Seasonal sadness can destroy your Christmas holidays, but there are ways to combat it, writes Colm Fitzpatrick The Christmas holidays are a highlight in almost everybody’s calendar, but the season can be tinged with unexpected feelings of unhappiness and loneliness, with these spilling over or bubbling up in January. The ‘Christmas blues’ or ‘post-holiday…
Science of Life Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that began in China during the Tang dynasty (618 – 907). It is a combination of the insights of Buddha (490-410 BC) with the Tao. The Tao is an intuitive philosophy used in China for thousands of years and pointing to the essence of…
Personal Profile There’s more to our beliefs than meets the eye, writes Colm Fitzpatrick Renowned Doctor of the Church, St Thomas Aquinas once opined: “Beware the man of a single book” – but for Fr Conor McDonough OP, this is a warning that he needs not fear. The 32-year-old Dominican friar who hails from…
The lorry groaned as the enormous skip landed with a metallic thud on my driveway. This was going to be spring-cleaning on an industrial scale. Five years ago, a sudden job offer precipitated a hasty move to Dublin from our old farmhouse in West Cork. We had far too much stuff to take with us,…
Green Fingers At this time of year when your garden shows the bare bones of its skeleton, you can see things that you normally don’t and it’s much easier to reach the bits that need attention. Fix or replace broken fence posts or panels, if left to blow over and back in the wind…
Tickling the brain Why is the sky blue? Why don’t penguins’ feet freeze? These are the types of questions Ireland’s brightest young science students will answer through their exhibits which will go on display at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition running from January 9 -12. A highlight on the secondary school calendar, the…
Preparing for Christmas can take the stress out of the day, writes Colm Fitzpatrick There are certain facts that you can only learn about by growing older: time is a limited resource; your health is a priority; and of course, Christmas is really stressful. For kids, this festive day is almost other-worldly, where they…
A Parent’s Perspective I recently returned from a week in the beautiful Canarian island of Fuerteventura. Located just 100km from the coast of north Africa, it’s no wonder that it’s referred to as the island of eternal spring. It was very strange to be strolling around in shorts and t-shirts, sipping cool drinks and slapping…
I watched an ad today on Facebook. The ad was meant to be on TV but it has been banned. Why? It is considered to be too political. The ad, ‘There is an orangutan in my bedroom’, is a beautifully animated piece which explores the destruction of the jungles where orangutans live. The land is cleared…
Youth Space Our faith calls us to set the world on fire, writes Blánaid ní Bhraonáin A few weeks ago, a group of young adults from around Ireland joined a pilgrimage to Rome with the theme ‘Our Upward Call’. The trip was organised by the community of Dominican Sisters of St Cecelia. In 2016, four…
Colm Fitzpatrick
William Reville
Paul Gargan
Maria Byrne
Bairbre Cahill