Opinion

BY CLAIR WHITTY I can’t believe that we are half way through January already. Have you any plans for changes this year? I know that reducing meat consumption in January has become a popular thing to do. This can be for ethical reasons or simply because you are feeling stodgy after all the festive eating. …

Part One BY JOHN FITZGERALD In the opening decades of the twentieth century, Callan people, young and old, had to make their own sports and amusements. In an age devoid of TV, radio, computers, and all the other mod cons we now take for granted, open-air fun was all the rage. That was in the …

AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON We don’t know what gifts Enoch Burke received in his now familiar surroundings of Mountjoy prison but one metaphorical present arrived in Christmas week. It was news about the UK’s advice to schools on how to handle pupils questioning their gender identity. The document, described as calm and moderate …

FURTHERMORE  By Gerry Moran What’s another hundred years going to bring? Who the hell knows but at the rate we’re waging incessant, callous and cruel wars I wouldn’t  be surprised if we weren’t around (all it takes is a few trigger-happy lunatics to nuke us into oblivion). Or perhaps AI will rule the roost and …

BY CLAIR WHITTY I get asked a lot about dry and itchy scalp. There are a couple of reasons why your scalp is itchy. It could be the hair colour product that you use. Try switching them around and using something different. Brands like Naturatint and Naturigin are worth trying if you think this is …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS Three things will predominate this new year, and they are global politics — general elections, effectively — the further rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and further advances in space travel and revolutionary advances in medical science. Over Christmas, as I watched two of my four granddaughters joyfully …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Next month in a bid to meet ambitious recycling targets set by the European Union’s ‘Single Use Plastic Directive’, Ireland will gear up for the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme. This groundbreaking initiative aims to revolutionise the way we handle plastic drinks’ bottles and aluminium cans, thereby promoting a …

By John Fitzgerald A mountainside in County Tipperary was the only part of Munster to witness an uprising in 1798. The action occurred on Carrickmoclear hill, an outcrop of Slievenamon. A rebel army numbering many thousands planned an uprising in the county. Recruits came from areas like Windgap, Grangemockler and Mullinahone. Volunteers from County Kilkenny, …

AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON Some of us have an unfortunate habit of thinking backwards rather than forwards, where ideas remain rooted in the past rather than looking forward to the future, especially when it comes to certain subjects. Top of the list of those tricky topics is immigration. We need better communication about …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS So Christmas has come and gone as we knew it would, and I trust you all had a good and peaceful one. From my window the avenue is strewn with windows and doors lit up like landing strips, and only God knows the cost to the national …