In line with the theme of this year’s West Cork Creates exhibition, ‘Listen to the Land Speak’ – a tribute to the ideas and philosophy of Manchán Magan (1970 – 2025) – Owen will submit a number of pieces, including two stitched books attempting to illustrate the same ancient stories and the land that Magan wrote about.

A stitched sculpture of a tree with a standing stone atop tells the story of the coming of man and the impact on the land while a scroll stitched onto frayed denim tells the story of the interaction of the people and the land through motif and symbolism. A set of four stitched sculptures feature the elements fire, air, earth and water and his series entitled ‘Odd Balls’ embraces the inner child.

Since he was very little, Owen’s work has always told a story, much of it related to his own life. As his first wobbly stitches grew neater on the old school skirt his mother gave him to practice on, the names of close friends began appearing, sometimes also joined by small motifs they had drawn. A few years later places and events of special significance in his personal life were added – Glastonbury 1987, a trip to China with the Irish Special Olympics team, the birth of each of his children, an old 2p coin when Ireland transferred over to the Euro. When there was no room left for stitching he added a waistband, creating a finished skirt that holds over 50 years of memories. The skirt finally had its debut worn by one of Owen’s daughters at a recycled fashion show in Ballydehob.

While the many firsts – first exhibition piece, first podcast, first viral post – are all fun highlights in Owen’s embroidery journey, the pieces that he remembers with most pride are those created especially for people: a lady’s favourite hat stitched for her after she lost her hair from chemotherapy; a small red denim jacket stitched for a little girl recovering from a brain operation; a badge stitched for a mother in memory of her daughter shot by a terrorist. “Being able to comfort, to communicate, to console, and bring a little piece of joy or beauty or hope, however small, into someone’s life, is a privilege, and the messages and photos I’ve received in return are very special to me,” shares Owen.

“I should also mention Seamus O’Comanssy,” he adds smiling. Owen stitched this playful tiny globe-trotting character after realising that his own travelling days were behind him. Seamus has his own Facebook and Substack page where he shares tales about his adventures around the world. “Seamus is currently on a yacht moored off an island in the South Pacific with a couple of ‘nomads’ who are helping out at the Women’s Resource Centre in the village of Lamap,” shares Owen, who says the “wee man” has brought so many strangers together over the years.

West Cork has been home for Owen since 1987 when, after selling his business in the UK and looking to escape the constraints of Thatcherism, he decided to follow his roots back to Ireland. Considered a math prodigy as a child, his interest in art was “gently discouraged”, so his career path took a very different route towards mathematics and economics. In West Cork, he found the freedom to express his creative side.

Aside from embroidery, wildlife gardening, photography and storytelling are his passions. After completing a horticultural course at West Cork Campus in 2018, he enrolled the following year on the Art and Printing course there, which offered a very small module on embroidery. While he doesn’t feel that the course influenced his own stitching practice, he says that “being in that learning and creative environment was very motivational” subsequently prompting him to expand his approach and take his work more seriously.

Although he has over 50 years experience in embroidering, it’s really over the past five to six years that Owen’s talent has taken on a life of its own. Social media has played a big part in this, bringing his work to a wider audience and with that an ever-increasing number of orders, commissions and requests for tutorials.

Hand embroidery is an inherently slow process with each piece requiring incredible patience. “I only managed to stitch eight full denim jackets last year,” he shares.

Last year, he was invited to contribute a piece to ‘The Dream Project’, a collaborative exhibition that toured Australia, America, and Scotland. Although several galleries have approached him since about staging a solo exhibition, this has proved challenging, as the majority of his embroideries are created on commission and are now dispersed in collections around the world. As a result, he has rarely had enough work available in one place to mount a comprehensive exhibition of his own.

For the past two years he has been working on a piece that he’s dubbed his ‘Quantum Quilt’. Made up of 100 hand-stitched panels, it will measure 12ft x 4ft when finished, and hopefully be ready for exhibition next year.

Interested in history, mythology, and folklore, Owen draws particular inspiration from Ireland’s rich tradition of storytelling. These ancient stories, together with the work of the late Manchán Magan, inspired his contribution to the ‘Listen to the Land Speak’ exhibition. His visual influences span a wide artistic spectrum, from the psychedelic poster art of Rick Griffin and Mouse and Kelley, to the illustration of Albert Uderzo, the comics of Carlos Ezquerra and Robert Crumb, the fantastical worlds of Roger Dean, the Celtic imagery of Jim Fitzpatrick and George Bain, the intricate visions of Hieronymus Bosch, and the vibrant designs of Alan Aldridge. He is equally inspired by the intricate ornamentation of medieval manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, as well as the decorative philosophy of William Morris and the embroidery of his daughter, Mary Morris. Beyond Europe, his influences include Otomí, Suzani, Vyshyvanka, Tatreez, Kantha, Kuba, Shisha, Hmong, and Kashmiri embroidery.

Rather than focusing on the end product, each stitch for Owen is part of a personal journey. Embroidery is a meditative process that brings great calm to the artist, who loves nothing more than getting swept up in his own work, taking the little observations from his daily life and drawing upon his memories and imagination, all in the act of creating. 

For more information on Owen and his work visit www.slavetothestitch.com.

I hope, given all the exceptionally good weather we have had this summer, that you have all had a chance to relax and reap its benefits. The glorious sunshine should really set up our vitamin D stores for the coming winter. 

But what if you are finding that despite the long sunny days you are finding yourself unable to relax? That much as you might appreciate the sunshine, something in you won’t or can’t relax and let go? And you notice you can’t enjoy it as much as you might wish to, perhaps you feel a bit emotionally flat or somewhat agitated and unable to focus. 

If depression has been ruled out by a medical or mental health professional, then consider that your symptoms could be stemming from burnout.

Burnout is defined by the WHO as energy depletion and chronic dysregulation of the stress response systems. It is a disruption of the HPA axis (Hypothalamic, adrenal, pituitary axis) which is responsible for controlling your cortisol energy circulation, which in turn regulates your sleep/wake cycle and your capacity to recover from normal stresses. 

When the HPA axis becomes compromised our blood sugar becomes unstable and we lose our ability to generate energy efficiently. Our immune system may become compromised, our cognitive functioning may be challenged and our cardiovascular system may begin to show signs of chronic stress.

Burnout is not something that happens overnight and largely stems from tiny, repeated poor behaviours and habits that we will address here.

It is not an excess of the stress hormone, cortisol, that causes burnout, though you might be forgiven for thinking that this is the case. We need cortisol, as by triggering our Fight/Flight nervous system response, it has ensured our survival as a species. 

The issue is not that this hormone floods the system, but that a phenomenon known as ‘cortisol rhythm collapse’ occurs. Our cortisol is not too high; the problem is that it is flat and does not fluctuate in a natural daily rhythm. 

We should ideally have high levels in the morning to help us wake up and get up, and declining levels in the evening so melatonin levels can rise and we can switch off and sleep with varying oscillations throughout the day as normal stresses and challenges arise. 

‘Flat’ levels of cortisol, with no real rise or fall means your body cannot distinguish between wakefulness and sleepiness, stress and rest, action and recovery and this is where we feel both ‘wired and tired’. 

When we are in burnout, we are constantly ‘borrowing’ energy from external stimulants rather than utilising and replenishing our own resources. So, we use caffeine to wake up, sugar for energy, alcohol to relax, screens for dopamine and so on and so forth. 

We are stimulating ourselves into being and there is very little we will not use as an outsource to function if our system is dysregulated. We are, after all, very inventive creatures, wired to survive. 

The problem is the more you borrow from the outside, the greater the internal debt, and the more you borrow, the more you need to borrow, just to feel normal.

Signs we might be experiencing burnout are: emotional flatness, agitation or inability to focus, feeling tired but unable to relax, reliance on stimulants, blood sugar crashes, always feeling switched on, feeling tired despite sleep, feeling disconnected from enjoyable experiences. 

Those with heavy workloads, those experiencing stressful life events and women in perimenopause/menopause are particularly vulnerable to burnout. 

So how can we mitigate against these symptoms of burnout? Well, just as small regular poor habits or patterns lead to burnout so small regular good habits can help restore our balance and wellbeing.

It is important that we take the time to gently recalibrate, it is small actions that make the difference and not major resets or extreme measures.

Simple rules

Do not skip meals: When blood sugar drops, cortisol will spike to compensate in the short term, which is why we can get ‘hangry’ and while this is tolerable for someone with a healthy HPA axis where cortisol naturally oscillates, it is not advisable for those of us with burnout. 

It is for this reason that Intermittent Fasting is not always advisable for menopausal women or people with burnout. 

A good idea is to ensure you eat protein with your first meal of the day, whether that’s eating eggs for breakfast or popping nuts and seeds and Greek yogurt on your porridge. Make sure you don’t load your system with sugary choices or simple carbohydrates in the morning so you can start your day with good blood sugar stability. 

Try to reduce the reliance on caffeine in all its myriad forms and eliminate alcohol if you are using it to relax.

Regulate sleep: Sleeping and waking at the same time daily is associated with longevity and it is vital in managing the symptoms of burnout. 

Get out of bed in the same 40-minute window of waking every day, and get light within an hour of waking to help set up your circadian rhythm. Avoid all screens for an hour prior to sleep. 

I’m an advocate for practising a gentle stretching routine followed by meditation before bedtime – it’s a great way to wind down.

Gentle exercise after eating: Going for a short walk after eating (within 10-20 minutes of eating) is a great way to regulate blood sugar so we can offset insulin spikes. 

Regular movement breaks also during your day are recommended whether it’s a bit of jumping up and down and shaking, or dancing, or a specific exercise routine.

Burnout doesn’t resolve overnight and, as exhausted as we may feel, making radical change is rarely what our system needs, tempting though it may be. What restores us is consistency and compassion — small, steady habits that gradually rebuild our internal rhythm and remind the body how to feel safe, rested, and energised again. 

The three tenets of health — sleep, movement, and nourishment — are our anchors. By supporting your blood sugar, honouring your sleep-wake cycle, and moving gently and regularly, you begin to repay that internal energy debt and reconnect with yourself. 

These small acts of self-care signal to your system that it can finally exhale. With time, patience, and simple daily practices, the ‘wired and tired’ feeling softens, and your natural vitality has space to return. 

Hello August! Wow, what a summer we are having and what an opportunity this weather presents to wear every single item of summer clothes in our wardrobes. Unfortunately the ‘naked’ look or swimsuit-to-work look is simply not an option! Whether or not you are a sun worshipper and whatever your shape or size, light airy clothes are a must-have this year. With very successful weight loss medication on the market, the door has finally opened for people who previously did not have the capacity to lose a lot of weight. The only downside to this is that your weight is constantly dropping so summer clothes you might have once loved, are just too big now.

When you are losing weight quickly, focus your summer wardrobe on adjustable, stretchy and budget-friendly transitional pieces like wrap dresses, elastic-waist or drawstring linen pants. There is no point in investing in any expensive items, as they may only be fitting you and wearable for a few weeks. Spend on stretchy underwear and bin the ones that no longer fit. I’m sure that when you look into your wardrobe, it’s like walking into a museum of sizes that you have already passed through. It can be a bit of a nightmare as your clothes no longer sit right, don’t drape right and, most importantly, they no longer feel like you. It is a challenge learning how to dress during the process. You no longer feel invisible and you don’t want to be invisible so don’t let your clothes make you feel like you are. This is easily fixed.

If you are on a weight loss drug, then the pace you will lose weight at is faster than most closets or budgets can handle, especially if you’re over 50. The extra skin, which can fold or hang, is a new thing, as are the ‘bat wings’ that weren’t there before. There could be softer inner thighs and back rolls that will make certain fabrics a ‘hard no’. One size styles and smartly-cut pieces can cover a wide size range without looking like a sack. The magic is in the fabric (cotton or linen), the drape, and the cut from the shoulders to the hips, not a size on the tag. Think of this season as the ‘intermission dressing’ season. The goal is a flexible, smart mini-closet that moves with you while your body is changing.

So what does deserve your hard earned cash now? You need to look for pieces that flex with you through many sizes, respect loose skin and still look intentional, especially when you are pairing them with that favourite designer bag. Look for Italian cut linen pants – Google it if you don’t know what I’’m talking about – they have an elasticated waistband and fit beautifully. They are wide, with a loose leg that skim over tummy, thighs and any extra skin that might have evolved.There are a ‘no fuss’ pants, minus back pockets – which can add bulk! You are looking for a top that skims the tummy area rather than a blunt line across.As the weather cools down (or in the evening) you can wear a string top under a top – to hold you in place. Tops with structure in the shoulder, even if the hemline is not stiff and straight, add a more polished look, and you avoid a ‘sloppy’ overall look.

Try to avoid tunics that cut your legs in half, seek out ones that end at the hips, it’s a far more flattering look. Your aim should be an intentionally relaxed look rather than an oversized look.

A long sheer lightweight cardigan or kimono robe can become your chic security blanket. Arms can often be the last place that a woman wants to show after rapid weight loss and years of fluctuating sizes. Look for one (or two) in as thin a material as possible – they are a wonderful layering piece that you can throw on over anything, without adding bulk or heat, and they give instant glamour! Completely open at the front, a soft breathable fabric and just enough arm coverage to make you forget about your loose skin and focus on your beautiful face. Perhaps buy two, one for everyday and another slightly more dressy one!

Be cautious of thin stretchy jersey material that will grab every line and fold. Avoid stiff cotton, as it will tent out from the widest point in your body and obviously any clingy body con is a definite no-no.

Use colour to draw the eye up, deeper shades on the bottom, slightly brighter or face-flattering colours near your neckline. Choose sleeves that hit just above or below the elbow to soften the upper arm.

Remember that this is your intermission wardrobe and it does not require investment, as you are just passing through. There are lots of sales already on, so you might just find some great bargains on quality pieces at a fraction of what they normally retail for. Be steadfast in your splurging and save it for when you are finally ready to invest. When your weight finally stabilises after four to six months and you are no longer in between sizes anymore is when you will know that you are moving into your long-term wardrobe. Please don’t fret and think that you have to go out and buy loads of clothes when you finally get ‘there’. We all have way too much stuff.

So, if you are somewhere between “my pants almost fell off today” and “I don’t recognise myself at all (in a good way)”, embrace this new chapter and dress to reflect your achievement.

by Niamh Cooper, Melissa Byrne & Gillian Hegarty

The weather in July has been nothing short of spectacular, and many of us have lived outside for the last few weeks. Even when the weather decides to take a turn – and it will, eventually, because this is Ireland – this is the season for food you can eat with your fingers. And nothing on any picnic blanket, or kitchen table, will be as spectacularly pink as this beetroot dip. It looks like something a unicorn might eat. And it tastes even better.

If you haven’t tried beetroot yet, zapping it into a dip might be one of the best things you’ve done this summer. You can buy beetroot in a packet, or fresh – and you can eat it, leaves and all! Just a note though: don’t use the pickled beetroot as it won’t work in this recipe!

First, a word about the leaves. When you buy fresh beetroot between June and October, it comes with its beautiful stalks and leaves attached, and they are delicious too. Strip the leaves from the stalks and wash everything. Cut the stalks into roughly 2cm pieces and cook in boiling salted water for two minutes, then add the leaves and cook for one minute more. You can also steam them. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Ingredients

• 250g cooked beetroot

• 50g feta cheese

• 2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh mint

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

If using fresh beetroot, cut off the stalks, leaving about an inch on the beetroot. Wash gently without damaging the skin, place in a saucepan of cold water, and then ask an adult to help you: Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 to 2 hours, depending on size. The beetroot is cooked when the skin comes off easily and a skewer slides through with no resistance. Remove the skin and stalk, roughly chop, and place in a food processor with all the other ingredients. Blitz until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning; you may like more lemon, salt, pepper or mint. The dip looks beautiful, garnished with marigold petals. One warning: beetroot juice stains everything it touches, including you, so wear old clothes. 

A few ways to eat it:

Serve it on bread, with crackers or on toasted pitta; eat with a rainbow of raw vegetables such as carrot sticks, cucumber and peppers; dollop onto a hot baked potato instead of butter; spread inside a wrap; have on a burger instead of ketchup, or whatever way you fancy eating it.

Turn it into a salad. Cut the cooked beetroot into wedges and place in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, add a few rocket leaves and tear in some mint. Mix the oil and lemon juice together and pour over the beetroot. Transfer to a serving bowl and crumble over the feta. Garnish with edible flowers from the garden if you have them, such as violas, marigolds, borage or cornflowers. Broad beans are a lovely addition as well, and they are fantastic right now – if you can get your hands on them.

So there you have it: a dip (or salad!) that is bursting with goodness, looks amazing and is totally delicious. Make a batch, share it with someone, and see if you can convince them it came from a unicorn. 

Did You Know?

• Beetroot has one of the highest amounts of antioxidants of any vegetable? They help protect the cells in your body.

• The amazing colour comes from natural pigments called ‘betalains’, which scientists are researching for their cancer-protective and other effects.

• Beetroot is packed with nitrates, which widen your blood vessels and help oxygen move around your body more efficiently. That is why athletes drink beetroot juice before races. Scientists are also studying whether it may help lower blood pressure, improve breathing and keep our brains healthy.

• The ancient Greeks ate only the leaves. It took hundreds of years before anyone thought of eating the root!

For generations, building a home on family land has been a familiar route to home ownership, particularly in rural Ireland. With house prices continuing to rise and housing supply remaining tight, more people than ever are now considering buying a site and building their own home as a practical way of entering the property market. For many families, this can also provide an opportunity for adult children to gain independence without moving far from home, or to install a modular unit where there is suitable space on an existing family property.

The Government is now proposing changes to planning policy aimed at creating a more consistent approach across all local authorities, replacing the current ‘location lottery’ with a unified national planning framework that provides greater certainty for applicants. The proposed amendments would ease local housing need restrictions by expanding eligibility to include economic need as well as those working in farming, forestry and essential public services such as teaching and nursing. They would also remove blanket bans on ribbon development and eliminate limits on the number of homes that can be built on a family farm. In addition, under exceptional personal or health circumstances, elderly people wishing to downsize and families caring for a person with a disability could build a home of up to 90 square metres within the site boundary of the original family home. These homes would be subject to conditions, including that they must be used as the owner’s primary residence for a minimum of 10 years and cannot be used as short-term rental accommodation.

The shift has brought renewed attention to self-build mortgages, planning rules and government supports, It has also made the process more complicated, as the cost of construction, land, and professional fees can push many projects beyond what families can afford.

Over the past few years, the cost of building a home has increased significantly. As a result, some people who had planned to self-build are now being told they can no longer afford to do so and should consider buying an existing property instead. In some cases, the total cost of a self-build has even exceeded the market value of the completed home.

Anyone considering building a home should begin by setting a realistic budget. The first step is to speak with a mortgage broker to establish your borrowing capacity before engaging with an architect or engineer. Understanding how much you can borrow, together with your total available budget, allows you to work backwards and plan a home that is financially achievable.

Having a clear budget from the outset helps shape the house design around what is realistically affordable rather than what is aspirational. It is also worth asking your architect or engineer to prepare a ‘gold-plated’ design that includes all of your desired features, with each item individually costed. This allows you to identify where savings can be made during the initial build while ensuring the design can accommodate those features in the future if your budget allows.

Planning permission remains a key step in most self-build projects. A mortgage application generally cannot proceed until conditional planning permission has been granted, and lenders will also want to review the specific conditions attached to that permission.

One of the most significant recent changes to Ireland’s planning system is the introduction of new exemptions for modular homes, which came into effect on July 27, 2026. The measures are designed to make it easier for homeowners to create additional living space by allowing standalone modular homes in back gardens, larger home extensions and, in certain circumstances, the subdivision of existing homes.

Under the new rules, detached garden units, often referred to as ‘granny flats’, of between 32 and 45 square metres can now be built for family use without planning permission, provided they do not have a separate utility connection and are not used for short-term letting. The maximum size of exempt rear house extensions has also increased from 40 square metres to 45 square metres, with any previous extensions taken into account when calculating the total floor area.

The changes also allow an existing home to be divided into two self-contained units, each with a minimum floor area of 32 square metres, provided the development meets the specified criteria. In addition, the exemption threshold for general garden structures, such as home offices and outbuildings, has increased to 30 square metres.

The new exemptions are subject to a number of conditions. They apply only to construction carried out between July 27, 2026 and December 31, 2030. The main house must retain at least 25 square metres of private outdoor space, although there is ongoing debate about how this requirement will be interpreted, as the total includes both front and rear outdoor areas. Other requirements, including minimum distances from septic tanks where applicable, must also be met. Detached garden units must maintain a minimum 0.6-metre setback from walls and property boundaries.

Government supports are available for some self-build projects, although qualifying has become more challenging. The Help to Buy Scheme can be used for self-builds, but applicants must still meet the scheme’s lending criteria. In practice, this means the loan-to-value calculations must align with the valuation of the completed property. Borrowers must take out a mortgage of at least 70 per cent of the completed property’s value, and the completed home cannot be valued at more than €500,000.

The First Home Scheme may also be available for some self-builds, although it is subject to property value limits and other eligibility criteria. For applicants who are unable to borrow enough through the main pillar banks, a Local Authority Home Loan may provide an alternative, depending on the borrower’s circumstances and the value of the property. Maximum property value limits vary between local authority areas.

For anyone considering a self-build, the key message is that it remains an achievable route to home ownership, but it requires more careful planning than ever before. Rising construction costs, stricter lending criteria and planning considerations mean prospective builders need to do far more research before committing to a site or finalising a design.

Modular homes may offer a faster solution in some cases, particularly in light of the recent planning changes. However, buyers should not assume they are exempt from planning rules or other regulations. The best approach is to have your budget, planning position and finance fully in place before construction begins.

Whether you are planning to build your forever home, create a garden home for an adult child or develop additional accommodation to generate rental income, Moneytree can help you identify the lender best suited to your circumstances. Whatever your project, we can guide you through the available lending options and help you find the mortgage solution that best fits your needs.

If you have any questions, please contact the Moneytree team on 023 881 0001.

Honeysuckle, with its bright flowers and sweet perfume, is a symbol of beauty and summertime. However, the wood of honeysuckle, although it begins life soft and flexible, becomes very hard as it matures, with the ability to choke off the growth of any other wood by binding it tightly in its grip. This has made it a symbol in Irish legend of strength and slow inexorable power, which led to the Irish saying that anything that was hard to break was ‘chomh righin leis an táith-fhéithleann, as tough as the honeysuckle.

In Ireland, honeysuckle was believed to have a power against evil spirits and it was used in a drink to cure the effects of the ‘evil eye’. In parts of Scotland on May Day farmers put pieces of honeysuckle and rowan over the doors of the cow houses to prevent the goodness of the milk being stolen by witchcraft. In the Hebrides, they used to make a death of ivy, honeysuckle and rowan and placed it over the lintel of the cow house and under the vessels in the dairy to safeguard the cows and their milk from evil. On the Isle of Man, honeysuckle was considered good ‘to keep milk from stinginess and butter from blackness’.

The flowers of honeysuckle are full of nectar and a favourite pastime of children was to suck them for their sweet taste and this trait gave honeysuckle its name. Honeysuckle is also known as woodbine. In Irish it has several names – ‘féithleann, táith-fhéithleann, bainne gamhna’ (calves’ milk), ‘lus na meala (the herb of honey), ‘mil ghabhair’ (goat’s honey). In the 1950s, in West Cork we called it ‘táith-fhéithleann’.

In England, honeysuckle has romantic associations. If it is brought into a house then a wedding will follow and, if its flowers are placed in a girl’s bedroom, it will bring her dreams of love. Honeysuckle is mentioned by Shakespeare in a romantic context, ‘Sleep thou and I will wind thee in my arms / so doth the woodbine – the sweet honeysuckle gently entwist’.

In Irish, the name ‘bainne gamhna’, (literally calve’s milk) refers to the idea of something sweet for sucking. The name appears in the well-known old Irish song, ‘Samhradh, samhradh, bainne na ngamhna, Thugamar féin an samhradh linn. Samhradh buí na nóiníní glégheal / Thugamar féin ansamhradh linn’. (Summer, summer, the honeysuckle / we brought the summer with us / Golden summer of bright daisies / we brought the summer with us). The song was traditionally sung at Maytime as part of the festivities, when there was singing and dancing and making garlands of flowers.

In the great Irish tale, ‘Táin Bó Cuailgne’ (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), Cuchulainn is goaded into fighting the great friend of his youth, Ferdia. Ferdia had left Ulster and fought with the Connaght men and Queen Maeve against Ulster, whose greatest warrior was Cuchulainn. None of the Connacht champions could beat Cuchulainn. Maeve’s last chance was to force Ferdia to fight his friend. Cuchulainn was goaded by the words that Ferdia “has bested you as a woodbine binds trees”. Later, when Cuchulainn finally turned the table on Ferdia, he himself uses the same image. He tells Ferdia to stand aside or ‘I will entwine you as a woodbine binds trees’. It is not the gentle embrace of love that is meant here, but the crushing of an enemy in an iron grip.

Honeysuckle’s themes of love and strength come together in the Irish tale of the love between the youth ‘Baile Mac Buain’ and the princess ‘Aillin’. Their love is ill-fated and they both die of broken hearts and are buried separately. A yew tree grows from Baile’s grave and an apple tree from Aillin’s and, after seven years, poets made writing tablets out of each of them. It so happens that the two poets later attend a feast at Tara at the same time, and the high king, Cormac Mac Airt, is impressed by both poems. He asks to see the two tablets and, as soon as he takes them into his hands, they spring together and become entwined like honeysuckle around a branch. So tightly are they intertwined that no-one could part them.

In traditional herbal medicine the flowers of honeysuckle have been used to make a syrup to cure diseases of the respiratory organs and asthma, and a decoction of the leaves has been used for diseases of the liver and spleen. The most common cure was to use the leaves and flowers for gargles and lotions for inflammations of the mouth, especially thrush. The bark of honeysuckle was used in counties Leitrim and Cavan as a cure for jaundice and in Cork and Wicklow as a cure for whooping cough. In other parts of Ireland, people used to chew it as a cure for toothache. Beekeepers used to smear their hives with honeysuckle flowers so that the bees would regard them as their homes and return to them. The leaves were a favourite food of goats, hence the Latin name for the honeysuckle family comes from ‘capri folium’ (goat’s leaf).

One of the dangers of living in beautiful West Cork is that it can sometimes be difficult to leave but, as Mary O’Brien finds out when she heads east, Ireland’s largest county has much to offer beyond its western shores. 

We first stumbled across Inch Hideaway, an award-winning eco-glamping retreat, after travelling to the Ballymaloe Festival of Food. Looking for somewhere a little different to stay, we booked a tiny shepherd’s hut through Airbnb, unaware that it was located in an eco village. The campsite is tucked away near Whitegate, just a 20-minute stroll from the beautiful Inch Beach. We arrived late that evening, so it wasn’t until the following morning that the beauty of the place revealed itself.

On exploring, we discovered a stream winding through the property, chickens scratching around the gardens, Doris the pig happily going about her day, two horses, Bluebell and Lulu, grazing nearby, Teddy,  the very friendly resident dog, and a selection of beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary accommodations.

That first brief visit was enough to convince us to return, and a few weeks later we were back during the recent heatwave, this time with three children and a dog in tow.

Inch Hideaway began almost 15 years ago when Australian-Italian couple Colleen and Fabrizio, bought what was then a flat, boggy field. While restoring the old cottage on the property, they lived for three years in a yurt themselves. That experience has shaped the campsite, which today offers an eclectic collection of comfortable accommodation, each with its own personality.

This includes the beautifully-handcrafted Fairy Fort Yurt, tucked into its own private garden, the authentic Mongolian Yurt with its colourful décor, and the spacious Sunset Yurt, positioned to catch the evening light. Our children enjoyed the quirkiness of the Wanderly Wagon, fashioned from an upcycled double-decker bus, while we appreciated the comfort of one of the newer cabins, complete with central heating and en-suite facilities.

It turned out to be the perfect arrangement with everyone having their own space to relax in, while meeting in the communal areas.

One of the greatest achievements of this campsite is the fact that each accommodation enjoys its own privacy. Although there are yurts, cabins, wagons and shared spaces throughout the property, clever landscaping and thoughtful positioning means that every accommodation feels wonderfully secluded.

Much of the site has been built using reclaimed materials rescued from old buildings and construction sites. More than 400 native Irish trees have been planted, alongside herbs, vegetables and flowering plants laid out using permaculture principles to encourage wildlife. Sustainable onsite practices such as solar power, filtered well water, eco-friendly cleaning products, recycling and composting have earned Inch Hideaway recognition from the Cork Environmental Forum as Cork’s Most Sustainable Small Business.

There is no wi-fi so phones were left aside for much of the trip while children bounced between the outdoor trampoline and table tennis in the beautifully-restored barn or explored the grounds.

The communal kitchen in the pretty hobbit-like building is very well laid-out with everything necessary for cooking. We made food in the outdoor covered barbecue area and, while we were one steak short after Teddy, the dog, helped himself, there was more than enough to go around. After dinner, we drifted towards the campfire, where a returning family from Belfast kindly shared their marshmallows with us.

Despite the relaxed atmosphere, everything at Inch Hideaway is well organised. The owners host weddings, retreats and family gatherings, and have even invested in silent disco headsets so celebrations can continue without disturbing other guests. Fabrizio also offers massage and craniosacral therapy on site and provides catering, including pizzas and barbecues, for larger groups.

Inch Hideaway also makes an excellent base for exploring East Cork. Inch Beach is an easy walk away, while Ballycotton and Midleton are all within easy reach.The cabins are fully insulated and centrally heated, so Inch Hideaway stays open throughout the winter.

Colleen and Fabrizio describe themselves as caretakers of the land and there is a genuine sense here of working with and not against nature.

For anyone looking for a break that offers a slower pace without sacrificing comfort, this very special place is well worth the trip east.

For more information or to make a booking go to www.yurtecocamping.ie.

For more than 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of working at Organico. Every day I talk with people who are looking for simple, practical ways to support their health. Some come in looking for Vitamin D to help them through the winter months, others are searching for magnesium to improve their sleep, Vitamin C and Zinc to support their immune system, or a good multivitamin to fill nutritional gaps in a busy lifestyle.

What I see every day is that people are becoming increasingly proactive (and concerned) about their health. They want to take responsibility for their own wellbeing and make informed choices about the products they use.This is why I’ve become involved in the Save Our Supplements campaign.

Over the past few weeks, something quite remarkable has happened. What started as a small group of concerned health food shops has grown into a national consumer campaign. In just five weeks, more than 25,000 people have signed our petition (in stores and online), thousands have shared information online, and we’ve raised almost €10,000 to help spread awareness of an issue that, until recently, very few people knew anything about.

So what is the issue? The European Commission is advancing proposals to introduce harmonised Maximum Permitted Levels (MPLs) for vitamins and minerals in food supplements across Europe.

At first glance, harmonisation sounds like a sensible and reasonable idea. Common standards across Europe can make a lot of sense in many areas. (although strangely we cannot seem to harmonise European electricity prices, insurance, low cost mortgages, car prices etc!)

But the main issue is that nutrition is not something you can harmonise. There are other factors a play which are cultural, nutritional, genetic and geography related. Ireland has a very different relationship with supplements than many other European countries. Because of our rainy, northern latitude, Vitamin D deficiency is a recognised public health issue, with supplementation widely recommended. Irish consumers have also developed a long history of using higher-strength nutrients such as Magnesium, Vitamin C and Zinc safely as part of their everyday health routines.

What concerns me most is not simply the legislation itself, but the fact that the people who will be most affected appear to have had very little opportunity to contribute to it. Nutritional therapists, GPs, health food shops, supplement manufacturers and, most importantly, Irish consumers have not been meaningfully consulted about changes that could significantly affect the products they rely on.

That is why we launched the Save Our Supplements campaign. Our first aim is simply to let people know what is happening. Most of the customers I speak to have no idea these proposals are moving forward. They naturally assume that the supplements they have been buying safely for years will always be available.

The reality is that if these proposals are implemented in their current form, many higher-strength supplements could be reformulated or disappear from shelves altogether.

For me, this is fundamentally a consumer choice issue. This isn’t about whether supplements should be regulated. They already are. Food supplements sold in Ireland are subject to strict food safety legislation and are regulated under both Irish and European law. Consumer safety should always come first.

Equally, if there was evidence that people were being harmed by the products currently available, that would clearly need to be addressed.

But that simply isn’t what we’re seeing. After more than two decades serving customers, I don’t see people experiencing problems because they’ve chosen a higher-strength Vitamin C, Magnesium or Zinc supplement. Nor is there any evidence of a widespread public health problem arising from the products currently available through regulated retailers.

So naturally many consumers are asking: if there isn’t a significant safety issue, why should our choices be restricted?

I also believe Ireland deserves to have its own circumstances properly considered. Our climate, our public health needs and our long history of responsible supplement use are not necessarily the same as those of every other European country. A one-size-fits-all approach may not always produce the best outcome for Irish consumers. 

There also is a hidden knock-on effect in this proposal of higher consumer pricing. Two 500mg tablets of something is always dearer than one 1000mg tablet – so for the customer currently taking one high dose supplement there will be a cost to bear. This cost might seem inconsequential when you are earning €22,000 a MONTH as an EU Commissioner or €11,000 a MONTH as an MEP but for elderly people on the state pension at only €1,297 per month every penny matters!

The proposals could also have significant consequences for Irish businesses. Health food shops, pharmacies and Irish supplement manufacturers have spent decades developing products that meet the needs of Irish consumers. If harmonised limits are introduced without proper consideration of those needs, many familiar products could change dramatically.

I feel this conversation is very important as many people see these proposals as the thin end of the wedge -–a beginning rather than the end of the regulatory process. Once maximum levels are established for vitamins and minerals, there is understandable concern that further restrictions on natural healthcare products could follow in the years ahead.

The SOS Campaign is calling for a meeting with the Minister for Health to ensure that Irish consumers are properly represented as these proposals continue to develop at European level.

The response so far has been incredibly encouraging. More than 25,000 signatures in just five weeks show that this issue matters to people. They want to understand what is happening, they want to have their say, and they want decisions that are transparent, proportionate and based on sound evidence.

If you value the freedom to make informed choices about your own health, I encourage you to learn more. Please visit SaveOurSupplements.ie, where you’ll find clear information about the proposals, our growing petition, and simple ways to get involved. If, having read the facts, you share our concerns, you can also send a message directly to your local TDs and MEPs through the website.

Every signature, every email and every conversation helps ensure that Irish consumers have a voice in decisions that could shape the future of natural healthcare in Ireland. Whatever your views on supplements, I believe that decisions affecting our health choices should be made with us, not simply for us.

On a recent trip to Antwerp my intrepid partner and I found ourselves in hardhats traversing the city’s historic canals. But for flash lights we were in darkness, walking in a line along a canal bed, for the waterways, known as ‘ruien,’ had been vaulted over, enclosed, for many hundreds of years. We were effectively walking underneath the city, traversing the route that canal barges may have once taken, passing under what once would have been bridges and sluice gates.

Being a book-hound, I later found a wonderful tome with photographs of the ruien from the 1800s. There, in sepia, standing tall in the openings of the ruien, were ships, slim one-masters huddled hull to hull along the canal walls; and larger three-masters docked along the Jordaenskai, the quay breasting the River Scheldt. The photographs also showed, amongst the tall ships in the Willemdok, the tall, dark flues of steam ships, for this was the age when both the new and the old mingled together, as famously depicted in William Turner’s ‘The Fighting Temeraire.’

Turner’s painting of 1839, set across the channel on a pearlescent River Thames, shows England’s gallant old warship being towed by a dark-flued tugboat. The warship was at the end of its life, a metaphor for what would soon be the end of the ‘age of sail,’ as the industrial revolution powered ahead. 

Just as steam power revolutionised shipping, the birth of photography began to revolutionise the way that we see. The photographs reproduced in my fortuitous find stand in stark contrast to Turner’s painting. They are not regarded as great works of art, but as traces of moments frozen by a mechanical device. They are the work of a new technology, of a mechanical eye, that would soon vie with the painter’s hand for supremacy in the realm of simulacra, in the realm of reproduction.

Photographs from the 1800s always feel ghostly: stevedores at work rolling barrels along the quay of the Brouwersvliet (the Brewers Canal), passengers and sailors grouped at the Willemdok, boys wading into the Margueriedok at low tide. The latter are seen in a photograph from 1897, and one cannot help but wonder at the lives they lived. For where a painting of the same may have been in some way staged, edited or invented, our attention taken by the brushstrokes and the whimsy of the painter, there can be no doubt in the photograph, of a moment frozen in time, of the hesitancy of one boy and the daring of another, at the light and shadow of a particular time of day, of the longboats, half in the water, beside them. Who were those boys? What lives did they live? Did they survive the Great War? Did they survive the month? Did they know the legend of ‘Lange Wapper,’ the trickster who would lead one into the waters?

‘Lange Wapper’ is a mythic figure in Antwerp, a shape-shifting trickster of the canals who would lure drunks into the murky waters late at night. A sculpture of the trickster graces the forecourt of the Steen, Antwerp’s ancient fortress facing the Scheldt. As in the photographs of the boys, there is no changing the sculpture’s shape. The ‘real’ Lange Wapper is the spirit of calamity, a legend forged, perhaps, to warn a populace against the treachery of Antwerp’s ruien, the malign spirit of the hungry waters that could cut lives unexpectedly short.

Old photographs haunt; they beg stories of past lives. That is not to say that old paintings don’t; in many cases they are far more alive. The main difference is that paintings are hybrid creatures: they tell us as much about the painter as about their subject, bearing as they do the visceral trace of the painter’s hand. A good example here is ‘A view of the Koolvliet’ (the Coal Canal) from 1875, by Jan Michiel Ruyten, which predates a photograph of the same canal from 1881. Working from life, Ruyten had no way of ‘freezing’ his figures; they are approximations, evocations, rendered with deft economy, giving us an authentic flavour of the life of the canal. The photograph, however, is tantalisingly free of that trace, one step removed from human touch, giving it the aura of time embalmed, at once alluring and distant, at once full of life and the knowledge of its passing.

The dialogue between photography, sculpture and painting, has in our own time, of course, a rich history. Think of Any Warhol’s famous screen prints of Marilyn Monroe, of Gerhard Richter’s series of blurred photo realist paintings. Perhaps most moving of all are Anselm Kiefer’s multitude of lead books, the ‘pages’ of which are endowed with photographic prints, seared and emulsified into the lead. Such ‘books’ Kiefer has, over the years, forged into installations: as mobile library shelves, as sculptural stacks, as the ‘cargo’ of lead model ships, which in turn are attached to monolithic canvases. Through the likes of Kiefer the contemporary artist has swallowed the photograph just as the whale swallowed Jonah, only for it to come out again as something new, an artefact transformed. And so here we are again with the ships; this time they are Kiefer’s: lead effigies of WWII, just as Turner’s ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ was an effigy of Waterloo.

Like a swallowtail butterfly, David Geraghty has been slowly and steadily unfolding his wings as a solo artist. His first album, ‘Kill Your Darlings’ saw the light of day almost 20 years ago. Until then, since the mid-1990s, he had been in bands, “with a collective song-writing ethos”. No-one was credited individually. His first ‘real’ band was Juniper, founded by a group of secondary school students in Co Kildare that included Damien Rice. Geraghty was a friend and joined them around 1995. At that time, record contracts for unproven bands were not completely unheard of and Juniper signed a six-album deal with Polygram in 1997. Having earlier released two EPs, they recorded two singles that entered the Irish Top 20. However, disagreements with the record company over the choice of songs caused Rice (who went on to have a glowing solo career as a major singer-songwriter and folk artist) to quit. The rest of Juniper – David Geraghty (guitar, vocals, keys, percussion, banjo, piano, harmonica), Paul Noonan (lead vocals, guitar, percussion, keys), and Dominic Phillips (bass, vocals) – rebranded themselves as Bell X1 in 1999. And they remain the core members to this day, operating as a (song-writing) team, with additional musicians joining for gigs and recordings. 

Bell X1 has maintained a successful presence in Ireland and continues to do so. A multi-platinum selling Indie band with ‘a huge status’ in Ireland, they are also quite popular internationally, especially in the UK and the US. Partly as their music was used as a soundtrack for emotionally charged scenes in popular TV series such as Grey’s Anatomy and The OC. Bell X1 was the first-ever Irish act to headline at Malahide Castle (Co Dublin). It performs at festivals, including Electric Picnic, and large venues across Ireland, including sold-out slots at Croke Park supporting Ed Sheeran in 2015. Intermittently, they sometimes accepted invitations to act as the opening act for massive global bands such as U2, Tori Amos, Hall and Oates. It says on their website that they “treat these megastar opening slots as exclusive, landmark events rather than a regular touring habit”. Over the past 27 years, Bell X1 has released eight studio albums. Six were nominated for major awards (Best Irish Band/Album/Live Performance). The ninth album, Good Bones, was recorded this spring in upstate New York. A first single has been released, ‘But First, Love’. When the full album will be available is as yet unknown. 

The name Bell X1 was inspired by a 1979 book, ‘The Right Stuff’ by Tom Wolfe, which features the Bell X-1 – the historic aircraft that broke the sound barrier in 1947. David Geraghty: “We were looking for a band name at the time, and I think we just kind of went, let’s go with that, it’s kind of cool.” And slightly eccentric, with a technical ‘vibe’ (like naming a band U2 after an American reconnaissance aircraft). It also rhymes with how Bell X1 has navigated its career. Musically, it has often reinvented itself, like the art rock bands of old, experimenting with styles, techniques, accessibility. 

Geraghty’s individual journey was equally eclectic and impulsive. His first two solo albums, ‘Kill Your Darlings’ (2007) and ‘The Victory Dance’ (2009), were recorded under his own name, beautifully accompanied by his vocalist wife, Clare Finglass. Then he switched gears. “After two albums, I moved away from music under my own name. It felt like the right thing to do but in hindsight, I’m kind of sorry I did. Later, I released Inherit (2014) and Monomania (2019) under a different moniker, Join me in the Pines,” he explains during an online interview in June. The next day he will be playing an almost sold-out Live at the Marquee gig in Cork City with Bell X1, which will also play headline gigs at Iveagh Gardens (Dublin) and the Big Top (part of the Galway International Arts Festival) on July 11 and 18. “Expect soaring melodies, sharp lyrics and unmistakable chemistry,” says the festival blurb.

Geraghty has solo gigs lined up in West Cork, Ballincollig, Clonmel, Donegal and at Electric Picnic on August 27. He is due to release his fifth solo album on September 18. As himself. Fittingly so. David Geraghty and music go back a long way. “It’s how my parents met. My dad and a few buddies were in a ballad group. He played banjo and bass guitar. Around the time of the folk revival (Dylan covers and The Mammas and The Papas) they tried to jump on the bandwagon and needed a singer. My mum answered the ad. The rest is history.” He grew up with two siblings in Leixlip (Kildare); the only one that went into music. “It was obvious from a very young age that this guy was not gonna do anything else. Dad taught me guitar chords and my mum printed out lyrics. I was listening to people like Springsteen. I always had an ear for a strong melody and good lyrics. When I was very young, I was really wild. I would have broken space and time if someone had given me Red Bull. Borderline! But aged 12, 13 I calmed down and when we had a family sing-song I’d usually be asked to do something.”

He has a wonderful voice, intense and emotional but suffers from nerves when performing. “I do, actually. I think I took on board the admonishments to “sit down, behave, be quiet” that I heard for years. It had a psychological effect. Lots of self-doubt. After COVID, I had to throw myself into playing music live. Feeling the fear, doing it anyway. Now I’m really glad I did. Especially with the new album coming up.” It is called Komorebi. “A Japanese word describing sunlight leaking through trees. I envisage the forest clearing as nature’s little stage, waiting for something to happen, whether wildlife or human.” He laughs. “I asked ChatGPT, What should I do as a nervous performer? Just for the crack, I wasn’t expecting any insightful human response. But there was one interesting comment: “Your performance during the gig and the song you’re singing might be exactly what somebody in the audience needs at that moment.”  And I went, Jesus, you know what, I never even thought about this. I’m so busy trying to prove something to myself. I never asked, “How is this benefiting somebody else?”

David Geraghty performs: 

July 2 – Connolly’s of Leap; July 3 – The White Horse, Ballincollig; 

July 9 – Clonmel Junction Festival ; 

August 27 – Electric Picnic.

This month Natalie Webb is showing us how to make a huge icecream cone.

“This month’s project will really make your mouth water!”

Materials: 

•  Three sheets of card, one blue, one light brown or yellow, one dark brown.

•  Poster paints.

•  An old sponge

•  Glue  •  Scissors •  Pencil

•  Old plate

•  Brown marker pen

•  Small pom poms (optional)

Draw and cut out a long triangle shape from your light brown or yellow card to make your icecream cone.

Stick your cone onto your blue card then, using a brown marker, draw a criss cross design.

Cut out four disc shapes from your sponge. Don’t worry – they won’t be perfect circles!

Blob four different colour paints separately onto your plate. I used white, yellow, red and pink.

Dab your sponge pieces into the paints, using one for each colour, then press them down above your cone to make your icecream….you can make this as big and colourful as you like!

When you are happy with the result, cut out a little rectangle from the dark brown card for your chocolate flake. Stick this so that it looks like its’s coming out of the top of your icecream.

To finish off I added some “sprinkles” – I got some tiny pom poms and glued them onto the ice cream. It looks delicious….but don’t eat it!

The illegal wildlife trade is the second biggest international crime after drug smuggling, but one hears about it less often. Personally, I think that wildlife smugglers should be punished far more harshly than drug dealers – after all, if someone wants to inject himself with heroin or addle his brain with cannabis, that is his own business, and there is an infinite quantity of such drugs available, but the smuggled animal has done nothing to deserve its horrid fate, and one day its kind will probably be extinct.

Hundreds of animal species are traded illegally, many for spurious Chinese medicine, some for meat, others to become exotic pets for wealthy fools who know little about them. While most people are aware of the slaughter of elephants, rhinos and pangolins for their body parts, it might be surprising to learn that there is also a thriving illegal trade in insects, e.g. rhinoceros beetles into Japan, praying mantises into the USA, butterflies out of Sri Lanka.           

Recently, criminals have been caught trying to smuggle thousands of ants out of Kenya. The particular species were harvester ants, which are popular with collectors because the queens are so big – up to 25 mm in length. On the black market, a single queen ant can make €200. One smuggler, a Chinese national, was caught with 2,000 queens, each caged in a little plastic tube. The same man was apparently behind a similar smuggling operation a year ago, when three foreigners and a Kenyan were caught with 5,540 queen ants; they were each fined just $7,700.

Harvester ants are seed-eaters, and while they carry seeds back to their nest, they invariably drop some, thus helping dispersal. There are many millions of ants in one nest, but only one queen, without whom the colony cannot function, so the collection of queens on such an industrial scale could seriously endanger their survival, as well as upset the local ecology.

Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera, which also includes sawflies, bees and wasps. Ants have been found preserved in amber dating back to the Cretaceous period, when the dinosaurs were still ruling the planet. They are social insects – there are no solitary ant species – and like social bees, they have different castes: queens, males and sterile workers. There are sub-divisions of workers too, such as nurse maids, foragers and soldiers. Ants resemble termites in some ways, and termites are often called ‘white ants’, but they are not at all related. Worldwide, there are over 13,000 described ant species, and no doubt many thousands more; 20 species live in Ireland. Being so small, ants are frequently overlooked, and are often considered pests; they certainly can be in the tropics – leave any food uncovered, and you will soon have battalions of ants marching away with it. But ants are not only important ecologically, they are also fascinating little creatures.

The Sahara silver ant is the second fastest insect, after the Australian tiger beetle. It has been recorded at 3.1 kph which, relative to body size, corresponds to a human running at 720 kph. The reason for the ant’s swiftness is its habitat – it lives in the Sahara Desert, and has to find food quickly before the mid-day sun becomes too hot – 53 degrees kills them. To minimise the effects of heat on their feet, they use only four legs for running, the first pair being raised like arms.

Leaf-cutter ants live in Central and South America. They spend their lives cutting pieces of leaves and carrying them, like large green sails, back to their nests. Each ant can carry a piece of leaf 50 times its own body weight. The leaves are used to nourish a fungus, which is then fed to the ant larvae; different species of leaf-cutter ants use different species of fungus. The adult ants feed on leaf sap.

Many insects store nectar and other sugary liquids in special compartments within their nests – honey bees of course make honeycombs. But honeypot ants use their own bodies to store food. Special types of workers, called repletes, are fed by other workers until their bodies become so swollen with honey that they can no longer move, and they form a sort of living wine cellar. When other ants are thirsty, they tickle the repletes with their antennae until honey is regurgitated. There are many species of honeypot ants in the tropics; Australian Aborigines eat them.

Ants defend themselves in three ways: they can bite, sting or spray formic acid (the name of the ant family is Formicidae). The stings of some species can be painful or even fatal to humans. The bullet ant of tropical America is said to have the most painful sting of any animal. The jack jumper ant from Australia can be fatal to those allergic to ant stings.

Most invasive animals and plants cause problems. Ants, being so small and industrious, are very likely to escape from captivity and wreak havoc. One famous example is what happened on Christmas Island, a tiny Australian territory in the Indian Ocean renowned for its red crabs. These brightly coloured crustaceans live for most of the year in forests, but like all crabs, they must return to the sea to spawn. They do this in unbelievable numbers, marching across roads, getting squashed by cars, puncturing tyres and causing accidents. Once considered pests themselves, the islanders have come to appreciate these crabs; park rangers now help them across the roads, special underpasses have been built for them, and locals drive more carefully. After spawning, the crabs return to their forests, and later, the juveniles follow them from the sea.

Unfortunately, yellow crazy ants, a particularly aggressive species that forms immense super-colonies, were introduced onto Christmas Island in the early 20th century. The ants evict the crabs from their burrows, and eat them; they have killed 10-15 million crabs, perhaps a third of the population. This has changed the ecology of the island, because the plants that the crabs used to eat have now started to take over areas of forest.

I had an alarming experience with red driver ants when I lived in Zambia. I saw them occasionally on the walk to school, and then one day a sticky mass of them appeared in my little garden pond, as the ants made a living bridge to get across it. I just thought that was rather interesting – until they invaded the house.

My maid screamed out: ‘Mpashi!’ [their name in Bemba]. ‘They will eat us!’ The whole veranda seemed to be alive, crawling and crackling, the outside wall covered by millions of ants. We shut the doors and windows, but soon the ants were pouring into the lounge through a hole in the wall. If I had been asleep, they would indeed have started to devour me.

I like and respect ants, but those ones had to go. We filled up buckets of hot water and washed them all into the garden where the birds had a feast.

There are about 60 species of driver ants in Africa; they are called siafu in Swahili. The ones in my garden were probably Dorylus helvolus, but I wasn’t thinking too much about positive identification at the time. They usually live in gigantic underground nests, but when food runs out, they set off in columns, up to 50 million strong. The workers are small, and march in the centre of the column, with the large and very pugnacious soldiers, who have square heads and big jaws, on either side; all are coloured a dark reddish brown. If one is careless when out walking and gets too close to a marching line of these ants, the soldiers will soon be up your legs and biting badly. The Maasai use them as sutures to heal cuts, because once their jaws clamp down, they don’t ever let go. The queens of this species are huge, up to five centimetres long; the clumsy winged males, which are attracted to lights and often crash-land in one’s evening whisky, are not much smaller, and are known as sausage flies.

Globally, most insect species are declining, because of pesticides, climate change, urbanisation, and all of you who insist on mowing your lawns every time the sun comes out. Illegal trading will only make things worse. Few people care much about insects, even though they are by far the most important animals on the planet. Many will not survive. But ants will. One day, when human overpopulation, unnecessary technology and idiotic consumerism render the Earth uninhabitable for higher animals, the ants, with their organisation and vast numbers, will still be here.