Is mobile phone ban in pubs a step too far?

What would you do if you were asked to switch off your mobile phone in a pub or restaurant?

Mairead Stafford, Jim Rossiter, Nettie Bowie and Mary Maher (President) at the Enniscorthy Toastmasters open evening

A toast to new members at open night

Enniscorthy Toastmasters rolled out the welcome mat at The Riverside Park Hotel recently as they hosted an open evening to show potential new members what they're all about.

It’s sad that a frivolous thing such as the 10 Year Challenge initiated on Facebook became a mechanism to self-criticise and compare themselves to others

Vain 'challenge' an exercise in self-criticism

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking I'm getting a bit fed up of these silly online 'challenges', the latest of which was the 10 Year Challenge initiated on Facebook.

Christmas has morphed from a religious and family celebration into a race to buy as much as possible and fill our homes for a single day

Has shopping overtaken festive traditions?

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking Sure what else would you be doing on Christmas night but queueing up to go shopping?

I can’t help thinking that we’re losing the run of ourselves at Christmas

The Way I See It - Fr Michael Commane In conversation with a friend in the last few days we were talking about how in vogue the word 'experience' has become. He brought it to my attention how everything is now regarded as an experience. People look forward say to the experience of going for a...

Cerys Matthews and Tom Jones singing their version of‘Baby it’s cold outside’. How can people seriously think this song has connotations about spiking someone’s drink?

Christmas song censorship is PC madness

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking Just as everyone is getting well and truly into the Christmas spirit, a debate erupts about censorship of 'inappropriate' festive songs.

Presentation of certificates in The Link Training Services Enniscorthy for the “Cook-it” course

Cooking up a storm at Link Training

Pádraig Byrne Kitchens across Enniscorthy have been put to good use trying a range of new and different dishes in recent weeks as participants of the 'Cook It' Course offered by Link Training took their work home with them.

How do we embrace all that is sincere and meaningful about Christmas without getting swept up in the vulgar consumerism which it encourages?

Christmas in November? Well, why not?

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking I don't know about you, but I think that Christmas has arrived much earlier than usual this year, but for once people don't seem to mind.

We finally seem to be moving away from the Ireland which celebrated drinking to excess and enjoyed blissful ignorance of the health risks that drinking excess alcohol pose

It's never too early to promote healthy living

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking After 1000 days of debate, the Public Health Alcohol Bill passed through the Dáil last week with some long overdue regulations set out.

The UK is to introduce legislation to ban the sale of high caffeine and high sugar energy drinks to under 16s and it is hoped that the same will follow in Ireland

Listen to the food experts not online gurus

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking Trendy fashion fads are at risk of creating difficulties for those suffer with real food intolerances, an expert has claimed.

The Catholic Church needs to start listening to the people and hearing what they want

Is the church capable of any real change?

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking With just days before Pope Francis's official visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families, I found the comments of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin last Sunday hit the right note.

Linda O’Rourke, Fr Paddy Banville, Bishop Denis Brennan & Liz Wildes at the launch of the 2019 Enniscorthy Calendar

St Senan's Parish Calendar hoping to go global again!

Pádraig Byrne Some beautiful images of Enniscorthy and surrounding areas are once again set to be hung on walls everywhere from Bree to Bangkok as the official St Senan's Parish Enniscorthy Calendar 2019 was...

CWCW members raise the fashion stakes with Junk Kouture show

Pádraig Byrne Service users at the County Wexford Community Workshop (CWCW) in Bellefield showed off their passion for fashion recently as they staged a Junk Kouture fashion show.

The events of the past couple of weeks have exposed a sinister and shady side to the online influencing industry

The sinister side to social media influencing

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking The murky world of online influencing took another concerning turn in Ireland in recent days when a 29 year old woman received death threats after she was wrongly accused of being responsible for a naming and shaming social media page.

New book on Kilrush area

There will be witty stories and local characters a plenty contained in the pages of a brand new book on the Kilrush area which is to be launched this Friday in The Courtyard in Ferns. The book, entitled 'It's Never Lonely Around the Fields of Kilrush', is the result of several recorded conversations between Kilrush men Joe Tobin and Jim Ryan and commits to record a significant period of the history of farming and rural life in the mid twentieth century. The book contains plenty of wise words and witty stories and is sure to be a hit in particular...

Fun in the sun, hopefully without loss of life

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking Summer is finally here - and every Irish person is stripping off and making sure they get their annual dose of Vitamin D.

Many children receive staggering amounts of money as Communion presents

Over the top celebrations for sacraments

Deborah Coleman - Straight Talking Communion and Confirmation season is in full swing and many will be astounded to learn that the average amount of money received by a child making their First Communion is thought to be €1,400.