Opinion

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS And so August has come around, and, being the month of my birthday, I am again reminded of how quickly life goes in — I mean where have the last 20 rears gone? What happened to yesterday? Oh, for those August days of my wild, abandoned youth, …

BY JOHN FITZGERALD (Part three) (Continuing the story of the doctors who attended to people in Callan and district in times past…parts one and two can be read on the Observer website) Dr. Patrick J. Phelan was grandson of the famous Callan historian Tom Shelly. He graduated from UCD and assumed his post at Callan …

AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON The Government’s Summer Economic Statement puts me in mind of a couple who have mismatched ideas about money. You know the kind, one half is the big spender, money no object character, and the other is a cautious watch-the-cents- sort. That statement – a kind of run up …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS It seems like yesterday when Oliver Reed appeared on The Late, Late and was obviously three sheets to the wind but Gay Byrne, with great aplomb, carried on interviewing an incoherent Reed who kept nodding off. As he told Byrne, he and his cohorts “didn’t live in …

BY JOHN FITZGERALD (Part Two) (Recalling the doctors of a very different era who served the people of Callan and district…Part One can be read on the Observer website…) Born in Callan, Dr Richard Ryan lived in the shadow of the Augustinian Abbey in Mill Street. He wed Michael Heron’s daughter (Charlotte Heron’s aunt) and …

BY CLAIR WHITTY Are you struggling to get a good night’s sleep? Is stress and anxiety now a daily part of your life? Unfortunately, these issues are now everyday problems. Many of you are lying awake with your mind racing, feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or emotionally drained. Stress and anxiety can become aggravated from lack of …

Feeling like you have a place in the world influences biology and health By Paul Bolger. Chartered Physiotherapist at Nano Physiotherapy, Kilkenny (www.nanophysio.ie). Our inner biology is influenced by how fair the world around us is. This is not an alternative idea – this statement is backed by science. Equality is healthy. Inequality has been growing …

FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran Like many a student I had a number of jobs throughout those long summer vacations from college. I have been a fruit picker, a waiter, a window cleaner and a bottle-washer. The most ‘colourful’ of my student jobs, however, was my stint as an ‘Art dealer’. Now ‘Art dealer’ may not …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR In a time of increasing prices, looming September bills and back to school costs, the adage, “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves” can create a comfort zone if used properly. Practical strategies can help save extra money monthly through smart saving, switching, or “side hustles”. …

BY JOHN FITZGERALD (Part One) Medicare is different today from what it was in the 19th century, but our local doctors have served us well in good times and bad, easing us along life’s journey, from our first glimpse of this world right up to our departure to a (hopefully) better one. Here’s a brief look …