Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc reveals his passion for heritage apples and offers tips on the best types to grow for specific dishes.

A mid-life crisis can happen to anyone, particularly those who feel they are on a treadmill of obligation when all they want is a feeling of freedom, writes Rita de Brún.

I chose to study Commerce and French at NUIG because I had always excelled at French and business in school. I also enjoyed accounting and wanted to keep up with it.

Who needs pregnancy, nappies, school runs and incontinence pants? And that’s just the children, says Aileen C. O’Reilly.

It's been a challenging few months for actor Johnny Ward. Last March, while wowing the nation with his gravity-defying dance moves in RTÉ’s Dancing With The Stars, his beloved dad died.

Magda Walecka is an architectural designer based in Galway.

It might be seen as a cliché to have ‘travelling the world’ on your bucket list, but over 1 in 3 Irish people surveyed by travel experts alpharooms had ‘travel the world’ on their list of things to do if they could go back in time.

Anna O’Donoghue shares her tips on how to tidy up those files, folders and apps on your phone, PC and tablet.

Irish men are also likely to live longer than their European counterparts.

NOW that we’re hurtling towards December 25, there’s no escape, writes Tric Kearney.

IF you saw me today, you might notice I’m wearing my ‘don’t mess with me’ face. What’s bothering me? Could it be my children? Or yer man? Maybe even the dog? No, on this occasion they’re entirely innocent. It was Facebook, writes Tric Kearney.

Staying connected and active as we get older is vital to maintaining our mental and physical health, a top expert tells Marjorie Brennan.

It’s party season and all too easy to let one drink lead to two and more. Keep an eye on your units and your body will thank you for it, says Áilín Quinlan.

Andrea Mara says when giving toys to children it’s best to avoid gender stereotyping options.

KEYWORDS in cookbook titles for 2018 are ‘happy’ and ‘at home’ and none the worse for that. If we are thinking of good health, the enjoyment of food, (as long as we make it ourselves, however quickly) is important, helping digestion and adding to the pleasure which generates happy hormones. We really cannot lose if we enjoy cooking and eating.

HIS twinkle-toed talents helped him foxtrot his way to the winner’s podium on RTÉ’s Dancing With the Stars. It also helped him get into the best physical shape of his life — and while he hasn’t quite maintained it at that level, Jake Carter is getting back into the gym in the run-up to Christmas.

Robots are playing a greater role in Irish hospitals, delivering precision operations, with minimal blood loss and shorter recovery times for patients, says Áilín Quinlan.

Interior and textile designer Laura Vaughan lighting the way for vibrant design.

My son turns nine in the next few days. He has decided on an outing to the cinema with a few of his friends to see the new ‘Goosebumps’ movie followed by a trip to the Golden Arches to chow down on all things deep fried and chock-full of additives.

Last Saturday I woke in a good mood. Not having to leap out of bed for any early morning reason meant I could lie there a little while longer.

There is no more fundamental question than “what is life?” but that is the very topic up for discussion in Dublin over the next two days as some of the world’s leading scientists take part in an event marking the 75th anniversary of a seminal series of lectures given here in 1943 by Erwin Schrödinger, an Austrian Nobel prize-winning physicist.

Ciara Courtney is single and happy – so why, she wonders, are people so determined to change her?

ROCK stars are now rocking on for decades, but not without making a few allowances for age.

I was asked in a recent interview what I thought the ‘secret’ to success was, and I replied that, in my case at least, I believed hard work was key.

We all dread it, the scarecrow staring back at us in the mirror. The circles, the hollow cheeks, the thinning hair and the down turned mouth. The terrible fish that stalks us all.

Joanne McNamara is a HSE community health worker in Cork North.

How much time do we spend observing the lives of others, as facilitated by social media, while vaguely fantasising about how we would like our life to be?, asks Joyce Fegan.

As research shows pregnant women often feel frumpy, a maternity fashion expert explains how to look good while you’re expecting.

Margaret Jennings meets a woman who has overcome more than her fair share of life’s obstacles but who has emerged the other side with a rebuilt life

As the #MeToo movement grows, so too do the ranks of females who call themselves feminists. Helen O’Callaghan chats with six high-profile women about their views on gender equality

Dr Kieran Hogan is a consultant anaesthetist and intensivist at Mater Private Hospital, Cork.

Ireland has the third highest rate of life-sentence prisoners in Europe. The mandatory nature of sentencing is questionable but what’s the alternative, asks Diarmuid Griffin.

A young woman who joined a lifeboat crew after being saved by its members is appealing for more volunteers to help with its important work.

A day in the life of consultant orthopaedic surgeon Prof Eric Masterson

A nation of immigrants means that teachers are educating a more diverse student population, writes Richard Hogan.

Dr Paul Kavanagh is the director of public health medicine, HSE North East and public health adviser to the HSE Tobacco Free Ireland Programme

Tric Kearney tells of something worse than a child coming home with head lice - a mouse in the house.

London-Irish director Martin McDonagh and leading actress Frances McDormand have been tipped for Oscar success with their new film, writes Helen Barlow.

I recently went to purchase some psyllium to help with constipation, but there were three different types available — seeds, powder, and hulls, writes Megan Sheppard.

Gina Akpe-Moses was born in 1999 in Nigeria but moved with her family to Dundalk when she was three years old, writes Arlene Harris.