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The Prime Time special on Áras Attracta, which was aired on Tuesday 9th of December, made for distressing viewing. For those of us with special needs children, it was even more so. It is every parent’s worst nightmare. ‘That could be my Johnny or my Mary.’ It was all too horrific. Surely there must be some… Read more »
Have you ever stopped to think what a brilliant, unique and remarkable person you are? The end of an old year and the start of a new year can be a time to reflect on that statement. Of all the people who ever lived, not one of them is just like you. No one who… Read more »
From farming practices to the ice bucket challenge, North Galway students are hoping to make their mark on this year’s BT Young Scientist exhibition that gets under way in Dublin next week. A host of schools throughout the city and county have reached the finals of the competition, with a group of students who represented… Read more »
As we look forward to another new year, I have put together some New Year’s resolutions or New Year’s New Beginnings as I like to call them. It is a time for giving thanks for blessings received, asking forgiveness for transgressions committed, forgiving those who have aggrived us, and asking grace and strength for the future…. Read more »
This building has many secrets You will find it on the Dublin road just across from the GMIT a building that has seen it all from seasonal work parties to the graduation ball 175 rooms, a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, restaurant, bar all empty, full of secrets that will never be told it stands with… Read more »
Recently my daughters Mia and Sophie asked me ‘What should we leave for Santa as a gift?’ Mia answered the question she had just finished asking by saying: ‘Water and pasta and don’t forget a carrot for Rudolph, he must not be left out just because he looks different.’ Wow, I thought, what a statement… Read more »
Award-winning Illustrator Annie West has just published her most recent book Yeats in Love. This semi-fictional account of WB Yeats’ obsessive yet ultimately fruitless pursuit of Maud Gonne, illustrated by Annie, commemorates the Nobel Laureate’s 150th birthday. The artist has had a varied career since graduating from Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design in 1979 with… Read more »
The following is a story called The Christmas Rose. It’s about a man, whose wife and daughter died tragically. It’s about Christmas and the real love children have for their parents and siblings. It shows the real spirit of Christmas. The Christmas Rose “I hurried into the local shop to grab some last minute Christmas gifts…. Read more »
I heard the following story from a friend about a family who decided a long time ago that, rather than buying presents for one another at Christmas, they would buy something more meaningful that would fit into the spirit of a Christ-filled Christmas. The Real Spirit of Christmas “It’s just a white envelope stuck among… Read more »
To say that the national school in Claregalway—Scoil Náisiúnta Baile Chláir na Gaillimhe—is multicultural is almost an understatement, but it is refreshing to hear pupils from as far away as Bangladesh or Sudan speaking Irish and embracing knowledge about Irish crafts and traditions of their homelands. As part of the Green Schools Global Citizenship project,… Read more »
It has taken a lifetime of darkness to say thank you. You transformed our lives when you first arrived back in the fifties, and we stopped buying the candles and paraffin oil with its aroma permeating and lurking in dark under stairway spaces. You cast a whole new light on all our activities, our nocturnal comings… Read more »
Earlier this year I was asked to write a foreword for an anthology of poems and short stories written by primary school children and published by the Galway Education Centre. Within that foreword are the words Is é sin an draíocht atá laistigh ionann go léir. That is the magic within all of us. I… Read more »
Beautiful photo taken this evening by Marie Dempsey at 7pm while saying the Rosary at the Grotto in Claregalway Church.
