menu_open
Trevor Laffan

Trevor Laffan

Evening Echo

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

We almost fell for €2,500 bank scam... we should all wise up

We had a close call with scammers recently. We were in Cyprus, and my wife got a message from what she thought was our bank at home. It looked genuine...

04.11.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Rats can be a plague on all our houses, but do you want to know what stops them?

I was out walking some time ago and I spotted a liner berthing at the quayside in Cobh. Once the mooring ropes had been secured to the anchor points...

28.10.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Here’s something to chew on.. let’s ban this unsightly gum

When I was a young lad, I thought America was the most amazing place on the planet. Of course, that was based solely on what I saw in the movies and...

21.10.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Dignity for cancer patients is my wish for the Apple billions

Cancer is one of the biggest killers in our community, so there can’t be many people who haven’t had some personal experience of this disease. I...

14.10.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Long flights and deadly beasts: perils of visiting my family in Oz

My daughter moved to Australia at the start of the year with her husband and three boys. They were fed up with the cost of living and poor services in...

07.10.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Saluting legends of Mayfield community down the decades

Having spent more than 35 years in An Garda Síochána, I’ve learned that there are two kinds of people in most communities. The first type consists...

30.09.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Ireland should follow UK, and get tough with violent mobs

Two things caught my eye from the coverage of the recent anti-immigrant riots in the UK. The first was the guy who was face down on the ground...

16.09.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Eating out in Ireland is costly enough, I’ve an issue with tips

I was reminded recently of an incident that happened a few years ago involving my late mother-in-law, Moyra Swords. She was in her nineties at the...

09.09.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Ditch all the ‘strategies’, what we need are gardaí on the beat

I was listening to Fine Gael Senator Maria Byrne being interviewed recently. She was promoting the idea of pop-up garda stations, which she said could...

02.09.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Yes, tourism has its downside in Cobh, but benefits are huge

I went to Spain for the first time back in the mid-1970s, and I was made to feel very welcome. The locals were happy to have me, and even happier to...

26.08.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Maybe a stint in the stocks will put manners on offenders!

In the aftermath of the recent riots in the United Kingdom, the judiciary showed their teeth when it came to dealing with the offenders in court....

19.08.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Yucky stews and nude protests - my garda training memories

I had a nostalgic moment recently while reading the latest issue of Síocháin magazine, a publication for retired members of An Garda Síochána....

12.08.2024 8

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Taking years off your looks is easy - just avoid the sunshine

I heard a conversation on the radio recently about reverse aging. The panel were discussing the need some people have to look younger than they really...

05.08.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

New laws and ads won’t make roads safer - just police them

Deaths from crashes on Irish roads have easily surpassed the 100 mark this year, up on the figure for this time last year. That’s in spite of all...

29.07.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Me go down in a parachute? You can take a running jump!

I don’t mind flying. We’re told it’s a safe form of transport, and I believe that. With highly trained pilots and onboard computers ready to...

22.07.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Life and times of a man who took on the criminal underworld

I came across an interesting story recently on Allthatsinteresting.com about a guy called Buford Pusser. It immediately brought to mind, images of...

15.07.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

I’m fed up of vile, threatening and abusive online attacks

I’m on the verge of quitting Twitter, or X as it’s now called. I joined in 2011 and it was fun for a few years. I used to check in every morning...

08.07.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Banning alcohol at airports may clip the wings of unruly flyers

THE Irish aviation industry recently launched a campaign to tackle unruly passenger behaviour in airports and on flights. All Irish airlines and...

01.07.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

An amputation in 28 seconds ... surgery really has changed

I was out and about recently when I came across an old black Mercedes. It was probably around my own vintage, from the fifties or maybe even older....

24.06.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Jaw-dropping day I swam in a shark-infested tropical ocean

ABOUT ten years ago, my wife and I went to visit our daughter Vicki and her partner - now husband- Ian, when they were in Australia. They spent a few...

17.06.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

A lifetime spent on the Cork coast... and so many happy memories

IF you want to experience what it’s like to live in a coastal town, you could do worse than spend some time in Cobh. It’s a great spot, full of...

10.06.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

I joined the battle against bird trappers, and it’s far from over

THE island of Cyprus is a rest stop for songbirds as they migrate between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. A place where they can rest up and...

03.06.2024 30

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Imagine... a rail service that’s safe, punctual and peaceful!

ACCORDING to a report on RTÉ, anti-social behaviour on public transport is out of control. An exasperated frontline transport worker told RTÉ...

20.05.2024 60

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

There be pirates, in Cork! Recalling the raid that enslaved 105 villagers

BALTIMORE promotes itself as a village of some 400 permanent inhabitants, whose numbers are swelled by visitors in the summer months. It lies about...

13.05.2024 40

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Our softly-softly approach to repeat criminals isn’t working

WE are very lenient in this country when it comes to dealing with serial offenders. Anyone can mess up, and fair enough, if it’s your first offence...

22.04.2024 40

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

End road carnage by educating people - from primary age on

NEARLY 30 road safety advocacy bodies have reportedly declared they have no confidence in the Road Safety Authority (RSA), after a spate of deaths in...

15.04.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Early signs of dementia... and how you can stave off decline

ONCE we pass the age of 60, I reckon most of us can expect to become more involved in the world of medicine. That’s often the time when various bits...

08.04.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

It’s true, redheads in hospital do need stronger anaesthetics

I DON’T like going to the dentist. I have this dread that during the drilling process, he will hit a nerve and send me through the ceiling. I...

01.04.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Garda bicycle case makes me fear for force  I proudly served

MORE than 1,800 police officers in the UK recruited under Boris Johnson’s manifesto pledge to increase numbers, resigned last year, it was reported...

18.03.2024 40

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

I discovered, the painful way, that it pays to wear flight socks

WE’VE reached that time of the year when people start making preparations for summer holidays. For some, that will mean long haul flights. The kind...

11.03.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

I’ve had my fill of potholes in Cork town, why can’t this problem be fixed?

VERA Hartland was a well-known local councillor in Cobh, back in the days when we had an Urban District Council. She lived in St Patricks Square at...

04.03.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Older men mustn’t wear shorts? I’ll give short-shrift to that...

I GO swimming early in the morning several times a week in our local Coral Leisure Centre. It was recommended to me by my surgeon following back...

26.02.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

A positive hospital visit in Cork... but it’s no wonder staff prefer Oz

I WROTE a piece not so long ago about an experience my wife had in the emergency department of the Mercy University Hospital in Cork. She ended up...

19.02.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

A poor night’s sleep can be a nightmare for your health too

WORLD Sleep Day this year takes place on March 15, so get ready. If you didn’t already know, the idea behind it is to highlight the plight of those...

12.02.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Stranded at airport for night... at least I found a new friend!

I ARRIVED in Paphos Airport in Cyprus at half past midnight. I had been travelling all day, but I wasn’t finished yet. I still had to collect my...

05.02.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Pedestrians must help to curb deaths by being visible in dark

A TOTAL of 184 people died in road accidents last year, according to provisional statistics released by the Road Safety Authority (RSA). This compared...

29.01.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Emotional day as my daughter joins the Irish exodus to Australia

MY daughter Vicki headed off to Australia on New Year’s Day this year with her husband and their three sons. Family members from both sides went to...

22.01.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

I get plagued by mozzies - but here’s a plan that will zap ’em

GANGSTERS involved in organised crime in Ireland seem to be getting more violent. They’re also becoming more daring. Gunmen no longer lurk in the...

15.01.2024 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Bird spit, putrid cheese: Crazy ideas for your New Year diet

MOST of us, I suspect, are probably glad by now that Christmas is over. We can get back to normal. Back to eating regular portions too. Turkey and ham...

08.01.2024 10

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Only feet on the beat can take the streets back from lawless

THE Minister for Justice Helen McEntee recently launched a ‘safety plan’ for Dublin’s north inner city, involving the deployment of ‘community...

18.12.2023 9

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

Fame and fortune are not good for you, I’d rather be ordinary!

LIKE most of us, I consider myself to be an ordinary Joe Soap. I’m quite content with life and I have no ambition to be rich and famous. Being...

11.12.2023 20

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

You’d need a stiff drink to get a grip on our licensing laws

I CAME across a story last week in the Irish Newspaper Archives. It was published more than 60 years ago in the then Cork Examiner. At Clonakilty...

04.12.2023 7

Evening Echo

Trevor Laffan

b9c30508cd2eb43ffcac321ed3116f1f