John Newton was just 18 when he was captured and press ganged into the Royal Navy. Like many young men forced to work on the ships he hated life in the Navy and attempted to run away while in port. He was caught stripped to the waist, tied to a grate and flogged in front of the ship’s crew. Newton […]

In the UK, new research reveals that drinking water or unsweetened tea or coffee in place of one sugary drink per day can decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes. The investigation suggests that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes may increase by as much as 18% for each 5% increase of a person’s total energy intake provided by sweet […]

Sixth-year student Christopher Carragher from Our Lady’s Secondary School in Castleblaney has had an asteroid named after him after winning a major $1,500 prize in the US. The County Monaghan student came second in the world in the ‘Computational Biology and Bioinformatics’ category at the International Science and Engineering Fair 2015 which was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Christopher got to Pennsylvania […]

Asgard II, the Irish national sail training vessel, sank on 11th September 2008 in the Bay of Biscay and was not raised or replaced. Now there is a group with an exciting vision for a new all-Island sail training vessel that could be used for youth development voyages. Wendy chats with Neil O’Hagan, Executive Director of the Atlantic Youth Trust, […]

I went to a lovely film over the weekend.  It’s called ‘Inside Out’, a children’s movie with a light-hearted look at how our emotions work.  As the trailer shows, inside 11-year old Minnesota girl Riley there is a control room with five little people, each representing an emotion, all vying to influence and guide her.  All with Riley’s best interests […]

A new app, entitled Book of You, could revolutionise reminiscence therapy for people with dementia. Reminiscence is widely used with people with dementia. It involves the use of objects and photographs from the past to encourage memories and conversations or create books of memories and life-stories relating to each individual. The Book of You app takes those sessions and individually creates […]

In the UK, a new combination therapy has been discovered by an international team in a move that could dramatically reduce the levels of lung damage sustained in about half of the cystic fibrosis population. The treatment, known as Orkambi, combines ivacaftor with another compound called lumacaftor and could reduce by up to 39% the number of pulmonary exacerbations suffered by a […]

Are gadgets a distraction? They certainly can be, but what is it that attracts us to this clever tech? There is definitely something appealing to gadgets that either make life easier, have an entertainment factor or just plainly bring a smile to our face. There’s huge amount of creativity and genius that have gone into gadgets and how many times […]

We are in that phase of life in which our children are increasingly independent. Some are living overseas, some are away on gap years. Half of them are now driving. They are all becoming so capable. I suppose as a parent you always have mixed emotions. You are thrilled to see them becoming independent and at the same time… the […]