CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE By Judith Ashton Just when I thought the state of the world couldn’t get any worse, the government booklet Be Emergency Ready landed in my post box. Having predicted this in my article of 5th June, I was not entirely surprised. Similar booklets have been delivered across Europe in recent months, …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS The proposed EU legislation to limit access to social media, video-sharing platforms and online games for under-15s, a move Irish ministers have advocated for some time, is as clear as the proverbial mud. How we will opt for a “gradual approach” with an effective ban on platforms …

CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE By Judith Ashton Whilst studying Shakespeare, I was struck by the role of the fool or jester. Protected by humour and wit, jesters criticised people and circumstances without fear of punishment. Their sharp, veiled observations exposed a monarch’s weaknesses, reminded powerful rulers of their limits and expressed truths that advisers often …

BY CLAIR WHITTY Are you struggling with your memory and recalling information? Maybe this is because you are back at college after the long summer break and now you realise that your concentration and focus is on the floor and that you can’t retain information. Or maybe you have brain fog and find you can’t …

By John Fitzgerald The Power House in Callan hosted a three-day exhibition of coins, old photographs, and artwork focusing on aspects of local history. Retired farmer Philip Lynch, who mounted the display, is well known as a historian, raconteur, and teller of wonderful yarns, but he’s also a keen artist and a lifelong numismatist- or …

FURTHERMORE  By Gerry Moran I love looking at dogs looking out car windows. Lowered car windows. They look so happy, so delighted to be looking out at the world go by with the wind in their hair and a plethora of odours wafting past their ultra-sensitive nostrils – new mown hay, silage, diesel fumes, whatever. …