Children’s Corner When it comes to food, everyone has their own opinion on what is delicious and what is wholly repulsive. While some enjoy a generous helping of marmite, olives or blue cheese on their plate, others will have a feeling of deep dread in the pit of their stomach about the thought of eating…

The kids are now in the final term of a very strange school year. My youngest, who is in senior infants, has had most of her school career disrupted by the pandemic. The older kids can learn remotely more easily, and could even stay in touch with their classmates online. The sense of isolation was…

We are in the midst of the Easter Season and I for one am glad that it is a season and not simply a day. I need time for Easter to grow gradually. I have struggled with stones and tombs this year and have needed a slow gentle dawning rather than exuberant exclamations of joy.…

My two-year-old has now spent most of her life under coronavirus restrictions. Of course, she doesn’t understand the bigger picture, but she does know that, at times, the Government stops the older children from going to school and her from going to her beloved childminder. She knows that sometimes we are not allowed go to…

Online events for children over Easter Corrib Kids are running creative technology clubs for 8-16 year olds, which teach children how to build, design, code and animate in a fun and engaging way using Scratch, Roblox, Lego robotics and more. To register for online classes and camps, visit www.corribkidscoding.com. For a more literary twist, Creative…

A Parent’s Perspective I’ve detected an increasing sense of despondency and dismay with the realisation that any chance of life going back to normal seems a long way off. My daughter was watching an anime film recently; its themes of love and romance made her sad because she said it just reminded her of her…

After the drear of an Irish winter, the first few sunny spring days seem almost miraculous. As the gloom wore on, month after month, it seemed that never again would we rest easy in the sunshine. The Irish climate makes moments of luxuriating comfortably in nature rare, and therefore precious. Yet all of a sudden,…

During the week we had the first session of our book club exploring the story of St Ignatius ‘The Pilgrim’ which Bishop Alan McGuckian had translated into Irish. We talked about the early life of Ignatius and the impact it had when he began to realise how present and active God was within his own…

Children have an amazing ability to escape into the present moment, far more easily than we adults do. Since my mother died, the children have spent plenty of time lost in sorrow and reminiscence, and enough time crying. Yet in just a few minutes, they can switch from being immersed in heartfelt sadness over a…

Many of the readings in the early weeks of Lent have reminded us of God’s call to break the rod of oppression, to feed the hungry and care for the homeless poor, to learn to do good and to love our neighbour. I know people who live their lives faithful to this but they may…