He might have been referring to an earlier poetry teacher from his Scoil Spioraid Naofa days in his poem, 'Past Master', but the Bishopstown native, who launches his new book in Cork in March, is now the teacher who inspires. Louis De Paor is the Director of the Centre for Irish Studies at the National University of Ireland in Galway, but his pen has been filling the white space of pages with poetry since his teens.

A place in the front seat of society comes with its blessings and curses. However, Cork-based press photographer Michael MacSweeney says being a witness to the immense joys and sorrows in people's lives has left him with a better understanding of the human condition. "Words can manipulate a situation, whereby a photo tells a story exactly as it is," says the Tralee native who set up the Cork City photography agency, Provision, in 2000.

In his early 20s, he trained with soprano, Rita Lynch in Cork City and began the musical journey, which culminated when he entered the television talent show last year. "My daughter Leona told me to enter it. But I laughed it off at first," he says. That was until the forms arrived in the post and Leona's, and his family's, encouragement began to bear more fruit.

For Turners Cross native, Nicola Depuis, life is a page-turner. The 30 year-old author's CV contains a list of achievements that most writers only dream about. Nicola's most recent work is a book that celebrates Irish women called 'Mna na hÉireann – Women Who Shaped Ireland' by Mercier Press. Nicola, who was educated at Christ King for both Primary and Secondary school, is now studying for an MA in Women's Studies at UCC.

Having spent three months as a human rights observer in Israel and Palestine last year, Cork's Joe O'Brien says he now spends his time advocating on behalf of the group that works for peace at the coalface of the occupation in the Holy Land. The Grenagh native, who also works with an NGO in Dublin, travelled last April with the EAPPI (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel).

This coming June, the European Parliament in Brussels and the Irish Museum of Modern Art will be honouring a Cork photographer's work this year. Described as the 'Cork Vermeer' David is a conceptual documentary photographer and has been recently selected as one of the Fifty Greatest Masters of Photography in a new book 'Photography in 100 words' by David Clark.

Having studied for his vocation in Cork, the Donegal native was ordained in 1982 and became a member of the Society of African Missions (SMA). The 44-year-old now works with Cois Tine, an immigrant pastoral project based on Pope's Quay. This Friday's 'Unity In Diversity' event, the first of its kind in Cork, aims to promote a greater respect and understanding of how faith communities express their spirituality as Christians.

It seems that for some people, the day has more than 24 hours. How do you stretch the time and dedicate yourself to the others with passion and effects? How open minded do you have to be to spread hope and knowledge, and share personal experiences in a strange place? One day the landmass stops being strange and you may find yourself able to share your memories with others without embarrassment.

When Belgooly's Cathal O'Shea became so overweight that he was forced to wash himself in the sea, he decided that it was time to lose weight. But he never expected to lose 21 stone. Cathal was in his late teens when his father died in 1993 and it was then that Cathal decided that a healthy lifestyle was a waste of time.

Having studied commerce and law at UCC, one might find it unusual for a businesswoman to turn her professional sights on fixing fashion faux pas. But that's exactly what the creator of 'Style Fish', a style school arriving to Cork in January, has done.

Laois native, Julie Cobbes, studied business and law and began work in the legal world after college. However, on her way down South Mall one day, as she strolled from the solicitor's office that she worked in, a wedding store window caught Julie's eye.