Watch: Feelgood Coffee & Conversation
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Teagasc Moorepark under ‘TB-related' restrictions
Teagasc Moorepark is currently under TB restrictions. Attendees at its annual open day, which took place on Wednesday, July 3, were told that due to the restrictions, heightened biosecurity protocols would apply. Footbaths were made available at the start, end and throughout the planned route of the day. Disinfection mats for cars were also present at the entry and exit. The open day route took attendees on a meandering route through Moorepark fields. In the opening briefing before getting to the main event, attendees were informed that grazing by the Moorepark herd was restricted along the route. Breaking tradition, no live animals were on display at this year's event, with Teagasc opting instead for plastic, replacements, or cardboard cutouts as visual aids and props throughout the displays. Attendees were informed to thoroughly disinfect footwear and to be mindful that disinfectant only works on clean footwear. TB levels highest in 15 years TB levels in Ireland have reached the highest the country has seen in the last 15 years. As of March 30, herd incidence is reported as 6.18% by the Department of Agriculture, already surpassing 2024's figure of 6.04% herd incidence by the end of the year. In a recent oireachtas meeting, it was revealed that as of June 8, just under 6,500 herds have suffered a TB breakdown, and 43,000 reactors have been disclosed within the last 12 months. Within the same period, just under 43,000 reactors have been disclosed, a 35% increase on the figure recorded in the same period the previous year, which was just under 32,000 reactors. The meeting also heard that dealing with the ongoing battle of Bovine TB (TB) will cost Ireland €130m this year. With the current disease levels, it was also estimated that the cost of the eradication programme could reach €170m in 2026. Read More Irish Examiner view: We need to eradicate TB for good
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Watch: Feelgood Coffee & Conversation
Watch the highlights from the Feel Good Coffee and Conversation Morning at Here's Health Café, Douglas Court Shopping Centre. Guests gathered for candid chats on women's health, led by pelvic health expert Shalini Wiseman, Irish Examiner's Esther McCarthy, and Feel Good editor Irene Feighan.
Irish Examiner
05-07-2025
- Irish Examiner
Esther McCarthy: Period dignity should never be a luxury item
Auntie Flo is visiting. The painters are in. It's shark week. The things, the yokes. Code red. On the rag. The curse. Bloody Mary is in town. A visit from the red fairy. These are all euphemisms I've heard since the day I got my first period, age 12. That last one — the red fairy — I only ever heard from one girl, I knew her in secondary school. I like to believe she's now living a life full of whimsy in a cabbage patch cottage on the edge of a bluebell-filled wood. I liked her. As I type, we're getting ready for a reader event in Cork with my colleague, Feelgood editor, Irene Feighan and guest speaker Shalini Wiseman, a chartered physiotherapist in women's health at Pelvic Health Programmes. It's called Coffee & Conversation, and it's all about making your wellbeing a daily priority. We're hoping for an open, informative chat on women's sexual health. But it got me thinking about how being advocates for our own health, starts with how we're taught about our bodies. Sure, I didn't even know I had a vagina until I was in secondary school. We never called it a vagina, let me tell you. There were no hand-mirror shenanigans in the suburbs of Cork in the 1980s. And when I did get my period, I was unprepared, to say the least. It turns out tomboys are not immune to biological realities. I was in denial for a while. I thought if I just ignored it, it might just go away. And it did! For about three and a half weeks, and then whabammo! Leak week. I guess it's called a cycle for a reason. The whole vibe back then was that your period was something embarrassing, shameful, something to be hidden and endured until, like the tides (crimson or otherwise), it rolled in again the next month. It was like Thanos. Inevitable. It was something boys in school sniggered at or used as an insult. If a fella found out you had your period, it was mortifying. It became a weapon to be used against you. I was determined my kids wouldn't see it that way. Since they were tiny boys, it's been treated as a normal fact of life in our house. No mysterious red fairies for them. I'd tell them each month, or whenever I was buying those quare products with the sticky wings, that a period is when blood comes out of the vagina as part of the menstrual cycle. It happens because the uterus builds up a soft lining each month in case a pregnancy happens. If it doesn't, the body lets go of that lining — and that's what a period is. It's normal, healthy, and a sign that the body is working the way it's meant to. By the time I got to the end of that sentence, they were usually off shooting pretend webs in their Spider-Man rig-outs. 'Spinning webs is nothing compared to what the female reproductive system can do!' I'd shout after them. 'We can CREATE LIIIIIFE!' Side note: Aww! I just got a flashback to how much they adored Spider-Man. Each of them wore the costume as their main outfit for most of their early years. I can chart their childhoods by who their favourite Spider-Man was: Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, and the best of the best — Miles Gonzalo Morales. But I digress. I may not have been well informed, but I was lucky enough to always have what I needed, there was a cupboard in the bathroom in our house where there was always a supply of pads and tampons, but that's simply not the case for everyone. Nearly one in four women in Ireland have experienced period poverty, according to the 2022 Healthy Ireland Survey. Imagine being a teenage girl in school, with those sniggering boys around you, worrying whether you're bleeding through your uniform. Dignity shouldn't be a luxury item. Back to the coffee and conversation event. Caring and sharing — it's something women do well, right? As part of the 25th anniversary of Feelgood, Irene recently initiated the Irish Examiner Women's Health Survey 2025, and wow, does it highlight the fact that women in Ireland face significant systemic gaps. And not just in reproductive health, but across the spectrum, from period pain management and fertility awareness, to PMS support, mental health, and GP care. What's both infuriating and quite sad is that, despite growing awareness, many women in Ireland still report feeling uninformed, isolated, or blocked from accessing basic health services. The survey revealed that more than 40% of women report difficulty getting a GP appointment. How can we take responsibility for our health if we are facing barriers to something as basic as routine care? Acknowledging these gaps is one way to dismantle taboos. We're crying out for information, access, and ready for better policies, better supports, better conversations. And coffee. Really good coffee. Period. Read More How wellbeing festivals have grown more popular in Ireland
