Opinion

BY CLAIR WHITTY The summer holidays are coming to an end and for some of you this means getting the bedtime routine back on track for the school term. If you are dreading tricky nights of trying to get your toddlers and young children to sleep, here are some tips that may help. A regular …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS Most of us can pay witness to increasing bad behaviour on our roads, with drivers rearguarding you, suddenly over-taking you, beeping loudly because you’re in the slow lane and revving loudly and erratically for just no reason other than they feel they can. Just downright rudeness. Sound …

FURTHERMORE  By Gerry Moran In the 30 years or more that I have been reciting humorous verse in Cleere’s Bar of a Monday night (the longest running session in Kilkenny). I have come across musicians [pictured]: famous, infamous and not so famous. I’ve come upon actors on the way up, actors on the way down …

AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON You can have too much of a good thing. I’ll never forget my dismay on returning to Florence decades after my first visit, to find the streets congealed with crowds and queues for entrance to everything from galleries to churches. It’s the kind of experience which made me …

AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON There have been more than a few heated arguments over the women’s boxing controversy that erupted at the Olympics. How would you feel if a woman boxer was seriously injured in a contest with someone who has unfair competitive masculine attributes? – I was asked by someone looking …

THE LAST WORD By Pat Coughlan My love for the environment did not start when I saved a forlorn bird trapped in a plastic six-pack ring, although I would have liked to claim it but one night, while stargazing with a mug of hot cocoa, I wondered: “What about up there?” Driven by curiosity, I …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS Once, we had lies, damn lies – and statistics. Now, we have Fake News – and misinformation. ‘Fake news’ is closely associated with politics and that can unhelpfully narrow the focus of the issue. ‘False information’ is preferable, as it can refer to disinformation covering topics such …

BY JOHN FITZGERALD (PART TWO) Continuing the story of those magical “Breakfast on Pluto” days in Callan…twenty years ago this month… Tullamaine graveyard was another filming location. It might not have been deemed suitable as a venue but for a noteworthy restoration project that rescued this ancient burial site from a forest of weeds and bushes back …

BY CLAIR WHITTY Constipation is a common digestive problem. Most of you who experience this will be familiar with the bloating and the digestive discomfort associated with it. It can affect your mood, and cause sluggishness and tiredness. Ideally you should have a bowel movement at least once a day, but experts suggest three times …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR As house prices continue to soar, cash-strapped buyers will want to keep any moving costs to a minimum. For a family moving into a typical three-bedroomed home, it could cost around €12,000 on average to move and, with additional costs like solicitors fees, surveys and valuation fees, removal costs, stamp …