A holly tree with berries in May. An odd sight to say the least, and one I came across on Sunday while walking in beautiful Belleek Wood, Ballina. We associate the lovely holly tree with Christmas and yet four months later the Belleek holly tree still has its berries which you would have expected the woodland’s abundant bird life to have feasted on long since. Read more
Anyone lucky enough to take a ramble along one of Mayo’s magnificent loop walks at the weekend would surely have had all the cobwebs of the winter blown away by the bitter North East wind. However, the beautiful Alpine like sunshine more than compensated for the chilly conditions when we enjoyed one of our favourite treks along the Burrishoole Loop Walks near Newport. Read more
Sat Navs are now the must-have gadget for many motorists, relegating the flashy car radio with fluorescent CD player to just another basic auto accessory. I have been using one of the best selling satellite navigation systems – a Garmin GPS – for years when travelling in Ireland, but personally find Sat Nav is only really useful to get directions around the bigger cities, particularly Dublin – and for that satellite navigation is a real godsend. Read more
Digital technology is now part of all our daily lives from text messaging to shopping and socialising online. And within a few short years we will be doing much of what we now do on our desktops and laptops on mobile devices. Read more
As the salmon fishing season gets off to one of its best starts in years on the River Moy in Ballina, and restaurateurs in the ’Salmon Capital of Ireland’ are not be able to offer wild salmon on their menus, a Norwegian fishmonger emails to say he would be willing provide such a service! Read more
I was delighted to read that the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan T.D. has just launched the Heritage Council’s Strategic Plan 2012 – 2016 which focuses on developing the value of the heritage sector to employment, education and the quality of heritage tourism. Read more
I learned an expensive lesson over the past couple of months: that streaming TV programmes over the internet is the same as downloading – and if you have a basic package from your broadband provider with a download limit be very careful. Read more
Amateur astronomers and anyone fascinated by the beauty of the heavenly bodies in the night sky are all in for a treat in mid-March when a Venus-Jupiter conjunction will be visible in the Western sky over Ireland. Read more
The news that thousands of Irish viewers are ending their pay TV subscriptions to Sky and UPC due to the recession comes as no surprise. And now many people are asking: “How can I get the UK TV channels for free – and what is the cheapest way to connect to SAORVIEW?” Well read on and I will try and offer some advice that may help you save money when switching to SAORVIEW and installing Freesat for the UK channels. Read more
The deadline is looming for paying the dreaded Household Charge – another imposition on a people already struggling to survive what is in truth an economic depression. Most people would love to know what our taxes were spent on over the past 30 years or more. Read more