menu_open Columnists
Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

John Dolan: From cock-a-hoop to cock-up, an annus horribilis for Micheál

John Dolan: From cock-a-hoop to cock-up, an annus horribilis for Micheál

That old saying about a week being a long time in politics is a load of baloney, when you think about it. It was coined in the 1960s and belongs to a...

yesterday 20

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

'Volunteering is life-changing': Cork woman travelling to South Africa for building blitz 

'Volunteering is life-changing': Cork woman travelling to South Africa for building blitz 

I work as a finance collections lead in a tech company but I’ve been volunteering with Mellon Educate since 2009. I took a break for a few years...

previous day 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Compulsive sexual behaviour: There is help for sufferers

Compulsive sexual behaviour: There is help for sufferers

Compulsive sexual behaviour, sometimes called sex addiction or porn addiction, is an issue that many people experience but few feel able to talk...

friday 8

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

‘I was overawed’: Recalling my days at St Colman’s College

‘I was overawed’: Recalling my days at St Colman’s College

When I went to St. Colman’s College in Fermoy for the very first time in September of 1969, I was overawed. A magnificent, huge new building, bright...

friday 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork mountain climbing club marks 50 years

Cork mountain climbing club marks 50 years

Cork Mountaineering Club marks its 50th anniversary this year. Established in November, 1975, the club has a long history of mountaineering...

13.11.2025 7

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

A word of warning: Don’t use Google to solve a pain problem

A word of warning: Don’t use Google to solve a pain problem

Famous last words: just while I was waiting. Now I rarely frequent vending machines, and I don’t eat protein bars. But it was extremely late, I was...

13.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Kathriona Devereux: Christmas in October...can we agree to delay using the C-word?

Kathriona Devereux: Christmas in October...can we agree to delay using the C-word?

Let me be the first to wish you a “Happy Christmas.” I know it’s only November 11 and Jesus’s big birthday celebration is a mere 44 sleeps...

12.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Diabetes: Know the risks and address them now

Diabetes: Know the risks and address them now

Did you know that diabetes is one of the most commonly diagnosed long-term health conditions in Ireland? As we mark World Diabetes Day on November...

12.11.2025 30

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan: Dad was a DIY master - sadly, I’m not a chip off his old block

Trevor Laffan: Dad was a DIY master - sadly, I’m not a chip off his old block

Both of my regular readers here will know by now I’m not gifted when it comes to using my hands. I’m not a DIY enthusiast because I usually end up...

11.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

'The idea of the event was itself an experiment': Celebrating 30 years of Science Week

'The idea of the event was itself an experiment': Celebrating 30 years of Science Week

This month, Ireland will celebrate something remarkable – 30 years of Science Week. Three decades of harnessing the power of curiosity and...

11.11.2025 7

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Dolan: Covid inquiry must expose the flaws in ultra-cautious policy

John Dolan: Covid inquiry must expose the flaws in ultra-cautious policy

Amidst all the slings and arrows hurled by the two candidates in the run up to the presidential election, there was at least one area where both were...

09.11.2025 6

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Why I’m attending COP30 summit in Brazil

Cork Views: Why I’m attending COP30 summit in Brazil

I first learned about climate change in the most harmless way - a PowerPoint presentation in primary school, complete with a clip-art polar bear...

08.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Enough promises: Make bus plan work for Cork

Enough promises: Make bus plan work for Cork

For too long, Cork has talked about change in public transport without seeing enough of it. BusConnects Cork is our chance to get it right - but only...

07.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Arnold: ‘It’s been some rollercoaster... but what a game and what a finish’

John Arnold: ‘It’s been some rollercoaster... but what a game and what a finish’

The first time I have a hazy memory of going to a Bride Rovers hurling game, I think, was either 1968 or 1969 when I was 11 or 12. That was a golden...

07.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

One in 10 million... Cork man who died in WWI

One in 10 million... Cork man who died in WWI

My grand-uncle John O’Connell was a Cork man who was one of the estimated ten million soldiers who died in World War I. John - sometimes referred to...

06.11.2025 8

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Áilín Quinlan: Now is a winter of discontent for this inglorious son of York

Áilín Quinlan: Now is a winter of discontent for this inglorious son of York

“There’ll be no bonfires tonight,” the elderly client said gloomily. It was close to lunchtime on Halloween, and we were at the salon getting...

06.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

A guide to surviving dark days of winter

A guide to surviving dark days of winter

The clocks have gone back, and winter has arrived with a bang. Days are interminably damp and grey. Evenings are dark and wet and cold. By December,...

05.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Lucille’s mission to help save babies - from Cork to Africa

Lucille’s mission to help save babies - from Cork to Africa

Neonatal nurse Lucille Bradfield is entitled to put her feet up. She retired as clinical nurse manager of the Neonatal Unit in Cork University...

05.11.2025 20

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Making MTU a great place to learn

Cork Views: Making MTU a great place to learn

The People and Culture role is a first for MTU - its first Executive-level appointment focused primarily on people and culture. Dr Fenton describes a...

04.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Before you protest, ask: ‘Who has started this conga line?’

Before you protest, ask: ‘Who has started this conga line?’

An alleged sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl recently triggered shock and anger across social media. The flashpoint centred on the Citywest hotel,...

04.11.2025 30

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Dolan: Calm down, I only spoiled my vote, I didn’t shoot my granny!

John Dolan: Calm down, I only spoiled my vote, I didn’t shoot my granny!

Who’d have thought a simple stroll down to a polling booth would have generated so much ire among my fellow Irish citizens? All I did, yesterday...

02.11.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Domestic violence leave: All you need to know

Domestic violence leave: All you need to know

What is domestic violence leave? If you are experiencing domestic violence and abuse, you may need to take time off work for urgent and essential...

01.11.2025 7

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Arnold: Cork priest who built a mighty community in San Francisco

John Arnold: Cork priest who built a mighty community in San Francisco

The year 1885 was a very important time in the lives of two men who never met for another quarter of a century. They were Edward Joseph Hanna and...

31.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Presidential election: 'If more prospective candidates reached out, it could have been a different result'

Presidential election: 'If more prospective candidates reached out, it could have been a different result'

On Saturday’s Six One News, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald featured in a coveted segment. She effectively provided the voice-over commentary at...

31.10.2025 8

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork mum with MS: ‘We must tackle stigma’

Cork mum with MS: ‘We must tackle stigma’

A mother living with multiple sclerosis (MS) insists there should be more awareness of hidden disabilities so that people in Cork with conditions like...

31.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Áilín Quinlan: Voters have given you an earful, Micheál, I hope you heed them

Áilín Quinlan: Voters have given you an earful, Micheál, I hope you heed them

The shopper paying for her groceries at the till in Dunnes last Friday - nicely turned out, early forties, a bit harried - turned out to be the canary...

30.10.2025 9

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Students gather to discuss future of planet

Cork Views: Students gather to discuss future of planet

I was honoured to have the opportunity to spend a week recently in Helsinki, Finland, participating in a Planetary Health Academy, an intensive week...

30.10.2025 8

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Making Ireland a better place to grow old

Cork Views: Making Ireland a better place to grow old

When I joined the Cork County Older People’s Council in 2017, I wanted to make sure that older voices in our communities were not just heard but...

29.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Kathriona Devereux: A simple blood test could be key to winning war on cancer

Kathriona Devereux: A simple blood test could be key to winning war on cancer

The recent good news story that a simple blood test can detect up to 50 types of cancers delivered a dose of cautious optimism to the world of cancer...

29.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Explainer: How vision problems can be made better with surgery

Explainer: How vision problems can be made better with surgery

The most common vision problems are refractive errors – where the shape of your eye prevents light from focusing correctly on your retina causing...

28.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan: A simple test for men that will help you to be ‘elderly’ like me!

Trevor Laffan: A simple test for men that will help you to be ‘elderly’ like me!

I don’t consider myself to be an old man, but my passport and my birth certificate both state that I was born in 1958. That wasn’t today or...

28.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Dolan: Less of the ‘deadbeat’, it’s time us dads stood up for each other

“It’s not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to fit in eight hours of TV a day.” Ah, Homer J. Simpson,...

26.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Be aware of stress - and how you can relieve it

It’s Stress Awareness Day on November 2, but who isn’t aware of stress? If you ask someone on the street how they are, a probable answer is:...

25.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Let's recognise Cork’s greenest communities 

Dingle peninsula in Kerry was recently awarded the inaugural Ireland’s Greenest Place Award. Run by the Irish Times in association with Electric...

24.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Arnold: Marvel Manchán... man of the land, man of the Irish people

When I heard a few weeks back that Manchán Magan had died, I was sad and upset. I never met him but so adored his work, his wit, and his connectivity...

24.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: 'I spent 18 days in CUH - its staff are world class'

I had just flown in to Cork from London after a week’s holiday with my family, but once landed, my leg from my knee to my ankle appeared completely...

23.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Áilín Quinlan: This Halloween, let’s not get carried away with boo baskets

I have to say, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s way of declaring her love was beyond classy. She wrote a passionate love poem that became world-famous....

23.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Yes, there was some good news in the budget 

When the dust settled after Budget 2026, many households in Cork and across the country were left wondering: what was in it for us? After several...

22.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Be afraid, be very afraid... of real Halloween horror: Plastic

Tis a rare sight to see a green dinosaur exit the back seat of a car and plod its way through school gates, or spy a bloodied pirate drag its hook...

22.10.2025 8

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: My mission to stand up for girls around the world

The International Day of the Girl is celebrated annually on October 11 and this year it marked 30 years since the Beijing Declaration, which is the...

21.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan: Who knew... picking your nose really can damage your health

‘They also serve who only stand and wait’, is a quote I’ve often used when people moan at me for spending too much time chilling out. According...

21.10.2025 20

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Dolan: My first presidential election - but I reckon I’ll spoil my vote

Next January will mark the 25th anniversary of my emigration to Ireland, on a Ryanair plane from England alongside my wife-to-be, and with our two...

19.10.2025 30

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

No, it is not weird to be scared of clowns!

Not long ago, a client sat across from me, visibly embarrassed. She said: “I know it sounds silly, but I’m terrified of clowns.” Then she...

18.10.2025 30

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

The facts and the myths about ADHD

For many people, ADHD still conjures up the image of a little boy bouncing around a classroom, unable to sit still, and causing trouble. But ADHD is...

17.10.2025 9

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

John Arnold: Fair is fair... Macbeth play for Cork students has killer lines!

I always thought I’d get Honours in English in the Leaving Cert in 1974 - yes, and in History and geography and Irish too! But it was all ‘vanity...

17.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

A chance for Cork youth to speak out on issues

I am a student at Le Chéile Ballincollig and I’m a member of the local youth council Cork City Comhairle na nÓg. Comhairle na nÓg is a network of...

16.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Áilín Quinlan: My husband suggests maybe I’m not a housework type of person

“Our house,” I declared to my mother, “must have been really manky when the kids were young.” “Never!” she replied loyally. “You always...

16.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Celebrating the arts at Cork's Blarney Street School

Sometimes, I forget that I’m walking the halls of an inner-city DEIS primary school when I hear the distant fanfares of our Music Generation Brass...

15.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Kathriona Devereux: My alternative to a smartphone, a ‘retro’ landline for my child

“Mai has closed the chat session, you can now close this window.” No!!! Don’t cut me off! It’s the second time my chat has been abruptly...

15.10.2025 10

Evening Echo

Evening Echo

Cork Views: Looking back on 30 years of SECAD

When SECAD Partnership was first established in 1995, we had little more than a technical grant, a volunteer board, and myself as its first employee....

14.10.2025 20

Evening Echo

Evening Echo