IT’S heart-lifting to see so many people back in their vegetable gardens again.

WHEN Rosie, a Tamworth sow, gave birth to 10 piglets and Bella, a Friesian cow, produced a fine bull calf at the Family Farm, in Dublin Zoo recently it made global news.

OPPOSITION politicians are having a field day with the septic tank issue in rural Ireland, gladly joining protesters who are packing village halls in their hundreds to rail against the €50 fee for tank inspections.

WE see them almost everywhere we look, every day, but don’t give them a second glance.

FROM old walkways in Drimoleague in west Cork, to wild flowers on Valentia Island, Co Kerry, heritage and the natural environment are being used increasingly to create jobs.

FEW animals better highlight the urban-rural divide in Ireland than the fox.

BASICS of life, clear water and fresh air, we take for granted.

EVER so slowly we seem to be moving towards a situation where cyclists will be treated as equals to motorists.

HIGH streets and town centres throughout Ireland have come to look the same in recent years, with regular department stores and the brash brand names of largely overseas multiples increasingly dominating the streetscape.

THE Irish landscape, still the main attraction for the seven million plus tourists who come here each year, is just as exquisite in winter as it is in the summer peak season.