Paul Hopkins

The Fact OfThe Matter

PAUL HOPKINS PAUL HOPKINS Maybe nostalgia is not what it used to be...

Not many people know this... but Al e has let auctioneers into his attic. And dining room, study and cinema. Sir Michael Caine is downsizing with a house move, meaning that a treasure trove of memorable items from a lifetime in the lm world, as well as much of his art collection, is due to be sold.

Caine, 88, said he was reluctantly saying goodbye to many of his cherished items that told the story of his six decades as one of the most recognised and acclaimed actors in the world. His house, complete with cinema room and cottages in the grounds, was put on sale for £3.75 million.

“It’s all nostalgia and remembrance with me,” Caine said of his collection which includes works by Marc Chagall and LS Lowry.

With the New Year well and truly kicked in, and a touch of spring in the stretch of the evenings, many of us are turning our thoughts to spring cleaning. If, like me, you live anywhere long enough — or you simply skew towards the nostalgic — it’s easy to accumulate a staggering array of sentimental items, aka clutter. You may not want to let go of tickets stubs, old meaningful letters, or the shirt you wore on your rst date with your spouse. Because, hey, one day, you might want to re-read all those notes you passed in secondary school, or pass down your deb’s dress to your daughter! (Who, sadly, is unlikely to want it.)

In his novella Franny And Zooey, the American JD Salinger recalls a visit to a sibling’s home: “ e room was not impressively large, even by Manhattan apartmenthouse standards, but its accumulated furnishings might have lent a snug appearance to a banquet hall in Valhalla.”

In our journey through life, we tend to accumulate so much clutter — and I don’t mean the emotional baggage of life’s ups and downs — concrete stu , objects, countless bric-a-brac, bought, borrowed or come-upon and stored for some other day when we might just nd a use for it.

We never do, of course, and the stu just piles up. e stu of furnishings, of pastimes and hobbies, the family memorabilia, the excess goods and gadgets that we may once have had temporary need of but no more.

If you’re doing some timely spring-cleaning, may I be so bold as to suggest you save one or two items from important seasons of your life. Instead of two full boxes of notebooks and memorabilia from that ‘year abroad’, select one or two pieces that hold the most signi cance, or conjure the most memories you hold dear. ( ink bang for your buck, here.) You don’t have to get rid of all of your youngest child’s favourite stu ed animals; but keep two rather than, say, eh, 12. If you’re decluttering items from an experience that spanned many years, break it up into bite-sized chunks and save one item from each timeframe. (One item from each year of college, for example.)

Humans are natural hoarders. I know. But I’m not alone. When was the last time you saw your dining room table? Or at least the top of your dining room table? If you’re like most busy people, you know it’s there somewhere — buried under piles of old bills, stacks of unread newspapers and copies of your kids’ old school reports

I have a feeling we men are greater hoarders than women, who are much more practical by nature. When both my parents died in the Millennium year within 10 weeks of each other my siblings and I set about ‘springcleaning’ their home before putting it up for sale. A sad time for all concerned.

Among the so many pieces of my Dad’s hoarded ‘stu ’ were two items which struck a chord with me. One was my very rst pair of spectacles, or glasses, from way back when I was just three-years old. In pristine condition, in their case, complete with shammy cloth and all. e other item was when my Mother gave birth to me, my Dad was away working and the nursing home where my Mother brought me into the world had sent him a telegram to tell him the good news. It read: “Baby boy. Healthy. Mother and child doing well.”

He had kept that, now faded, telegram all those years.

Choked up doesn’t begin to explain how I felt that day, 20 odd years ago.

Who said nostalgia was a thing of the past?

‘We tend to accumulate so much clutter ... ”

Oh boy, what a di erence a generation makes

IN a new study conducted by HRM Search Partners, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z have all shared their views on what they see as the di erences between the four generations. In this research, 1,151 participants shared their views with Generation Z seeing themselves as very di erent to their older colleagues.

Seven in 10 (79%) Baby Boomers see themselves as extremely hard working and ve in 10 (53%) see themselves as extremely independent. Four in ten (43%) of Generation Z see Baby Boomers as resistant to change and set in their ways.

Eight in 10 (80%) Generation X value nancial security. While ve in 10 (57%) Generation X feel they place some value on Diversity, Generation Z strongly disagree (14%). ree in 10 (32%) Baby Boomers believe Generation X have di culty juggling multiple priorities. Four in ten (43%) Generation Z feel Generation X are more concerned over speed rather than the quality of work.

While six in 10 (62%) Generation Y feel they place importance on relationships with their managers, three in ten (36%) Generation X and Baby Boomers strongly disagree.

Eight in 10 (84%) Baby Boomers feel Generation Y have an unrealistic expectation on how quickly they can move up the career ladder. Seven in ten (76%) Generation Y feel their cohort is strong on and has an intuitive knowledge of technology.

Eight in ten (86%) Generation Z believe they are motivated to discover how to work smarter using technology. Seven in ten (78%) Generation X believe Generation Z are impatient and frequently job hop. Six in ten (62%) Generation Y believe Generation Z are always on social media while seven in ten (71%) Generation Z agree and believe it to be a good thing.

Now Noonan’s the punter as he steps down from TradFest

MINISTER Malcolm Noonan has stepped down as chair of Kilkenny Tradfest following 10 years at the helm.

Over that time the festival has gone from strength to strength, with the cream of Irish traditional and folk music having performed and picking up a brace of National awards along the way.

Although it has been badly a ected by two years of the pandemic, Minister Noonan (pictured) is con dent that this year will see a return to full houses and a vibrant trad trail.

“We were all set to go in March 2020 with possibly our strongest lineup when Covid hit and we had to pull the plug on the whole thing. It was devastating for all the musicians, for venues, tech crew, Marian and her team and for audiences,” he told reporters.

“I really feel we had developed something really special. e idea for Tradfest was hatched over a soup and a sandwich in Cleere’s bar with Willie Meighan, Marian Flannery and myself. I look at past programmes; Finbarr Furey, Paul Brady, Beoga, Kilfenora Ceilí Band, it was incredible to bring these acts but also to showcase the amazing talent on our doorstep,” he said. “Something had to give, I have a hugely busy year this year with my ministerial portfolio and I just couldn’t give the festival the time it deserved.”

He said that there was a great committee in place with unwavering support from Kilkenny City Vintners. “Most of all it’s in good hands with Marian Flannery and her team; she has done an amazing job getting it this far and I’m hopeful that with almost all public health restrictions lifted, Tradfest and the city’s other festivals can look forward to full houses, dancing and singing,” he said.

“I’ll continue to support the festival and St Patrick’s Day Festival in whatever way I can, I’m really proud of what we have achieved with both but I’m also looking forward go attending Kilkenny Tradfest 2022 as a punter.”

Carol: “My life disappeared in the space of just 24 hours...’

KILKENNY mother Carol Donohue is unable to stand up for more than 45 minutes due to a life-altering condition.

Ms Donohue, 43, has suffered from chronic pain in her neck, back and spine, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound for the past eight months due to a cerebrospinal uid (CSF) leak. e only way for her to alleviate her symptoms is to lie down, so she has been almost totally bed-bound or couchbound.

She told RSVP Live: “When I wake up rst thing in the morning I don’t have any symptoms, but within minutes of standing up, by the time I get to the bathroom to brush my teeth, I start getting symptoms.

“If I lie at for four or ve days, I might have a good-ish day on the sixth day. A goodish day for me would be being able to sit up in a chair and watch telly for an hour or two.”

Before the CSF leak happened, Carol Donohue was an active and successful woman. “I was a mountain climber for years. I was happy, healthy and t. I had a good job as a pharmacy assistant for 16 years, now I can’t go back to work because I am so unwell.

“My life disappeared in the space of 24 hours.”

It took Ms Donohue four months to gure out what was wrong with her, as she was misdiagnosed and not taken seriously by doctors, she claims.

“I was diagnosed with optical neuralgia, bromyalgia, I was diagnosed with seven or eight di erent things,” she explained.

“All these di erent medications were being thrown at me and I took them because I didn’t know what was wrong with me. e MRI scans were showing nothing.

“No medical professional would even try to help me. I was just told to live with it.” is all took a serious toll on Carol’s mental health.

“I was so down and depressed. It was really dark,” she said.

“A few months ago, I wouldn’t have even been able to talk about this.

“I was always a worrier, I was always the carer looking after other people. I hated that I was left like this and I had to ask for help.”

Covid sees our lamb prices rather sluggish

HOGGET/ LAMB prices in Kilkenny could be best described as sluggish at the weekly mart sale compared to previous weeks’ trade. Customers were in short supply and one of our main customers was not operating due to the factory work force being a ected by Covid outbreaks.

Due to the restricted kill, prices have been reduced by €4 to €10 per head compared to the previous week.

On the plus side, cull ewe prices remained fairly steady with the reduction in this sector not as noticeable with a top call of €183.

Due to these di culties quotes from factories have fallen by 10 to 20 cent per kilo which hopefully will only be a temporary. e fact that lambs from UK and Northern Ireland were in short supply in 2021 was a help in stabilising the trade, but it is now suggested that lambs/ hoggets from that source have started to reappear in bigger numbers, which is having a negative impact on prices. As I said earlier, hopefully this is just a short lived situation.

Meanwhile, the cattle trade continues to provide excellent prices for all types. e most recent sale sale attracted 950 cattle with excellent prices for all lots. e numbers on o er were boosted by approximately 300 cull cows which saw excellent prices throughout the sale, which did not conclude until 2pm.

Even though the heifer sale started late it had no e ect on prices with beef types peaking at €1790 and forward stores to €1,350 per head. Bullocks also sold very well with an indication of the excellent trade seeing a Friesian bullock which weighed 590 kilo making €1,340 or €2.27 per kilo. Continentals bullocks eg 595 kg made €1,690 or €2.84 per kilo. Remember, if you have beef or store bullocks or heifers the trade in the marts is hot and proves an excellent alternative to factories where you know exactly what monies you get with no hidden reductions. e large sale of cull cows provided the top price of the day with a Char type weighing 970 kilo making €2160. Quality Friesian cows reached a high of €2 per kilo.

Our most recent dairy sale on Monday saw a 100% clearance of the 60 in-calf cows and heifers on o er.

In-calf cows ranged from €1,020 to €1,780 per head with in-calf Friesian heifers €900 to €1,320 per head.

One held after chopper ‘cop’

e Garda helicopter was called in to assist after a car failed to stop for local Gardaí on a recent Saturday night. It happened in Callan at around midnight and the air support unit was deployed for backup. ree men got out of the vehicle when it was eventually stopped on the Callan road and ed.

One man was subsequently arrested.