BY CLAIR WHITTY Joint stiffness, aches and swelling are among the most common things customers ask me about in the shop. Often the cause is osteoarthritis, the most widespread form of arthritis. Over the years, the protective cartilage cushioning our joints wears down, and movement that used to be easy becomes stiff and uncomfortable. It …

CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE By Judith Ashton Whatever happened to good manners? I often wonder whether we have become so absorbed in our own lives that we’ve forgotten how to treat others. We have more ways of communicating than any generation before us, yet I sometimes question whether we have become any better at communicating …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR In the last two weeks we looked at whether people feel financially and socially ready for retirement. This week the focus is on a particular group: those who are perhaps five to 10 years away from finishing work and what they should be checking after the recent fall in technology …

AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON It’s hardly a crash, which sounds terminal, more like a seesaw where the end that was up is now down. The end that is down is Ireland’s birth rate, the up side of the equation is our rapidly ageing population. The phenomenon has been titled Ireland’s Population Crash …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS The latest Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) report reveals a severe 20-year decline in the number of pubs across Ireland, driven by high taxation, rising costs and changing consumer trends, underscoring the urgent need for Government support. A total of 2,205 pubs, roughly one in four, …

By John Fitzgerald A Kilkenny town has said goodbye to a tireless champion of the oppressed and the disadvantaged. Callan native Fr. Jim Halloran, who died on October 28th, had transformed the lives of countless thousands of people across the world. As a missionary, he was driven by a passionate belief in justice and human …