BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR Diesel has gone above €2 a litre at many petrol stations. The AA puts the extra cost for a typical driver at around €235 a year. Home heating oil is up 44% on the year. A 1,000-litre fill is about €550 dearer than last winter. Food, for once, is relatively …

AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON Child poverty sounds like a phrase which should belong back in Victorian times in tales like Charles Dickens’s ‘Oliver Twist’ or involve Tom the dirty chimney sweep in Charles Kingsley’s ‘Water Babies’. Hungry orphan Oliver has to live by his wits as a thief, while the luckless Tom …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS It was the French philosopher Descartes who declared, “I think, therefore I am.” Today, it would be more apt to declare, “I am wired, therefore I am.” Today if you are not wired, you do not exist for those who are. Like radio and television in the …

By John Fitzgerald (Part four) Concluding the story of Callan (with a special focus on Upper Bridge Street) in Seamus O’ Brien’ s youth. Parts one, two and three can be read elsewhere on the Observer website In number twenty-six Upper Bridge Street lived a Mrs. Shelly and her son, Jack. Mrs. Shelly’s maiden name …

BY CLAIR WHITTY Today I want to share with you some of my favourite Irish skincare products because many of you are interested in shopping locally and buying quality Irish brands. Supporting Irish and local brands is about more than buying Irish. It helps support the people, families and communities behind these businesses, while celebrating …

CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE By Judith Ashton My son, Jack, got me an Electric Picnic ticket. Always up for adventure, I embraced the challenge! It was a fascinating weekend in so many ways and all roads were leading to this musical mecca of the moment. A tribal gathering of the good, the bad and the …