In a former life, I worked for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB). It is a terrific organisation, based in Cork, providing dogs to guide the blind and visually impaired.

Germany is building a new army. That is a big piece of news by any standards.

There's something intrinsically Jesuitical about Cardinal Robert Prevost's ascension to the papacy.

For those who love being of this county – and there are thousands whose passion for Mayo runs deep – the great thing is there are always more discoveries for you around the corner and sometimes right in front of you.

I’m not a fan of Facebook, or any social media for that matter. I’m not a follower and I’m not followed. Some time back, perhaps as many as 20 years ago, I made a heroic effort to stop Facebook telling the world that my birthday falls on May 1st.

I’m sure that I’m stretching my readers’ interest and my editor’s patience by returning to a papal theme for more times than I care to remember but this may be the last bite of that particular cherry.

Beep. Beep… Beep. I passed the undersized granola, a tin of tuna and something vaguely healthy in a green translucent tub (which my wife swears she loves) over the scanner at my local grocery store.

There will be bluebells growing under the big trees  And you will be there and I will be there in May. These are the opening line of Patrick Kavanagh’s poem, Bluebells for Love.

There was a time when the extended thumb was Ireland's most eloquent digit. A silent semaphore that spoke volumes about trust, community, and the casual choreography of our national transportation. Now, like Latin, it's a dead language.

Before I was even born in Breaffy, there was a very successful camogie club in the village. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Breaffy were the queens of camogie in Mayo.