Opinion
Teddy Bears: cuddly pacifists or plush propagandists?
THE LAST WORD By Pat Coughlan Growing up, my teddy was more than just stuffing and stitches — it was my sidekick, confidant, and mate through my young life’s wee hiccups. Facing up to shadows in the night or exploring the wild jungles of my imagination, my teddy had my back. It was like having …
Rudolph Valentino – valentine to millions of women!
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran So, who are the male, Hollywood heart-throbs of today? I honestly don’t know and don’t care. But whoever they are – they cannot hold a candle to the greatest Hollywood heart-throb of all time – RudolphValentino. His full name was Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Pierre Filibert Gugliemi di Valentina D’Antonguolla. A mouthful …
Why Irish in two minds about the role of AI
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming business, creating excitement and anxiety about the future of work. While some fear AI will replace jobs, others see it as a tool for greater productivity and creating new career opportunities. Two recent reports, however, paint contrasting pictures of how AI is perceived in Ireland …
Let’s hear it for SMEs, our biggest employers
AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON Small they may be, but Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of our economy. Like physical spines they support the country, providing more than two thirds, yet they don’t get much coverage, and, when they do, the focus is often on their struggle to survive and …
Where undocumented Irish now stand with Trump
THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS I am that guy that always gets stopped by airport security after I have walked, nonchalantly I imagine, through the Green Area. I have nothing to declare, nor am I smuggling contraband. But I always get stopped. I must have that kind of demeanour, or whatever. In …
White pepper, ‘goody’ and food for thought
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran A funny thing happened in the supermarket the other day. Actually, it wasn’t so much funny as strange and it wasn’t so much strange as unusual. I’m doing a bit of shopping and on my list is pepper – white pepper. I’m partial to white pepper, especially on a tomato, a …
The retirement options for company directors
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR For company directors, planning for retirement often takes a backseat to the demands of building and running a successful business. Years of reinvesting profits and prioritising growth, retirement planning often only coming into focus when the business is well-established and generating surplus funds. The good news is that Revenue provides …
The true worth of the stay-at-home parent
THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS I’m rewatching the unsurpassable seven-season Mad Men (Netflix) about the embryonic world of advertising on New York City’s Madison Avenue in the early 1960s. It’s even better than I remember from my first viewing six years ago. There’s more than a passing nod to John F Kennedy …
The words toxic and masculinity need a divorce
AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON There is a kickback going among some men who feel that their masculinity is under attack. At the same time there are courses online and in person about how to be a man, which might not appeal to the macho types who feel their manhood is under threat. …
The Basics of Health
Our bodies are complex, but it’s the simple things that matter for health By Paul Bolger. Chartered Physiotherapist at Nano Physiotherapy, Kilkenny (www.nanophysio.ie). It often seems like health is a very complicated thing, that becoming and staying healthy is only for those of us with immense discipline. However, it is the simple things that give us …
