Herald

Saturday, February 04 2012

Sinead Ryan

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Sinead Ryan: Starting school at five? Parents will be paying the price

Aren't parents supposed to be a child's primary educator? Aren't we told again and again that trusting our instincts regarding their development is key?

Sinead Ryan: it's not too late to rescue the exam year

As the teachers themselves might say: Do the Maths.

Sinead Ryan: Yet again, children not adults to pay for school budget cuts

IN tackling the necessary budget cuts for schools, the Government has opted, in time-honoured fashion, to hit children rather than teachers.

Sinead Ryan: Think you have a book in you? Well, good luck. Becoming an author for me was like giving birth

NOT EASY: JK Rowling had difficulty getting her first book on to shelves too ? but she stuck with it

SO, you think you have a book in you? Well, join the club. Everyone seems to think penning the next Cecelia Ahern or Maeve Binchy is easy peasy. Well, I got my book out of me, finally, and let me tell you it was bloody difficult.

Sinead Ryan: Second-hand

It's still be summer, but thoughts of the kids going back to school are never far from our minds.

Sinead Ryan: Why no one stepped in to rescue these children from their evil mother

Rarely do you come across someone who utterly defies the description of "mother". Someone who is so far removed from the nurturing, loving care that mothering implies that it's hard to think of a name for her.

Sinead Ryan: Why lousy, absent fathers should be hit where it hurts -- in the pocket

Newbie TDs learn to keep their mouths shut and toe the party line... most of the time. But well done to FG's Michelle Mulherin.

Sinead Ryan: Fast-track evil rapist Murphy's passport to get him out of here

My heart did a nervous flip when I heard that notorious rapist Larry Murphy was spotted back in Ireland at the weekend. What the hell is he doing here, I wondered? We had been assured he was in Spain, Belgium, France -- actually couldn't care less as long as it was Somewhere Else.

Sinead Ryan: My teen, flashing boxers? Not under my roof, mister

It's hilariously ironic that a fashion inspired by keeping prisoners safe from self-harm by removing their belts, might, in fact, make you . . . a prisoner.

Sinead Ryan: Fame, fortune, beauty - what good is it at a time like this?

If losing a baby is the worst thing imaginable, and for many women it is, then imagine having to do so in the full glare of the public spotlight.

Sinead Ryan: Don't just shrug as prices rise -- find yourself a better deal

Honestly, they're like lemmings -- no sooner does one utility company jump off the cliff than they all follow.

Sinead Ryan: Here's how we can get that €100m from those car tax cheats

While the IMF is busy clobbering us with new and imaginative cutbacks, I wonder if it's aware that there's an easy-peasy €100m sitting around waiting to be collected by cash-strapped local authorities for roads, water services, playgrounds and whatever else councils use our money for.

Sinead Ryan: How to sniff out the hidden extras and best deals in the health insurance maze

Apathy is a health insurer's best friend. There are only three providers in this restricted market and the different plans are a minefield to get through.

Sinead Ryan: Don't be ripped off ... loan companies are not the answer

It's surprising to hear an organisation using the words "fleeced", "ripped off" and "expensive" about its own industry but when it comes to so-called "debt management" companies, it sounds about right to me.

Sinead Ryan: There is help for families who lost vital bills lifeline

THE collapse of Home Payments will have gone unnoticed by the vast majority of people who have a bank account, pay their gas and electricity bills when they pop through the letterbox and whose mortgage is provided by one of the big banks.

Sinead Ryan: My top tips for cutting down on that back-to-school bill

PRICE: School kit can be very costly

YOU know us by our stressed, harried appearance as we traipse around department stores, whingeing children in hand. We don't want to be there; they certainly don't want to be there. Yes -- it's "back to school" shopping time. The bane of every parent's life.

Sinead Ryan: Clever lawyers may win a reprieve, but homes war goes on

THE fracas in the repossessions court yesterday was nothing more than a lesson in winning the battle and losing the war.

Sinead Ryan: I'm annoyed that my child's gone veggie... but I'm proud as well

As fads go, it's not as bad as a piercing -- certainly not of a body part not immediately visible. It has not got the same impact as a ridiculous haircut, either. And it's definitely less violent than a tattoo. Still, when my eldest announced she had become a vegetarian (sorry, "a PESCAtarian, mum"), I felt a shot of angst all the same.

Sinead Ryan: Hard-pressed mums being held to ransom by 'updated' school texts

The children haven't even broken up for the summer holidays yet and already parents are tearing their hair out in frustration at the costs already piling up for the next school year.

Sinead Ryan: Bringing lads' mags to heel is a start in battle to protect our children

Rihanna is known for sexy shows

When I was a kid Mary Whitehouse used to pop up every so often like a demented granny and give out yards about disgusting programmes on the box and how children were being ruined by notions of sex and other revolting things. People used to laugh at and ignore her -- even pillory her, but as with most things, the older you get the more you realise there was a serious point to be made.

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