What a difference a month makes. Last month we were all revelling in the fact that after a thoroughly rotten start to 2026 (when it rained for 54 days straight), the sun finally came out. May was awful – wet, windy and cold – so when the season got itself […]

What a difference a day (and ten degrees) makes. After three weeks of wet, grey and cold, the sun finally came out. There is an Irish saying about April borrowing days from May, but I can’t remember any terrific warm, sunny days in April. I’ve also heard some say that […]

The French have a saying: ‘Une hirondelle ne fais pas le printemps’, which translates as one swallow does not make the spring. In other words: seeing one swallow does not mean that the weather is going to be good. It goes along with another saying about not taking off your […]

I went on my first flight when I was around 18-months-old. It was long haul from Madrid to NYC. My most recent one is right now, as I write this column somewhere in the skies between London and Cork. I say “my most recent” because it probably won’t be my last. […]

You’ll find it in the bible. You’ll find versions of it in many religions and cultures from Buddhism to the Romans. George Harrison even used the phrase as the title of his 1970 album ‘All things must pass’. The phrase can be traced as far back as the ancient Greeks […]

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