Youth Space Retreats give us time to stop and think about ourselves and God, writes James McNamara For most teenagers, the prospect of a class outing creates a sense of anticipation, excitement, adventure and fun. A break from school, an opportunity to relax, but Ms Ronan’s next two words rang alarm bells: ‘Lough Derg.’…
Sweet Treats Laura Anderson Although there are very few ingredients to this recipe it makes the tastiest treat! The key to success here is the preparation beforehand as the formation of the honeycomb happens quite quickly. Be sure to have all utensils to hand and read through the method a few times before…
Lighting up Christmas To celebrate community, creativity and Christmas, check out the Festival of Light in Kilkenny’s Castlecomer which is sure to be a hit with whole family. Beginning on November 30 and running straight up to December 24, you and your kids will get to make your own lanterns, participate in The Parade of…
I recently organised some training to run parenting programmes. I also took part in the training myself and I am looking forward to getting out around the county and running these groups with parents. As part of my job I coordinate a lot of the parenting programmes that happen in Donegal and parents contact me to…
Don’t forget that Christmas is a time for sharing, writes Colm Fitzpatrick The Christmas season has the incredible ability to turn an empty, quiet house into a bustling and lively hub where families – for a short period of time – can catch up and reminisce over stories and jokes long gone past. However,…
Science of Life Mary Robinson, Head of the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice, recently advocated that we should all reduce our consumption of meat in order to ameliorate global warming, saying: “We need to eat less meat, maybe become vegetarian, or even vegan.” The underlying idea is to eliminate emissions of warming gases…
The kids had ‘World War I day’ in school last week, to mark the centenary of the armistice of 1918. The teachers arrived in Edwardian costume, and the kids were dressed in old-fashioned clothes, or dressed as nurses or soldiers. Most of the boys came dressed as soldiers and, inevitably, some shooting games ensued. The…
Youth Space Challenging discussions can enrich our Faith, writes Rachel Sherlock Doom and gloom is the typical tone when it comes to talking about young people in the Catholic Church. From parish pulpits to Vatican synods, there are endless calls to reach out to a demographic that seems more and more to be moving…
Green Fingers The amount of time you spend in the garden in November is usually governed by the weather on the day, not the amount of jobs to be done. When a task becomes a chore, it is no longer enjoyable. Leave it and come back to it again when you can take it…
Choo choo! With the Christmas holidays fast-approaching, how does a magical train ride through a festive forest sound? On offer from December 1–9, is ‘The Christmas Express’ at Laois’ Stradbally Woodlands Railway – the first volunteer-run heritage railway in Ireland, having been established in 1969. The whole family will get the chance to embark on…
Bairbre Cahill
Colm Fitzpatrick
William Reville
Paul Gargan