I will hit a few frayed nerves with this, including my own. . . As summer's vibrant hues paint the countryside, an insidious rite afflicts our emerald isle – the antiquated and unforgiving Leaving Certificate examination.

Just when you thought that was the end of elections in 2024, it looks like they are only beginning. The posters are just down. They will soon be back. The Government has until March of next year to hold a general election.

Now that the dust has settled it is no harm to take a sober look at what the elections threw up.

In the end, the results of the local and European elections were all about trust. Trust – and the lack of it. A sub-text is how sophisticated Irish voters are, when the chips are down.

"Walk a mile in my shoes" is a quote that resonates with lots of people. Finding someone who has experienced what you are going through can be a great comfort if you are struggling.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive.   - Anais Nin. I am not an Irish language scholar but I work in a school and so I pick up the cúpla focal here and there.

Marie Mellett is the seventh generation of her family to run Mellett’s Emporium in Swinford. The business is literally in her blood.

Nationally, the government won the elections. But in Mayo and indeed in rural Ireland generally, they didn’t just win: they walked it, notwithstanding how well independents did.

Political choices matter. Good government matters. How decisions about the future are made matters.

As the warm Californian evening falls, the latest news beams out from large flatscreen TVs across the stacked rows of apartments visible from our living room window.