Courtney McGrailJohn Reid explores the challenges of Christmas as experienced by more and more people
Month: December 2016
A blooming start to the new year!
Paul GarganAfter the hustle and bustle of Christmas, it can be very therapeutic and uplifting to get out into the garden in January. The garden itself is a skeleton of its usual, colourful, vibrant self. This makes it easy to see and reach the bits that need attention. Give wisteria its winter pruning now. It's pruned…
Study finds direct link between mother’s attention and child’s early development
Staff Reporter A leading psychiatrist has welcomed a new study which establishes an appreciable link between the time spent by a mother with her children and the children’s cognitive and social development. Reacting to news that researchers from the University of Essex and University College London have found that the greater a mother’s attention and…
Knock the only antidote to a week of stereotypes
Brendan O’ReganStereotyping is normally regarded as a bad thing, and that’s fair enough, but sometimes it seems that it’s acceptable to stereotype certain people, including Catholic priests. These thoughts were prompted by a few episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, currently showing on TV3, Wednesday nights. Last week’s episode wound up a story about…
SVP braces for huge demand
Paul KeenanThe Society of St Vincent de Paul expects to help 140,000 people in need over the Christmas season, it has revealed. As it undertakes its annual appeal for donations, the society said that despite signs of recovery in areas of the economy, calls to its offices nationwide were still at recession levels and set to…
LoveBoth calls for practical supports
Members of the Pro Life Campaign outside the Central Bank in Dublin at the launch of the LoveBoth Project to highlight the benefits of Ireland’s constitutional protections for the unborn. The project advocates the introduction of more practical supports for families facing unplanned or difficult pregnancies.
Endangered garden of “huge value” to locals – priest
Staff Reporter Ballyfermot residents who have blocked efforts to begin work on a €12million social housing development are concerned about the lack of resources in the area, according to their parish priest. The housing co-operative Nabco was given permission in 2008 to build the houses at a site owned by Dublin City Council in Ballyfermot’s…
Capuchins back down from suggestions of 1916 surrender letter theft
Greg DalyIreland’s Capuchins have backed down from intimations that a 1916 surrender letter by Patrick Pearse, put forward for sale by auction this week, was improperly removed from the order’s archives. The letter, described by Adams Auctioneers as “the most significant Irish document to be offered for sale”, directed Cmdt Edward Daly, leading the Volunteers’ First…
An Post rises will affect elderly more
John Reid Age Action has sharply criticised the State’s intention to repeal the postal price cap “without consultation or discussion”. Spokesman Justin Moran said: “The price has already increased twice in the last two years and many older people, who prefer to send letters and cards rather than emails, will be disappointed to hear another…
Mistaken view of ‘modernity’ discourages breast-feeding, not the Catholic Church
Mary KennyMary Kenny defends the Catholic Church against accusations it has contributed to the fall of breast-feeding in Ireland