Opinion

THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Come home now, your dinner’s poured out – The Ma. At one time as you grew in years, through late teens and early 20s and even, in a rural setting, your 30s, the above opening line would have been the norm. But life in Ireland evolved and things …

BY JOHN FITZGERALD Arts Week saw the publication of two little gems from writers whose work transcends all social divides (real or imagined), appealing to just about anyone who enjoys a little recreational word-play. Judy Rhatigan and Peter Brabazon launched their books halfway through the hectic seven days of celebration and creativity in the county. …

AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON It’s been a case of goodbye tracksuits and trainers and hello office wear recently as Working From Office morphs into hybrid working. And dress code at work now depends on the type of employment, casual for creatives and IT types or suits for professionals. But suppose you don’t have …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER PAUL HOPKINS Striking firefighters in left their picket line last week to come to the aid of a young woman who had a suspected heart attack. Despite being ‘off the run’, the firefighters immediately responded to the call. Firefighters around the country are involved in a drawn-out strike action where …

FURTHERMORE  By Gerry Moran There are three things that people of my generation know for sure. One: we know for sure where we were when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States was assassinated (he had visited Ireland a short five months prior to the assassination). Two: we know for sure …

BY CLAIR WHITTY This time of year, many of you, not me I have to say, will be training for a marathon. I am sure that you will have a good training program in place and won’t need advice from me about that. But maybe these tips could be helpful for some of you. For …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR We have all heard the horror stories about people receiving hefty phone bills after a trip to the sun. Tens of thousands being billed for downloading and streaming fees. To combat this, a scheme called ‘Roam Like At Home was put in place and the EU renewed the scheme for …

“She hit me with the heel of her shoe” BY JOHN FITZGERALD Continuing the story of corporal punishment in an Irish town in the 1930s and 40s: I also interviewed Jimmy Walsh of Mill Street, Callan. Jimmy told me he was punished severely by a nun at the local convent. In addition to words of …

Fine Gael MEP for Ireland South, Deirdre Clune has welcomed new EU rules designed to curb potentially harmful practices carried out through online service providers and large social media platforms such as Amazon, TikTok and Facebook. MEP Clune, a Member of the European Parliament’s Internal Market & Consumer Protection Committee said, “on the 25th August, …