, slug away to your heart’s content, and continue on your way. Next, your other half …

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BY CLAIR WHITTY I think looking after our immune system is at the top of our list this year more than any other. Many of you, like me, will be trying to prevent common cold symptoms developing into respiratory problems. You won’t want to miss any days from work or your kids any days from …

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BY ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST PRIOR to the 2020s, choice was limited for people who chose not to drink alcohol when socialising. Normal everyday drinking options were plentiful enough. Tea, coffee in a wide variety of styles, tisanes, soft drinks, milk, juice or just good old plain water were enough for daily purposes. That changed completely …

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BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR WE didn’t have #Elfontheshelf back in my day, but Santa’s spy has been keeping kids in check for several years now. However, there are a million Elf on the Shelf toys apparently stuck in China due to global port congestion, prompting media scare stories about elf rationing (only two per …

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AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON A FRIEND who was making a speech at her 80th birthday celebrations suggested that maybe we should live our lives backwards. Think about it, she said, you would climb out of your coffin, gradually lose your aches and pains, get your job back, emerge from that mid-life crisis …

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THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS The scientific consensus goes that the holy grail for containing Covid – herd immunity – is achievable. Achievable if enough people get the vaccine – at least 70%, if not 90%, of the world’s population (the figures vary). Also, there is the matter of an annual booster, Covid …

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BY ANDREW MCDONALD HYPNOTHERAPIST COLD and flu season has started to make its unwanted presence familiar again. Last year, many of us were in lockdown for long periods and so may have avoided the usual sniffles. The average adult can expect to catch two to four colds annually whilst young children can get as many …

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I am glad to see that there’s lots of talk about the perimenopause and the various symptoms. We see lots of women at the shop who have questions, sometimes they think they are going crazy. We can offer advice but sometimes it’s good talk to a Nutritional Therapist one-to-one. Davina Dowling is a Nutritional Therapist …

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BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR AT the time of writing there are 52 days to Christmas. Many people are becoming anxious planning for the big day, especially as money has been stretched by the pandemic. The best advice to follow if you are worried about the cost of Christmas and cannot afford to buy gifts …

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