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Anne Hailes

Anne Hailes

The Irish News

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Supreme Court ruling on ‘woman’ sparks fears for trans community: Tanya’s story

28.04.2025 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

From Honda 50s to Patti Smith: Inside Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

21.04.2025 9

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

While we argue over signs at Grand Central Station, humanity cries out in silence

15.04.2025 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Waterfront Hall grand finale for music director after 37 inspirational years at Belfast school

07.04.2025 9

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

The childhood smack that stayed with me: Reflections on parenting, discipline and smacking

31.03.2025 8

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Has this Co Down village’s beautiful phone box made its last call?

24.03.2025 7

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

‘As far as I’m concerned all arts are political’

17.03.2025 9

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

A story for Lent: Joseph of Arimathea and the life of Jesus

10.03.2025 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

What happened when I answered a dating ad

04.03.2025 8

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

When Joseph, his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and thousands of Belfast children defied the Troubles in the 1970s

17.02.2025 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Autism, science, the universe and everything in between

10.02.2025 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Trust me, it’s all in our accents and how we speak, so it is...

04.02.2025 9

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

There is help to escape coercive and controlling behaviour

20.01.2025 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Volunteering to help children in distress change their lives

14.01.2025 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

A man who says he loves his wife and that his affair meant nothing is the lowest of the low

“No wonder the traders in Belfast are complaining.” So writes Shirley Gault, a well known voice on local radio. “I went up today for the first...

07.01.2025 7

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

A year of saying hello to new friends and goodbye to old ones, like Walter Love and Candy Devine

As we look to the end of December and of 2024, I can’t help looking back at the year that was and thinking about the people I met and the stories...

31.12.2024 5

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Why I won’t be going back to the Abbey Centre

“Did you hear about the award the scarecrow got, Grandad?” I was near a family of three generations in a restaurant last week. The craic around...

23.12.2024 4

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

The nursing tale set during the Troubles that knocked Boris Johnson off the bookshelves

Sometimes a labour of love becomes a phenomenon. It’s a lot like that with Angel City. This book is the third in author Carol Ann Creagh’s...

17.12.2024 7

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

I saved money shopping online: savvy tips for safe and budget-friendly Christmas shopping

The tree is up and dressed, the menu for the day discussed and food orders in, and the presents... well, to be honest, I’ve only a few bought and...

09.12.2024 3

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Why cycling safety is more important than ever: From the school run to the workplace

I remember the Saturday morning I went shopping with my Dad. Belfast city centre was our destination and I was in seventh heaven. My Christmas wish...

02.12.2024 5

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Experience a magical Christmas with classic films, steam engines and unique private events

Although pantomime is the thing at Christmas, it’s far from the only attraction. If you are searching for a unique Christmas outing look no further...

25.11.2024 4

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

A riveting Belfast tale of love, friendship and the Great War

Kerry Whelan, the author of See You On The Other Side has devised a neat way of guiding his reader into the story of Davy Gibson, a teenager caught...

18.11.2024 4

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

90-year-old Ray Wilson: A life of service and compassion through Volunteer Now’s befriending scheme

It was a beautiful calm morning in north Belfast when I called with Ray Wilson at the neat little house where she has lived for 50 years. She had...

11.11.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

The art of bookbinding

Take the road up the hill out of Broughshane, along the coggly lane to the old farmhouse now converted into a cosy home. Here you’ll find Willow...

04.11.2024 3

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Reliving history and Ulster Television’s past through digital archive

Halloween took on a new meaning in 1959. It was the day Ulster Television opened its doors to the public, initially in the Belfast area but...

28.10.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Use your loaf and bake bread for peace

Imagine a stout wooden shed, cosy and warm, the smell of pancakes sizzling on the skillet, walls vibrating to the sound of fiddle music and singing....

22.10.2024 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

The life and times of Greg Cowan, front man of Belfast punk pioneers The Outcasts - and decorator of the Crown Bar

Meeting up with Greg Cowan is a treat. We’ve been friends since he appeared on an Ask Anne programmes where he was a hit with the viewers - but...

14.10.2024 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Gaza one year on: Belfast Jewish and Palestinian voices appeal for prayer

I’ve had awful toothache but I phoned the dentist and now I’m on the road to recovery. It made me think; what if I lived in Gaza? If my family who...

07.10.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Belfast Song, a vivid picture of west Belfast family life in the early 1900s

“Could I have your attention, ladies.” Tuesday April 18 1911. Campbell is the foreman. Nan Rose, a child, is a doffer in the linen mill. With her...

30.09.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

The BBC is tone deaf to the needs of viewers who rely on sign language

Newcastle Lions have mounted a vigorous campaign to reverse the BBC decision to axe the vital sign language provision on news programmes. Zone...

23.09.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Keeping the body pure is important but not easy

It’s really swings and roundabouts. First it was salt, then fat, now it’s sugar but when the late Dr Michael Mosley says “sugar”, I take...

16.09.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

God’s clowns are in sad decline

I will take this column out on a cold day next January and recall the last day of August in Donegal. The sky is blue, the lanes are flanked by...

09.09.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

The X Factor has nothing on this

Fancy becoming a star of stage, screen and television? This just might be your chance, a stepping stone to success. I’ve always wanted to be a...

03.09.2024 4

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Behind the scenes at Antrim and Newtownabbey Crematorium, providing care and compassion for those facing family sadness

I knew nothing about the Antrim and Newtownabbey Crematorium until 10 days ago when a funeral service opened my eyes to this state of the art...

26.08.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Tyrone tales and the Irish experience of life in 1970s London brought to life by Owen O’Neill

What do you do if you hate your life, your name, your family? Or most of them? Emmet McCrudden grew up in the small village of Carricktown...

19.08.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

A well planned wedding and a long marriage - but don’t forget to make your will

When I look back all those years, our wedding was a great day. The church service, the reception organised to perfection by my parents - Dad the...

29.07.2024 2

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

The ‘best in show’ Carrickfergus man and his ballet star-turned-doctor husband

When Maureen Martin asked me to accompany her to meet friends visiting from Ohio in the United States, I was happy to accept but didn’t expect to...

22.07.2024 3

The Irish News

Anne Hailes

Theatre that sets the stage for life

“You’re far too nice, you’ve got to be a diva, you must be a diva.” A director’s uncompromising note to actress Caroline McMichael who plays...

16.07.2024 10

The Irish News

Anne Hailes