Mags Gargan meets young activists working to solve problems they see in their communities Farm safety, human trafficking, sexual consent, mental health, animal cruelty, eating disorders and climate change were among some of the issues being tackled by teenagers competing for the Young Social Innovators of the Year 2017 title. About 800 young people from schools…

Joyce Meyer Joyce Meyer shares actionable advice and encouragement on how to start enjoying the life God created for us “I’m just having a bad day.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people mutter those words (or muttered them myself). Traffic is backed up, you spill your coffee before you even get…

Gillian Doherty Gillian Doherty reports from a retreat for Transition Year students The hills were alive with the sound of music, prayer, and praise in the Knockmealdown Mountains, Co. Waterford last week, as more than 350 Transition Year students from across Munster gathered for the Mount Melleray Youth Day 2017. The event was organised by…

Mags Gargan talks to the new chief executive of the Irish Chaplaincy in London Sixty years ago, the Irish Bishops’ Conference sent nine Columbans to England to minister to the thousands of Irish emigrants there, mainly to those working in the construction and catering industries. This was how the Irish Chaplaincy in London began and…

Sleep is a precious part of our day that we never have enough of, writes Wendy Grace For many of us, getting enough sleep can be a luxury or, perhaps like me, you’re a parent of a young child and a full eight hours sleep is a distant memory, or there just doesn’t seem to…

Mags Gargan talks to the CEO of a charity supporting the visually impaired “It is hugely brave to walk out the front door with very little sight and take on the world with effectively just a cane,” says Chris White, CEO of the National Council for the Blind (NCBI), of the charity’s service users. Supporting,…

Mags Gargan examines a social enterprise project which is tackling both food waste and food poverty In Ireland an estimated one million tonnes of food is wasted annually, while 1 in 8 people are suffering from food poverty. Within communities across the country businesses are throwing away perfectly good food, while local charities are struggling…

Nicole Turner Fourteen-year-old Nicole Turner shares her incredible journey as a paralympian I was born with a disability called hypochondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. At the age of five my parents sent me to have swimming lessons for safety reasons and then I joined a local swimming club in Portarlington, Piranha Swim Club where I…

Aileen Cox Blundell Baby-led feeding allows your child to explore food at their own pace and become a healthy eater, writes Aileen Cox Blundell Baby-led feeding works from the same principles as baby-led weaning. It begins when your little one is around the six-month mark and has started to show signs of being able to…

Mags Gargan talks to the new Pope John Paul II Award Co-ordinator Over 1,000 young people gathered in Knock Shrine last week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Pope John Paul II Award. This was just a small portion of the over 20,000 teenagers who have completed the award since it was set up…