As a tour guide, bringing visitors through the countryside, one of the frequent questions I get is "sheep are kept for their meat and wool, right?" Wrong. Unfortunately. It now costs way more to shear a sheep than you get paid for a fleece. Today's price is 55 cent per kilo, making an average fleece worth €1.50 while it costs €2 to €2.20 to shear a sheep. A good sheep shearer can shear 200 sheep in a day.... In times past, people wore what they could produce locally. In Irela

This week my walking group had a great Sunday walk on the (nearly completed) loop walk of the Upper Vartry Reservoir. This walk is the result of a lot of hard work and commitment by a number of local people who recognised the beauty of this place, and the potential to attract more visitors to this area. We are pictured on the newly installed bridge - much more comfortable than using the stepping stones across the the stream below! We even had the pleasure of meeting our local