Students from Our Lady’s Bower who were named runners-up at the national #ThinkLanguages Champion Team Final. Bower named as runner up in #ThinkLanguages competitionOur Lady’s Bower, Athlone, has been named as runners up at National #ThinkLanguages Champion Team of the Year competition. The teams’ exceptional teamwork and innovative approach to promoting language learning during their #ThinkLanguages Week celebrations secured their place in the final, standing out among entries from schools across Ireland. This focus is at the heart of #ThinkLanguages Week, which serves as the foundation for the #ThinkLanguages Champion Team CompetitionStudents from Our Lady’s Bower who were named runners-up at the national #ThinkLanguages Champion Team Final by Chief Inspector at the Department of Education and Youth, Yvonne Keating. #ThinkLanguages Week continues to grow year on year and this year the ninth #ThinkLanguages celebration will take place in schools and venues nationwide during the week of November 16-20.

An ever-so small factoid from Jack O’Connor’s illustrious time as Kerry senior football manager: he’s never overseen a win in Donegal. Should both teams begin as they did in Round 1, Kerry will have seven All-Ireland SFC final starters and Donegal 10. If McGuinness is still feeling indignant about last year’s All-Ireland final, O’Connor appeared to be the same in the build-up to the game. “I don't think Jack was happy with all the commentary around the Donegal manager and what he could do. “An All-Ireland final is a different animal.

Andrew Goodman: 'I’ve heard a lot of that talk through the last couple of months and it’s frustrated me a little bit'. Photo: SportsfileAndrew Goodman and the Ireland coaches have spent the last two months poring over footage of Ireland’s up-and-down November campaign, and their conclusion was that it was the players’ execution that let them down, rather than a systemic failure. Ireland’s attack has come under the microscope as it continues to evolve, having been the world’s best in 2022 and 2023, and while it remains a work in progress, the sense is that if skill-sets are improved, Ireland can get back to the top level.

Living with Alzheimer’s disease: ‘I feel for our children and seeing them cope is the hardest thing for me’Seán McNally was just 59 years old when he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. As a new TG4 documentary charts his struggles, his wife Emer tells Arlene Harris about the effect it’s had on their family – and how they stay positiveSeán and Emer McNally feature in TG4's documentary 'Néaltrú – An Scriosadh Mall'. Photo: TG4Arlene Harris Today at 06:30According to The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, there are currently over 64,000 people living with dementia in Ireland and over 4,000 of those have an early-onset form of the condition, which means they were diagnosed under the age of 65.

Instead of booking lengthy trips over Christmas, you could save hundreds by jetting off in January next yearThere are some people, including myself, whose office or business doesn’t shut down for a fortnight, and while it seemed like the whole world was enjoying an endless round of parties and get-togethers over the festive period, my husband and I were working right up until Christmas Day, then, after a few days off, were back at the coal face again until New Year’s Day.

Desmond Courtney lived alone in an old schoolmaster’s house for 20 years – until a romantic reconnection changed everythingAsking price: €689,950Agent: Sherry FitzGerald McDermott (045) 531 423​When Desmond Courtney bought The Schoolmaster’s House in Ireland’s horse heartland in 2002, he turned it into a “bachelor pad”. A bathroom at The Schoolmasters' House, Brannockstown, Kilcullen, Co Kildare“During the pandemic in 2020, I randomly contacted Desmond on social media. The living room of The Schoolmasters' House, Brannockstown, Kilcullen, Co Kildare“I did a full revamp of the house, including colour schemes, floors, doors, and finishes, and oversaw the restoration of original features. The kitchen of The Schoolmasters' House, Brannockstown, Kilcullen, Co KildareThe kitchen was painted deep racing green, to go with the terracotta tiled floor. The dining area of The Schoolmasters' House, Brannockstown, Kilcullen, Co KildareOutside, the house and garden have “rich land”.

Donal O’Donovan: Only in Ireland could data show we’re simultaneously in a boom and a recession – what’s really going on? Sometimes you must look past the quirks of the figures to see the real picturePharma giants play an important role the Irish economy. Stock image. Photo: GettyDonal O'Donovan Today at 06:30Ireland’s maddeningly hard-to-credit economic data has done it again. The Irish economy grew faster than anywhere else in Europe last year, but we ended 2025 in a technical recession.

They found San Antonio, a double-fronted 668 sq ft semi-detached home, built circa 1950s, quite quickly. The kitchen of San Antonio, 7 St Fintan’s Villas, Blackrock, Co DublinIt was not habitable, however. The garden of San Antonio, 7 St Fintan’s Villas, Blackrock, Co DublinIn addition, they rewired and re-plumbed the house, and installed provision for electric charging of a car. In addition, they restored a plaque with ‘San Antonio’, the name of the house, which hangs at the front. The back of the garden at San Antonio, 7 St Fintan’s Villas, Blackrock, Co DublinThe house is located across the road from Deansgrange graveyard.

One in 12 Irish teenagers aged 15-19 have attempted suicide in their lifetime, while more than a 10th have repeatedly self-harmed, a new report has found. They did find that teens do not have the same poor mental health in recent years than they did during the pandemic. One in 12 reported having attempted suicide in their lifetime, and one in five reported poor mental health. Trans and gender-diverse young people reported the highest rates of poor mental health at 52%, as well as for repetitive self-harm, at 44%, and suicide attempts, at 23%. 'It’s really hard to hear'Professor Mary Cannon, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Youth Mental Health at RCSI, described some findings as worrying.

Sinkholes are among the most unsettling natural hazards because they offer no drama beforehand. They require the right rock, the right water chemistry, the right underground space and just enough time. The entire state sits on limestone bedrock, a rock type that dissolves slowly when exposed to weakly acidic groundwater. China’s sinkholes have become landscapesSinkhole in Guangxi, ChinaIn southern China, sinkholes operate on an entirely different scale. Irish limestone is relatively shallow, limiting the size of underground cavities that can develop.

Team Ireland athletes, from left, freestyle half-pipe skiier Ben Lynch, alpine skiiers Cormac Comerford and Anabelle Zurbay and cross-country skiier Thomas Maloney Westgaard ahead of the Winter Olympic Games in Bolzano, Italy. Photo by David Fitzgerald/SportsfileTeam Ireland have confirmed a four-strong squad for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, which get under way on Friday, February 6. Anabelle Zurbay – Alpine SkiingTeenager Anabelle Zurbay has been selected for the alpine skiing events, competing in both slalom and giant slalom, with the latter her preferred discipline. Based in Colorado, Zurbay is the youngest member of the Irish team and will make history as the youngest Irish athlete ever to compete in Olympic alpine skiing, having turned 17 last December. “Most of my teachers are pretty accommodating with my busy schedule.”Ben Lynch – Freestyle SkiingBen Lynch will represent Ireland in the freestyle skiing halfpipe.

TUAM native Fergal McGrath, Manager of Galway’s Town Hall Theatre finds he learns something there every day.Photo: Ray RyanGalway’s Town Hall Theatre marks 30 yearsTHE building housing Galway’s Town Hall Theatre has had many uses over the past 200 years — a courthouse, a dance venue, a town hall and even a boxing arena. This weekend its life as the heart of the arts in Galway reaches its 30th anniversary. The major refurbishment of the Town Hall Theatre was officially opened by then Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, and Galway West TD, Michael D Higgins on February 1, 1996. Little did anyone attending on that day contemplate that he would go on to serve as President of Ireland for two terms. Read the full story in this week's edition of The Tuam Herald, on sale in shops or buy our digital edition here

Cleaning up after Storm Chandra flood damage in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. Photograph: Dara Mac DónaillClimate change made this week’s floods almost three times more likely to occur, analysis by Maynooth University and Met Éireann has found. The researchers said the high volume of rain that fell in the seven days up to and including Storm Chandra turned the heavy but “not particularly remarkable” rainfall during the storm into a “devastating” flood event. “Storm Chandra hit the eastern Irish coast when soils were saturated and rivers high after several days of high rainfall,” they said. [ ‘No one was pumping the water’: Rathfarnham deals with Storm Chandra aftermathOpens in new window ]The attribution study then found climate change made the rainfall and flooding that followed twice as likely.

Met Eireann extended the rainfall warning it and will come into effect from noon for counties Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Louth, Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow. In Northern Ireland, there is a yellow-level warning for rain in place until 6pm on Friday, bringing a risk of further flooding and travel disruption. It comes as communities in Wexford and south Dublin reel after flooding during the week, forcing families to flee their homes and damaging businesses. Clean-up operations continued amid the threat of more rain in some of the worst-affected towns, like Enniscorthy and Aughrim, and areas in South Dublin. The scale of the flooding in some areas has heaped pressure on forecaster Met Eireann, the Government and local authorities over whether the warnings were sufficient.

Celtic know they will face either Keane's Ferencvaros or Stuttgart in the knockout round. For Keane, going up against his former club and former boss O'Neill would be a special occasion. Speaking on TNT Sports, he said: "Well, obviously the connection to Celtic, of course, I played there. Read more:"Ludogorets we've played and we've done well against them. Ferencvaros ended the league phase in 12th position, with Celtic finishing 21st in the table.