It’s all go on the political front isn’t it? As the government steps down and the election posters go up the next three weeks will see wall to wall coverage of the imminent battle. Prime the Sky box for the soaps because politicians, some of whom you may have mistakenly thought had passed on to the next life, will...
Author: Nichola Beresford
Seeing success
Seeing success
I know several people that are happy to trot out the theory that despite the fact that there are still sixty seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour, time has somehow speeded up. People with such a belief will usually tell you in the next breath that the end of the world is nigh. To sort of quote a Billy Joel...
Public Compassion
Public Compassion
If we are to measure social climate and general thinking by what we see in the media then our attitude to murder and death has been well exposed in the past two weeks. This isn’t an easy subject to write about because one wrong word or a clumsy, unexpanded thought and I could be wholly misunderstood in the extreme. I...
Just buy the boots!
Just buy the boots!
January; the month of guilt! This is probably an affliction only suffered by my own age group and those older. Anyone born post 1980, and particularly the Celtic Tiger cubs, were released from this infernal disease of feeling guilty at the drop of a hat and probably won’t have a clue what I’m talking about. I’m...
Don’t look back in Anger!
Don’t look back in Anger!
Over the Christmas break I spent some concentrated time with my nephew and niece, five years and two and half respectively. We read books, played games and watched TV. Hanging out with these two for a few days was quite enlightening. I noticed, unlike me, they only ate when they were hungry. Even the tempting things...
Beat the cold by understanding the cold
Beat the cold by understanding the cold
There is no doubt that some people feel the cold more than others. It’s not that I get cold quickly, but rather that I am very sensitive to both rises and drops in temperature. As the cold snap disappeared over the weekend and the temperatures returned to what we would normally expect of an Irish winter I was...
Change – it’s all in the way you look at it!
Change – it’s all in the way you look at it!
The Christmas decorations are up, the ironing basket is empty and the house is very tidy; all thanks to the snow. Mind you I’m the only one that will enjoy it as no one can call around. As I write, my car hasn’t left the driveway in nine days and I haven’t left the house in about five. I’ve actually stopped counting...
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
On Friday night last I was at the wonderful Barrack Street Concert Band 140th anniversary concert at the Good Shepherd Chapel. It was a pure joy from beginning to end and the perfect antidote to the miserable news week that was in it. Two and half hours of music dotted with the remarkable singing talent of Donna...
Have we forgotten how to dress?
Have we forgotten how to dress?
The death of actress Moira Hoey who played the legendary Mary Riordan in RTE’s The Riordan’s sparked many thoughts on Monday last. As her death was announced I was instantly transported to Sunday evenings in the 1970s. I have more vivid memories of Glenroe but while I can’t recall actual plot lines from the Riordans...
I’m choosing glorious life over poisonous gloom
I’m choosing glorious life over poisonous gloom
I was out of the country from Wednesday to Friday of last week. Almost precisely forty eight hours of unexpected sunshine and fun. I was with the common denominator in a group of five, so everyone else was new to me. Once the work was done the remaining time was spent in laughter and high jinx. It was a tonic to say...
Explosion of social carbuncle
Explosion of social carbuncle
The downturn, the recession, the death of the Celtic Tiger; call it what you want but it is a manmade mess of mammoth proportions. While some like to think of it as a bubble bursting, I personally think of it more like a massive boil or carbuncle exploding. When a bubble bursts it disappears. When a boil bursts there...
Caught in the Ikea Trap
Caught in the Ikea Trap
A pregnant friend invited me to go Ikea on Bank Holiday Monday. I’ve visited Ikea in other countries and know that it is one large consumer trap, the mother of man eating cash cows in the retail sector and I am wary of it. There is something magical about the big blue and yellow box of Swedish home wares. As you...