Who doesn’t love a bank holiday? It’s a day off from work. A day to celebrate, to lounge around, or perhaps even an occasion to grab a quick break away as most bank holidays are tacked on to a Monday to create a three-day weekend. This year we’re getting a […]
Columnists
I wandered around the garden yesterday surveying what’s left to eat. We’re doing pretty well on the brassica front, plenty of kale, red cabbage and sprouts. The sprouting broccoli and cauliflowers are soldiering on and the spinach and chard recovered well from the pre-Christmas week long freeze but some of the […]
Hunger strikes are synonymous with Irish history. Some of our most famous men and women have taken part or died during a hunger strike. A hunger strike is used when all other avenues of communication have broken down. It is generally a last resort undertaken in order to bring attention […]
‘Ní hé lá na báistí lá na bpáistí’ (the day of rain is not the day for children). Anyone who has ever tried to entertain young children when it is too wet to go outside – especially on holidays – will appreciate the accuracy of this proverb. There is hardly […]
The Republic of Ireland, unlike so much of the globe, tends not to fancifully display our nation’s army. We don’t indulge in demonstrations of military strength or use the army to bulwark government achievements or occasions. They are often seen in ceremonial roles, small numbers, in remembrance of an anniversary […]
Like the rest of the country, I began 2023 feeling like death warmed over. Our first proper Christmas since lockdown 2020 and many of us were too sick to party. It was a pick and mix lottery of diseases, but most of us got a winning ticket of sniffles, coughs, […]