The Reluctant Rescuer

We all did and do things we regret. And the last word is key: regret! And when we regret something, there’s a good chance we won’t repeat it. I remember as an 18 year old, my mother (for the first time ever) said if I went out that door, don’t come back! I knew she [...]

(with Brendan Courtney) https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22127194/

At the end of the sanctuary day, I make a cup of tea and take a meandering path - me and my tea, up to my little space in the sanctuary. It’s a ritual that’s important to me as much as my need to stay up Christmas Eve when everyone is gone to sleep and [...]

There are so many metaphors you could throw at The Puck Fair debate, and there is one complex study waiting to happen as to where we are as a society when it comes to animal welfare. But, let’s ‘talk about the elephant in the room’ whilst tip- toeing around the minefields some ‘lovers of an [...]

There is something very unusually  obvious about the #SaveKim campaign: there isn’t the usual ‘gloves off’ online debates and two-sided arguments. You see, the thing is, there doesn’t seem to be any other side for the #SaveKim team to debate with at all (aside from literally one or three people). But there is heap loads of [...]

Someone said to me today, that Mick Lynch is ‘salt of the earth!’ Perhaps a simplistic description but fitting for this wordsmith whose words aren’t carefully chosen, scripted, rehearsed: no, they are like leaves to trees: natural and right on time; capable of withstanding those agenda driven interviewers who try to blow up a storm [...]

Have you ever kicked a tyre when you realise you’ve a puncture? Maybe you’ve let your head fall against the steering wheel with frustration when you realise your car is not going anywhere and the dashboard is a toy Vegas. But you know it’s not the car’s fault just as much as you would know [...]

How many times have you asked yourself, ‘what’s wrong with me?’ in a scolding, angry, frustrated way. Perhaps after you ‘lost it’ with someone or you burst out crying over something that didn’t warrant upset. Imagine if you swapped the ‘beating yourself up’ with ‘what happened me that I get triggered when someone says or [...]

I’ve worked with a lot of young people who cared little about the leaving certificate and I’ve worked in schools where the importance of the leaving cert weighs heavily on young minds who do not have the psychological ‘muscle’ to carry it - so something usually gives way in an effort to cope. Their ‘all [...]