Paul Durcan’s talking picturesLOOSE LEAVES: Only a brave actor would take on reading Paul Durcan’s work – the poet’s own readings are always sell-outs – but…Sat Apr 14 2012 - 01:00
Going overboard with the glut of 'Titanic' centenary showsTV REVIEW: AT THIS STAGE I feel like I’m training for Mastermind – specialist subject Titanic – and it’s getting just a bit …Sat Apr 14 2012 - 01:00
A bungalow, a coach house - and planning for another houseBLACKROCK, CO DUBLIN €750,000: SELLING BY auction these days is rare because buyers tend to want to take their time and finance…Thu Apr 12 2012 - 01:00
Beneath its obnoxious title, 'The Undateables' has a heartTV REVIEW: AS AN EXAMPLE of a title that appears to be created just to get your back up – or attract publicity – The Undateables…Sat Apr 07 2012 - 01:00
What's that huge, static object? Just another Fellowes dramaTV REVIEW: FINDING A WAY to tell a story to which everyone knows the ending is always tricky, and so for the four-part drama…Sat Mar 31 2012 - 01:00
An Irishwoman's DiaryTHINK Shirley Temple – no that’s unfair to the lovely memory of a famous little girl with her trademark ringlets, because the…Tue Mar 27 2012 - 01:00
A poignant portrait of a giant who never knew her own worthTV REVIEW: NUALA O’FAOLAIN lived such a full life – equal parts excess and success, on top of layers of chaos and fragility – …Sat Mar 24 2012 - 00:00
Unparliamentary behaviour in the house? Switch off, senatorTV REVIEW: HERE’S A TELLY-VIEWING tip for Sen David Norris: next time you see a programme that comes with a warning about “adult…Sat Mar 17 2012 - 00:00
A portrait of a comedian in a deadly serious situationTV REVIEW: ‘BREAST CANCER is not a pink ribbon” is the subtitle of the New York photographer David Jay’s ground-breaking Scar…Sat Mar 10 2012 - 00:00
Homes with fine views in Dalkey and D16There are sea vistas from the wrap-around veranda of a period home in Dalkey, while a modern house above Rathfarnham has views…Thu Mar 08 2012 - 00:00
Communion isn't all about money - just don't tell the kidsTV REVIEW: IF I HADN’T seen Catholics: Men (BBC4, last Thursday), the first of three films about Catholicism, I probably wouldn…Sat Mar 03 2012 - 00:00
Sympathetic upgrade of 100-year-old cottageRATHFARNHAM €450,000: WHEN LAUREL COTTAGE was built in Rathfarnham – in 1910 – Stocking Lane was deep in the countryside, at…Thu Mar 01 2012 - 00:00
Meet Dustin Hoffman, ex-con and crossword setterTV REVIEW: YOU’D HAVE BET good money on Luck (Sky Atlantic, Sunday) being must-watch TVSat Feb 25 2012 - 00:00
Designer put own style on two-bed apartmentTERENURE €300,000: THE OWNER of 188 Bushy Park House in Terenure bought his apartment off the plans nearly 10 years ago and …Thu Feb 23 2012 - 00:00
All wrapped up, with nowhere for a filleted plotline to goTV REVIEW: RTÉS SUNDAY NIGHT drama, Raw , wrapped up season four with two properly dramatic scenes that were all the more satisfying…Sat Feb 18 2012 - 00:00
Limousines, nice frocks and the tick-tock of biological clocksTV REVIEW: OUR REMOTE WENT on the blink this week, so we reverted to that tried and tested method of barking instructions to…Sat Feb 11 2012 - 00:00
Renovated villa is a Pleasants surpriseDUBLIN 8 €650,000 LONGTIME househunters in Dublin 8 will know all about 7 Pleasants StreetThu Feb 09 2012 - 00:00
'And you think, Well, we've had an excellent life . . .'TV REVIEW: TURNING AROUND AN ocean liner is a famously slow business, but turning around a documentary about one, well, that…Sat Feb 04 2012 - 00:00
Extended three-bed has been opened up to the lightGLENAGEARY €700,000: WITH BANKS reluctant to loan, especially on fixer-uppers, a large family house in a long-established area…Thu Feb 02 2012 - 00:00
Who's thrown a spanner in 'The Works'?TV REVIEW: IT HELPS TO KNOW that the G in An G Team (TG4, Sunday) stands for Gaeilge, which is not, admittedly, the biggest…Sat Jan 28 2012 - 00:00
Mammies, childbirth and life's wimple pleasuresTV REVIEW: THERE WAS BRENDA FRICKER explaining how she created her Oscar-winning role of Christy Brown’s mammy in My Left Foot…Sat Jan 21 2012 - 00:00
A diamond in the roughTV REVIEW: ‘IT’S LIKE SOME sort of low-rent James Bond movieSat Jan 14 2012 - 00:00
This week, the past was really something to look forward toTV REVIEW: NO TIME this week for looking ahead and starting on those New Year resolutions, or even bingeing on all the new fat…Sat Jan 07 2012 - 00:00
Keep close, mind the Roman toilets and please don't turn overTV REVIEW: I JOINED Francis Brennan’s tour bus in Barcelona six weeks ago for the first episode of his Grand Tour (RTÉ1, Sunday…Sat Dec 24 2011 - 00:00
Tallaghtvision reality show really makes a spectacle of itselfTV REVIEW: THE HIT US REALITY series Jersey Shore washed up in south Dublin in its Irish version, Tallafornia , and, to ride…Sat Dec 17 2011 - 00:00
Time to knuckle down and write that short storyLOOSE LEAVES: The Francis MacManus short-story competition gets its timing so rightSat Dec 10 2011 - 00:00
Tubridy's toy story hit the spot, but piercing tale sounded hollowTV REVIEW: PUT ASIDE THE bread and circuses theory for a minuteSat Dec 10 2011 - 00:00
Joseph O’Connor wins Irish Pen AwardLOOSE LEAVES: Joseph O’Connor (pictured) is to receive the 2012 Irish Pen Award – Irish Pen is part of the international organisation…Sat Dec 03 2011 - 00:00
The friendly face that can work wonders when times are hardTV REVIEW: HERE’S HOW to get richSat Dec 03 2011 - 00:00
Toy Show serves up seasonal giddiness, great performancesGIANT DINOSAURS, a doll that poops green gunge, an inflatable Dalek-shaped bicycle — they were just some of the stars of last…Sat Dec 03 2011 - 00:00
What Larry, Aaron, Declan, Kate, Stephen and Heather did nextTV REVIEW: ANYONE WHO saw Departure Day , RTÉ’s poignant and timely documentary last January, which featured people as they …Sat Nov 26 2011 - 00:00
Christmas books at the bookiesLOOSE LEAVES: Although we can’t see anyone wandering into their local bookie’s to put a few quid on what will be the bestselling…Sat Nov 26 2011 - 00:00
Loose LeavesCongratulations to our book-award winners Belinda McKeon and Anna Carey, two regular reviewers on these pages, were winners …Sat Nov 19 2011 - 00:00
Oops, they did it again: a hint of deja vu in this comedy of errorsTV REVIEW: THE TWO-PART documentary Crisis: Inside the Cowen Government (RTÉ1, Monday) looked slick and promised much but told…Sat Nov 19 2011 - 00:00
There's murder on the streets - and boredom on the hustingsTV REVIEW: IN ONE OF the more chilling scenes in the new series of the gangland drama Love/Hate (RTÉ1, Sunday), two thugs chase…Sat Nov 12 2011 - 00:00
Travel the world, see new places - must be a complete nightmareTV REVIEW: EVERYONE’S a criticSat Nov 05 2011 - 00:00
Wacky plot twists straight out of 'Dallas' - or a presidential debateTV REVIEW: RIVETING TV, wasn’t it? Those of us who dutifully watched every single presidential debate and were mostly turned…Sat Oct 29 2011 - 01:00
Come fly with Maggie, Kate, Laura . . . and Mary McAleeseTV REVIEW: IF WE have to suffer yet another TV debate – and it appears we do, because everyone has to get a telly slice of the…Sat Oct 22 2011 - 01:00
When Mike met Marian: it warmed up, eventuallyTV REVIEW: David Norris could have produced those letters and no one would have paid a blind bit of noticeSat Oct 15 2011 - 01:00
Go KidsAUTUMN is a time of major bird migration – tens of thousands of swallows are already making their way from Ireland where they…Sat Oct 15 2011 - 01:00
No offence? Not !*~#*!@!* likely‘I WOULD FULLY EXPECT to be on Joe Duffy during the week,” Simon Delaney says about the forthcoming run of Jerry Springer: The…Tue Oct 11 2011 - 01:00
Who's the winner? With Browne in the chair, there's no debateTV REVIEW: AT THE very least, a debate needs several lecterns and a bit of argy-bargySat Oct 08 2011 - 01:00
A smart Sandymount renovationDUBLIN 4 €1.24M Back on the market after a decade, this Victorian end-of- terrace house, for sale for €1Thu Oct 06 2011 - 01:00
From Klingon to the cúpla focal, the words speak for themselvesTV REVIEW: TRICKY BUSINESS, languageSat Oct 01 2011 - 01:00
Go KidsWorld Space Week : World Space Week begins on Tuesday and runs until October 10th, and it’s a week designed to turn our attention…Sat Oct 01 2011 - 01:00
Ballsbridge grandeur has new price tagDUBLIN 4: €2.2M : This sensitively renovated redbrick, has period details and a terrace that overlooks the gardenThu Sept 29 2011 - 01:00
How the other half gives - it's philanthropy without the flashTV REVIEW: RTÉ’S VERSION of the hit Channel 4 series The Secret Millionaire could just as easily have been called The Lovely…Sat Sept 24 2011 - 01:00
Go KidsNATIONAL Trails Day is on Sunday October 2nd and while many of the brilliant events around the country – everywhere from Cape…Sat Sept 24 2011 - 01:00
Roomy penthouse with Ailesbury viewDUBLIN €1M: SINCE it was built in the 1970s, the St Anne’s development on Ailesbury Road, across from Donnybrook church, has…Thu Sept 22 2011 - 01:00
