Opinion
Men, the long and the shorts of it is …
THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS My bugbear are the hordes of men who don shorts at the first sign of the clock going forward. More specifically men over a certain age, an age when they really should know better, who assail my senses with visions of knobbly knees, bow legs or flat …
What is Gout?
BY CLAIR WHITTY Gout is a type of arthritis that causes pain and swelling. It happens when high levels of uric acid build up in the body and form needle-shaped crystals in and around the joint leading to inflammation of the joint. Gout is commonly seen in your big toe but can happen in other …
How coercive control holds women hostage
AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON “Nowhere was safe, not even the shower.” Those seven words sum up an experience where home became hell and life a torment for Maeve McGloughlin Doyle at the hands of her husband Mark. Her story, told in interview with Oliver Callan on RTE 1 revealed a litany of …
Ó hArgáin’s call for ban on vapes adopted as Labour Party Policy
It is time to ban all use of vapes or e-cigarettes, according to former Mayor of Kilkenny and candidate in this year’s local elections, Seán Ó hArgáin. The Carlow/Kilkenny constituency motion he proposed to Labour Party conference at the weekend was overwhelmingly passed by the conference and accepted by party spokesperson, Duncan Smith TD. Speaking …
The importance of having mortgage protection
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR For many, the journey to owning a home is a significant milestone and the amount to be borrowed can be the biggest investment in most people’s lives. It’s marked by various checkpoints and during the excitement it’s crucial to address essential tasks, one of which is having mortgage protection in …
Ambush on Friary Street
PART 1 BY JOHN FITZGERALD A botched ambush on Kilkenny’s Friary Street in 1921 left three men dead: two rebels and a civilian. It was one of those “heroic failures” that litter the sad turbulent course of Irish history. A plaque commemorating the event was erected some years ago beside the Capuchin church on Friary …
Timely wisdom in the middle of spring cleaning
FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran I’m doing a bit of a clean-out of my study these days. I’m not so sure I’m succeeding as every second newspaper, magazine, poster, painting or book that I mean to throw out or discard simply gets moved to a different spot. It really is difficult, and challenging, for me to …
Exercise for Health: What’s Important?
A CHARTERED PHYSIOTHERAPIST’S PERSPECTIVE By Paul Bolger. Nano Physiotherapy www.nanophysio.ie Here are two different approaches to life – which one do you think is more likely to lead to healthy habits and fulfilment? We’ve heard it before – exercise is great for our health. But how many of us exercise enough? Most of us don’t. But …
Time to drive down death on our roads
THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS Ironically, despite the recent rise in traffic fatalities, Ireland remains one of the safest countries in Europe for road use –albeit 52 people having died on Irish roads so far this year, 10 more than for the same period in 2023. In February more than half of …
Bare Trust: Going beyond the Small Gift Tax
BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR In this world of rising prices every option to save counts, especially when it comes to tax. Options to save tax are slowly but surely being cut off. Recently though on the radio and TV there has been information on employers being able to give their employees up to two …
