The entrance to Oweynagat, otherwise known as Cave of the Cats, was branded “the gate to Hell” by the medieval Irish church. Samhain, the origin festival for Halloween, is said to originate from this cave. The cave itself sits inconspicuously in a small hedgerow near a Rathcroghan farmer’s home.

How to sustainably farm on ancient monuments

Conservation scheme in Roscommon, Ireland, helps revitalize ancient Irish landscape and local farming community

The following is a narrative about an area in County Roscommon, Ireland, famed for its millennia-old farming traditions, archeological monuments, mythological inspirations – and an initiative that has been reconciles and supports the perpetuation of both. Rathcroghan, a small area of rural County Roscommon, Ireland, has been an agricultural landscape for thousands of years. Within […] Read more

Ballycarbery castle in County Kerry, pictured here in 2013, stands in the middle of private pastureland. Though once accessible to interested passersby, the landowner no longer permits visitors.

Castles in the pasture

How ancient monument conservation can work in a modern farm landscape

Ireland’s vivid green fields and mountain vistas are littered with monuments from our collective human past. Stone age burial tombs, iron age ringforts, early Christian monasteries, tower castles – all are remnants of a bygone age existing within a modern agricultural landscape.  Significant as such monuments are, crops still have to be grown. Livestock still […] Read more

An image created by Nexu Science Communication, together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus, the type of virus linked to COVID-19. (Nexu Science Communication via Reuters)

Canada to ease travel requirements as COVID cases decline

Updated — Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will ease entry for fully vaccinated international travelers starting Feb. 28 as COVID-19 cases decline, allowing a rapid antigen test for travelers instead of a molecular one, officials said Tuesday. Antigen tests are cheaper than a molecular test and can provide results within minutes. The new measures, which […] Read more

A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

White House heeded pressure to reopen Canada border, U.S. lawmaker says

Washington | Reuters — A U.S. congressman from New York said on Wednesday that political pressure had persuaded the White House to end a historic 19-month closure of its land borders with Canada and Mexico to millions of non-essential foreign visitors. Representative Brian Higgins, a Democrat representing a district along the Canadian border, said: “You […] Read more

A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. extends travel restrictions at Canada, Mexico borders

Washington | Reuters — The United States on Monday extended restrictions at its land borders with Canada and Mexico through Oct. 21 that bar nonessential travel such as tourism by foreigners despite Ottawa’s decision to open its border to vaccinated Americans. Canada on Aug. 9 began allowing fully vaccinated U.S. visitors for nonessential travel. The […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada to admit vaccinated U.S. tourists

Border to open Aug. 9 after more than 16 months

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada on Monday said it would allow fully vaccinated U.S. tourists into the country starting from Aug. 9 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented 16-month ban that many businesses complained was crippling them. Inoculated visitors from countries other than the United States will be permitted to enter beginning on Sept. […] Read more

Canada/U.S. border signage in downtown Detroit. (RiverNorthPhotography/Getty Images)

Canada to lift more border restrictions in weeks to come, Trudeau says

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will further relax border restrictions in the weeks to come as long as the science supports such a move, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday, suggesting Ottawa would move more quickly than initially announced. Trudeau, under pressure to allow non-essential travel from the U.S., was more categorical than he had […] Read more

(LIVINUS/iStock/Getty Images)

Businesses, U.S. legislators fume as Canada extends travel ban

Trudeau stands firm on ban's extension

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is extending a ban on nonessential travel with the United States and the rest of the world until July 21, officials said on Friday, prompting frustration from businesses and U.S. legislators. Canada is under pressure from companies and the tourism industry to ease the ban, which was imposed in March […] Read more


Worker travel groups win award

The two organizations that share administrative and air travel responsibilities for the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) have been honoured for their efforts in ensuring temporary foreign workers were able to work on Canadian fruit and vegetable farms in 2020. The Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Service – commonly known as F.A.R.M.S. – and CanAg Travel […] Read more

Prime Minister Trudeau announced new travel restrictions Jan. 29.

Travel restrictions won’t impact TFWs: federal sources

New restrictions will limit pleasure trips to the Caribbean and Mexico to April

New travel restrictions imposed on Canadians by the federal government won’t impact the arrival of temporary or seasonal foreign workers, according to sources. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Jan. 29 that Canada’s air carriers had agreed to suspend services to sunny destinations. Flights to tropical locations, like Mexico, are being cancelled by Air Canada, West […] Read more