There are few things more part of our identity than the cup of tea. In days of yore in the Ox Mountains, if a house had tea and sugar, there seemed little else could go wrong.

When America sets a headline (the wisdom goes) in jig-time Europe tends to follow. Not in everything, thank God.

My final Western People article of 2024 was not in keeping with the spirit of ‘Happy Christmas’ or indeed a ‘Happy New Year’, but one I felt compelled to write as a social historian, but also a proud native of this part of Ireland.

May perpetual light shine upon  The faces of all who rest here. May the lives they lived  Unfold further in spirit.

Now that the Christmas season is behind us, it is time to settle the tab. For some that will be paying the much-inflated credit card bill later this month. For some it will mean forswearing treats.

Some weeks ago, Catholics celebrated (as we do every year) the Feast of Christ the King. It’s usually on the last Sunday of the Church’s calendar year – or the Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent. It usually falls around the end of November.

What were the major political events of 2024 and what will they mean for us in 2025? The obvious place to start is here in Ireland where the Government, as we all know, won the election.

An iconic North Mayo business closed its doors in the summer of 2024 - and there wasn’t even a whimper of protest, writes LIAM HEFFRON.

As the importance of letters and letter-writing fades from view, in the face of electronic communications, it can be difficult to imagine the anticipation that receiving a letter once held.

When you flick through the news pages of the year just gone, it confirms the stories that dominated the headlines in 2024.