A piece in the Irish Examiner made the claim that “people who sing in choirs report significant higher levels of wellbeing.” This article was on research published by Hilary Moss, Jessica O’Donoghue and Julie Lynch at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in a paper entitled “Sing Yourself Better: the…
With terrible approval ratings, high unemployment and sluggish economic growth, President of France François Hollande will not be seeking a second term of office. With the winds of populism running through global politics, will this be the far-right’s best chance to win a presidential election in Europe? The first round of the French Presidential Elections…
Lent starts this week on Ash Wednesday and many people, myself included, may inadvertently get flashbacks to years gone by with having to give up sweets, chocolate or crisps (while in school anyway) and collecting for Trócaire Boxes. But is this really how we should be remembering Lent? Just as a period of self-denial? Or…
Following the resignation of Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister on January 9th over the ongoing Renewable Heating Initiative (RHI) and the fallout from it, elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly have been set for March 2nd by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villers. This followed the refusal of Arlene Foster (the leader…
Refugees and how to deal with migrants is a growing question for many developed nations, including Ireland. Many parts of the world are becoming unstable due to war, poverty, disease and famine. In 2015 there was a 126.2% increase on the number of refugee and Asylum applications in Ireland, with 3,276 applications received during the…
Sid Meier’s Civilisation VI from 2K Games is the latest installation of the Civilisation series that I have played since the second instalment of the series on the PlayStation. This 4X turned based strategy game goes deeper than past games and makes city planning all important. It has also seen huge improvement in graphics and…
‘Pax’- the Latin word for peace – is the first word that greets you as you enter the faux-19th Century Norman Castle that now serves as a monastery for the Benedictine Community in Glenstal Abbey near Murroe, Co. Limerick. The Benedictines bought the buildings and surrounding land in 1927 and set about creating the monastery,…
As the majority of our attention is taken up with the daily news on Secretary Hillary Clinton, Mr.Donald Trump and their quest for the White House, we often miss out on the races that are happening for the House of Representatives and the Senate. Running for the House is a gruelling task; from the moment…
At the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the United Kingdom Government will trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The triggering of Article 50 begins the process of the UK leaving the European Union, and is scheduled to occur in March 2017. This starts a…
The Tuesday after the first Monday in November is set in the United States Constitution as the date for Elections to the Presidency and to Congress. This year that date is November 8th and that night (or early the next morning) we will find out who will be the next President of the United States:…