Lifestyle

April 2021

Keep an eye out for amazing Irish brands

Holos skincare range is made on my own doorstep, just up the road in Enniscorthy. As well as their popular face oils, serums, and eye creams, they have some other interesting products.

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Exploding the myth of multi-tasking

It is Tuesday morning. You are on a work zoom call and intermittently checking and responding to emails. You get a text from one of your children about a problem they spoke to you about yesterday. A new urgent email arrives that you have to answer immediately. Something comes up on the zoom that you want to respond to. You remember a bill you need to pay today. Modern life has lots of interruptions and distractions.

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Welcome a new and improved Pollinator Plan

The very ambitious Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 was published on 23 March. It enshrines in law an interim target of a 51% reduction in emissions to be achieved by the end of this decade.

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Gallery

Dubliner Darina on loving life in Dunlavin

Darina? No, not Darina Allen the Cork chef but Darina Gaynor, the scout leader and businesswoman from Dunlavin. Your reporter called to her home on the outskirts of the village to find out how the 47-year-old was weathering the pandemic.

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The top ten chart this week in 1968: A famous Eurovision song that was pipped at the post

'Congratulations' did not win the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, but it's better known than most that did.

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Top films to watch on TV this weekend

Saturday: Inception (2010) ITV, 10.45pm - Brilliant thief Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team infiltrate the minds of powerful men and women and plunder their subconscious of its priceless secrets. Powerful businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe) approaches Cobb with a proposition: to plant a single idea in the mind of rival Robert Fischer Jr (Cillian Murphy).

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New mothers need breastfeeding supports

Green Party Councillor Erika Doyle is supporting a campaign asking Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to ensure adequate breastfeeding supports are put in place to support new mothers.

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Gallery

The top ten this week in 1966: A classic No.1 featuring the great Scott Walker

'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)' had a very low-key baptism, the silky vocals of Frankie Valli taking it to number 128 in the US charts in the autumn of 1965.

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Ready to start planning a family?

Have you come to a point in your life where you're ready to start planning a family?

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Gallery

Eoin's Copperfish is lighting up the world

Welcome to 'The Tip', as he calls it. Eoin Shanley realises that his workshop in a Rathnew business park is less than pretty. Your reporter is soon sneezing as the sawdust tickles his nostrils and the place is in a state of rampant disorder. Tools and machines and endless chunks of timber vie for space with bits and pieces of electrical junk.

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Exercise, fresh air and your wellbeing

The longer brighter days are an invitation to get outdoors and move more. In Ireland, we, and particularly those of us living in rural areas, are lucky to have so much green space and high quality fresh air.

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Scientists fear the Gulf Stream is slowing down

We are warned by earth scientists that the Gulf Stream is slowing down. That great river in the North Atlantic Ocean that sends warm water from the tropics to our shores to keep our climate mild in winter is losing force. It is slowing and it is carrying less water.

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March 2021

Top films to watch on TV this weekend

Saturday: Rush (2013) BBC4, 9pm - During the 1970s, rubber burnt and tempers frayed between two very different Formula 1 drivers: charismatic ladies' man James Hunt and incredibly ambitious Austrian speed fiend Niki Lauda.

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A change of pace to create semi-abstract collections

Hannah Sayers has made her way all the way from the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry to family life in Bray with her husband and their son.

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Nancy has spent time in lockdown writing a book about her family history

Nancy Quinn has been cocooning at her daughter Sheelagh's home in Tara Hill since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Spring Equinox - a time for renewal

At the equinox, the Earth's two hemispheres receive the sun's rays equally. The word equinox comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night).

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Gallery

Lifting the soul of Arklow

If Avoca GAA and Conary United stalwart Eoin Murtagh can bring the energy and desire he is so well-known for on the field of play to his new business venture in South Quay in Arklow then success will surely follow.

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Retro Chart: a UK one-two for Dublin's Lynch family

Success was very sweet for one Dublin family when Irish bands occupied the top two slots in the UK charts for one week in the spring of 1999. B*Witched's line-up included twins Edele and Keavy Lynch, younger sisters of Boyzone's Shane.

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Have you seen any tropical parrots lately?

The Parakeet is a bird that cannot easily be confused with any wild bird found in Ireland. It is a slim-bodied parrot, green in colour with a bright red, parrot-like bill and a very long and very narrow tail. It is more than twice the size of any of our native greenish finches and has a very different, upright body shape and stance.

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Help pain relief with A. Vogel's Atrogel

March is here and what a great month to get out into the garden or back to outdoor fitness. This of course will bring some of you great joy to be doing the things you love to do outdoors. But if you've been over enthusiastic you could end up with sore muscles and stiff shoulders after hours spent doing what you love.

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Low tides bring opportunities for rock-pooling

Low tides are of great interest to the nature enthusiast as they expose parts of the lower shore on rocky coasts that are normally covered by seawater. If you are fortunate enough to have a rocky seashore within your present 5km COVID-19 restriction zone, low tides later this month will be of interest.

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Pandemic habits you may want to keep

We have just marked a year since our first lockdown. Our lives have changed in ways we never expected them to and in a very short space of time.

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Health benefits of Vitamin D are wide-ranging

By now most of you will have heard the mounting research showing the benefits of Vitamin D supplementation to help protect against respiratory infections and boosting immune response to them. But what else is it Vitamin D good for, how long should you take it, and how much do you need to take?

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Gallery

Ken Doyle recalls the formation of Bagatelle

It seems everyone in Bray knows Ken Doyle. Walking through the town with his dog - a Jack Russell called Rosco - he is greeted by friends and fans every few metres. And when the musician stops to speak to your reporter over the phone, the salutations continue.

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Top films to watch on TV this weekend

Saturday - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) Channel 4, 9pm. The company of dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), including hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), watches in horror as the mighty dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) incinerates Laketown.

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The top ten this week in 1986: dazzling Diana Ross leads star studded line-up

Here's a star studded top ten from the mid eighties with a couple of interesting re-releases of classic tunes.

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Top films to watch on TV this weekend

Saturday: Whiplash (2014) BBC2, 11.20pm - Nineteen-year-old drummer Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is determined to excel at his Manhattan music conservatory, so he practises night and day and catches the eye of the school's most revered teacher, Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons).

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Wellbeing while working from home

As we come to the year anniversary of the first lockdown in Ireland, many are reflecting on the trends and lessons learned in the last year.

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Gallery

The year Steinman power ballad gave Bonnie Tyler a six million seller

Michael Jackson's classic Billie Jean had a very short reign of just one week at the top of the UK charts before being dethroned by a memorable power ballad from Bonnie Tyler, a lady short in stature but hugely powerful in voice.

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Look after your gut with friendly bacteria

Diverticulosis is a gut problem where small pouches develop in the bowel. This can be due to weakness/pressure/poor diet, or genetics. Diverticulitis is when a person experiences symptoms. The pouches or pockets become infected and inflamed which can be caused by an infection in the intestine. Food can get trapped in the pouches causing inflammation and sometimes infection.