THE number of people cycling in Ireland has more than doubled in the past 10 years, which must surely be a help in easing traffic congestion on the roads, not forgetting the health and environmental benefits.

RURAL communities hold the key to nature conservation and, by so doing, can ensure their own survival — was the message from a conference of environmental experts in Newmarket, Co Cork. 

ONE of the most uplifting aspects of travelling around Ireland now is seeing how the appearance of villages has improved so much in recent years.

AMONG the many lovely things about flower-filled May are the early potato stalks rising ever upwards. In recent years, many people, yours truly included, have returned to vegetable-growing and there’s a primal joy in watching those hardly, little green leaves breaking through the soil.

ANYBODY trying to keep hens, or ducks, will know how difficult it is to protect them from predators. Foxes have always been a threat to poultry but, in some areas, mink are now regarded with equal dread in the coop.

TAKE a look around the kitchen, the garage and, most certainly, the attic and you’ll definitely spot some used electrical items that have been lying there for ages.

THE COUNTRYSIDE has donned its mantle of green and you can scent the fragrances of early summer, especially the vivid yellow gorse that lights up the landscape in April. 

THE COUNTRYSIDE has donned its mantle of green and you can scent the fragrances of early summer, especially the vivid yellow gorse that lights up the landscape in April. 

IS any food truly safe to eat?

TIME was when the traditional Irish thatched cottage was associated with rural poverty. Then, there was a change in perception when photographer John Hinde — a man who always portrayed Ireland as a land of perpetual sunshine and blue skies — came along. His postcards featuring such cottages went all over the world.