Irish Independent

Baby-name consultant Sarah-Jayne Ljungstrom helps people choose the perfect name for their child, and says traditional names are now considered unique and edgy. 'We were trying to agree on a name for our third child when I started my YouTube channel, which at the time was just about motherhood and my pregnancy. I made a video called ‘Baby Name Wars’ and it was really popular. I think it got something like 10,000 views in the first week, with hundreds of comments from people saying, “I’m in the exact same situation”. 'In the video, I talked about how it felt like my husband and I had totally different criteria. Because he’s in the corporate world, he wanted a name that would be taken seriously in the boardroom, whereas I worked in an ad agency where you’d probably be taken more seriously with a name like Persephone. 'It was like we were browsing in different shops and we were never going to agree — he was in a traditional designer shop, whereas I was in a vintage shop trying to find a hidden gem. 'We eventually agreed on the name Ebelina, which is a Swedish name in my husband’s family. Her middle name is Blossom.' More: https://buff.ly/3APE3zk

‘I found it to be the most difficult time of my life’ – Ivan Yates and other over 60s on why we should rethink our attitude to retirement https://buff.ly/3CGYrD4

Every year, Hattie Kearney remembers her late son, Finn, who passed away only a couple of days after being born. One year, she bought him a star, another she got his name tattooed on her wrist — Hattie’s way of making sure Finn will never be forgotten. In the hospital, Hattie received the visit of Féileacáin, an organisation formed by a group of bereaved parents, which offers support to anyone affected by the death of a baby around the time of birth. “They came in, they create these lovely memory boxes, there’s a photographer if you want them to come in and take pictures, all of this kind of stuff. They had all different types of supports for us at that time. I don’t know like what I would have done without them because they did create these memories.” I wanted to figure out how to solve grief in a way and I just didn’t know what to do, I was completely overwhelmed and I just couldn’t sit there and be sad. I wanted to do something for him, I wanted to help in some way.” That’s when she started sharing her experience with grief on Instagram via @moghraforlife. “It was basically my whole grieving story for everyone to see, in hopes that something that I would put up would maybe help other women or other families.” More: https://buff.ly/4fMzchA

Apple TV hit ‘Bad Sisters’ helps push revenues at Sharon Horgan’s TV firm to €31.6m https://buff.ly/3B6YMhW

Just as Groucho Marx would not join a club that would have him as a member, I wouldn’t vote for a political party because it promised me goodies, writes Liam Collins. But people still fall for this old three-card trick. 'Despite passing the age of three score and 10, my personal view is that government and political parties should be doing more to support younger people rather than “oldies”. If we don’t have a healthy young working population, who is going to keep us in the style to which we have become accustomed? We’re not doing too bad. I get €277.30 a week from the old age pension, free GP care, free travel (including the bus to the airport) and if you pass the means test, there is free fuel, a Living Alone Allowance and other perks. But if Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael increase the state pension to €350 a week during the lifetime of the next government as promised, sure, I’ll take that. Labour’s “pension promise” of indexing the state contributory pension to 34pc of average earnings, and Sinn Féin’s vague promise to increase it by €50 aren’t bad either. There are more than 800,000 people in this country over 65, so the political parties want to “cherish” and “empower” us to “make the future more secure” and even celebrate “the third age”. All a bit patronising, perhaps.' More: https://buff.ly/4i4ixav

Home Economics: Retrofitting just got our home up to an A3 BER. Will this make our mortgage cheaper?

In April of this year, Léan Hannigan had her ovaries removed, an operation she had known would be necessary since she tested positive for the BRCA 2 gene in her late 20s. Now 43, Léan is currently experiencing menopause for the third time. Léan initially experienced menopause during chemotherapy treatment which she underwent in her mid-30s, after having a lump removed from her breast. When that treatment ended, her period returned. The second time was chemically induced menopause, brought on by hormone therapy. Cancer treatments that reduce oestrogen levels or block the action of oestrogen can result in a person experiencing menopausal symptoms. This includes chemotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery that removes your ovaries and treatments that may stop your ovaries from working. Even though Léan continued on hormone therapy, the side effects of that second menopause did subside. Then, “as a result of having my ovaries out in April of this year, I went into surgical menopause,” Léan explains, adding that there was a period of nearly six years between this third menopause and the previous second one. “I had my surgery in April, and I was hit by a tonne of bricks again. So here I am for the third time, going through the menopause. And it is the worst. I’m a little bit better now, I’ve found a herbal treatment that’s working for me. Happy Mammoth Hormone Balance. I can’t take HRT.” She has had all the typical menopause symptoms this time, but the most impactful has been the anxiety: “And the crisis of confidence in work. Not sleeping, and that was then playing in from a work perspective. Mood changes. Weight gain. All of that. But the confidence thing was huge. I think I was almost in shock at how bad I was feeling, because I was so unprepared for it.” More: https://buff.ly/3CEAcFQ

The Irish Independent will have reporters at every Election 2024 count centre. Go to our election hub for our live blog, latest news, top analysis, podcasts and video: https://buff.ly/3yR2NFZ

Credit unions are on course to cross the €1bn threshold for mortgages issued in the next two years. The new figures come after the Central Bank of Ireland said it was planning to ease strict rules that restrict credit unions growing their mortgage lending https://buff.ly/494ozEe

Dear Vicki: ‘My staff don’t want a Christmas party, even though I’m paying and booked a great venue - is this a common issue for businesses?' https://buff.ly/3Opsq5e