Extending the Hand of Friendship A great hero of mine died earlier this year back in March. His name was Charlie Bird, and he spent his working life as a journalist with RTE, the Irish broadcasting network. He became their chief news correspondent and his was the face and voice that accompanied major global and […]
The Big Sing According to research done by the Singing Foundation website there is now considerable evidence to support the claim that singing really is good for you. It has physical benefits like improving your posture, lung function and regulating your blood pressure. There are other social and psychological benefits, too, like relieving stress, improving […]
The Beauty of Warm Hospitality Last weekend our son Conor was invited to a birthday party. It was his friend’s Dad’s 50th and they had invited him to come and stay overnight to share in the celebrations. When I arrived to drop him off, there were quite a few cars down the road where they […]
Defining Moments In the past few weeks many young people have received exam results which can feel particularly significant at this point in their lives. They may determine whether someone will return to school, or choose to pursue another path to further their education or training. They may determine what course someone will study, or […]
Welcome to the Family A delightful young woman reached out to me on social media about 6 weeks ago from the United States. Patti Springer was coming to Ireland with her Mum and Dad, Kelly and Dave, and her Aunty Pam, Kelly’s sister. She asked if it might be possible to come to one of […]
Joyful Homecomings The Olympic games in Paris ended with a spectacular closing ceremony on Sunday evening past. It involved the amazing athletes, various musical acts and the Hollywood actor, Tom Cruise, jumping from the roof of the stadium in a daring stunt using wires and escaping into the Paris traffic on a motorbike, taking the Olympic […]
Living as a Migrant For most of my adult life I have been a migrant. I have lived in lands that are not my own for reasons of employment or choice. Perhaps, that is why the scenes that we have seen unfold in many UK cities over the past week or so, have been so […]
Christian Camps and Festivals A friend of mine was in touch on social media recently. She was stepping down from the leadership of a Christian Festival that runs annually in Cornwall. It’s a free event and is open to families to camp onsite for the 5 day programme. It celebrates worship, the arts and creativity. […]
Exercising the Faith Muscle When it comes to fatherhood I find that every day is a school day. I’m constantly learning about the bewildering world facing our teenage children. Whether it is the pressures of social media and apps like Snapchat, BeReal, or dear knows what the latest one is, or why pop stars like […]
Some Summer Reading? One of the joys of a summer break is the opportunity to do a bit of reading. I like to mix fiction and non-fiction and here are a few that regular readers of the blog might enjoy. We are blessed in this area to have a number of local libraries and, every […]