Parenting advice: Enjoy your walking pad, just don’t be a dose about itBeing able to watch your favourite show while working up a sweat is enough of a rewardMon Mar 30 2026 - 05:31
The Irish working for US firms: ‘Friday 4.30pm and somebody is trying to kick off a project’US firms employ more than 245,000 people here but working for one entails straddling time zones and negotiating different attitudes to work-life balanceSat Mar 28 2026 - 06:00
Postponing parenthood: How Ireland’s housing crisis is forcing people to delay having childrenTo 30-somethings hoping to start a family, the connection between the lack of available homes and the State’s falling fertility rate is obviousSat Mar 21 2026 - 06:00
Jen Hogan: Mams are the best thing since toilet roll in a pandemic when it’s Mother’s DayI am mother, hear me roar. And not just at my kids when they’re melting my headSun Mar 15 2026 - 06:01
‘A load of nothingness’: What does International Women’s Day mean to your average Joan Soap?‘I don’t want to shatter glass ceilings. I am already shattered,’ says one womanSun Mar 08 2026 - 06:01
The annual ‘is four or five the right age to start school?’ season is upon usIf your child is on the younger side, September 2026 shouldn’t be the only consideration – September 2036 matters too. Here’s whyMon Mar 02 2026 - 05:31
Parents on posting: ‘We’ve opted out, so my child is being excluded’As concerns grow around safety, identity theft, consent and AI, attitudes to sharing images on social media are changingSat Feb 21 2026 - 06:00
‘Take school dinners’ before cutting SNAs, parents and teachers tell Government Parents of children who rely on the support of SNAs are fearful of losing this vital resourceFri Feb 20 2026 - 13:00
Teens and screens: How much mischief can they really get into?Jen Hogan: It’s not only the people they speak to online, it’s the content they consume - and the messages Mon Feb 16 2026 - 06:00
Online dating at midlife: ‘He wanted me to drive from north Dublin to Wicklow for sex at 2am’As people in Ireland settle down later than ever, more people in their 40s and 50s are turning to apps to find love online Sun Feb 15 2026 - 06:00
Nine good reasons Irish people are having fewer children, or noneWe’re continually told we’re facing a demographic crisis, but solving it is not as simple as lying back and thinking of IrelandMon Feb 02 2026 - 06:00
‘They’re missing out on so much’: How screens and Covid are shaping childhood in IrelandBasic skills such as playing, pretending and conversing have been affected by tech use and pandemic isolationSat Jan 31 2026 - 06:00
Irish women share their stories of motherhood after 40: ‘I knew if I didn’t try, I would have regrets’ Motherhood in Ireland is changing, with more babies born to women over the age of 40 – and indeed, 45 – than ever beforeSat Jan 24 2026 - 06:00
FAFO parenting has taken over from the gently-gently approachThis new trend sounds remarkably like the parenting of the 1980s and 1990s, the kind we’ve mostly been trying to avoidMon Jan 19 2026 - 05:31
When Dry January becomes permanent: ‘Even though I was fit and energetic the weekends were gone’ Weight loss, better skin, some questions – three people share experiences of dry January and beyondSun Jan 11 2026 - 06:00
Nollaig na mBan is just business-as-usual with a trendy titleInstead of mounting an uprising, I’m going to list my Women’s Christmas resolutions here to make the rest of 2026 a little less chaoticMon Jan 05 2026 - 05:31
Should we ban social media for under-16s? Irish teens share their thoughtsAustralia’s ban on social media for children under 16 is being closely watched around the world - and also by young peopleSun Dec 28 2025 - 06:00
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ‘If men gave birth maternity hospitals would be palaces and we’d get three years off’Ó Ríordáin’s youngest daughter Róisín was born prematurely a few days ago at 26 weeks’ gestationThu Dec 18 2025 - 06:01
From toe-nail clippers to jaffa cakes: What’s the worst Christmas gift you’ve been given?What’s the craziest, or most unexpected present you’ve ever received?Tue Dec 16 2025 - 15:00
Virtual reality as a lifeline: ‘For some young people it’s the social’Foróige GoVirtual seeks to connect vulnerable and isolated young people through virtual realityTue Dec 16 2025 - 06:01
‘It used to be you sent in something small’: Christmas presents for teachers in Ireland ‘There’s never anything about teacher gifts. It just puts unnecessary pressure on families’Tue Dec 09 2025 - 06:01
‘I am the Grinch,’ one friend told me as I teased him about disliking ChristmasJen Hogan: Plenty of people feel the season-to-be-jolly is overratedMon Dec 08 2025 - 05:31
The WFH parents balancing work and childcare: ‘I struggle with it. The two things don’t mix at all’Some parents say they have no choice, but is working from home with no formal childminding arrangements feasible, or even acceptable?Sat Dec 06 2025 - 06:00
The most annoying thing about parent-teacher meetings? Parents who hog teachersOn behalf of frazzled parents everywhere, please make a separate appointmentMon Nov 24 2025 - 05:31
Richie Sadlier: ‘My kids will be sick of me mentioning the word sex’Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Nov 18 2025 - 06:00Listen to Richie Sadlier: ‘My kids will be sick of me mentioning the word sex’Listen | 45:55
I’ve changed my old stance on teens and alcohol – it’s snus and vapes that are the problemI suspect few enough of us reached 18 before having our first alcoholic drinkMon Nov 10 2025 - 05:31
Tanita Tikaram: ‘The Beatles taught me to sing low’The singer of Fijian and Malaysian descent penned her hit single, Twist in my Sobriety, when she was a ‘introverted, opinionated’ teenagerSun Nov 09 2025 - 06:00
Sophie Ellis-Bextor: ‘We were going out six weeks when we found out I was pregnant’Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Nov 04 2025 - 06:30Listen to Sophie Ellis-Bextor: ‘We were going out six weeks when we found out I was pregnant’Listen | 35:16
Chris Hadfield: ‘I have an Irish granddaughter and I couldn’t be more delighted’Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Oct 28 2025 - 06:30Listen to Chris Hadfield: ‘I have an Irish granddaughter and I couldn’t be more delighted’Listen | 33:09
Women leaders at Ireland’s all-boys schools: ‘Boys love clarity, fairness and consistency’School principals Caroline Garrett and Elaine Kelly, and head coach Tania Rosser, on changing the gender dynamicFri Oct 24 2025 - 12:10
Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: ‘My mum was mortified I was breastfeeding in a restaurant’ Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Oct 21 2025 - 06:30Listen to Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: ‘My mum was mortified I was breastfeeding in a restaurant’ Listen | 45:58
Boys-only Dublin private school appoints first woman principal in 190-year historyElaine Kelly has been appointed principal of the all-boys, fee-paying Castleknock CollegeTue Oct 14 2025 - 17:49
Ciara Kelly: ‘A consultant shamed me for being an unmarried, pregnant junior doctor’The doctor-turned-broadcaster on raising four children, loving the teenage years and how her career has influenced her parentingTue Oct 14 2025 - 06:28Listen to Ciara Kelly: ‘A consultant shamed me for being an unmarried, pregnant junior doctor’Listen | 42:54
‘Silent sidelines’ at children’s matches: How utterly depressing that this is where we areJen Hogan: Adults’ behaviour is having a detrimental effect on children playing a game. Just let that sink inMon Oct 13 2025 - 05:31
Separated couples who can’t afford to live apart: ‘It is hugely difficult and horrible’The housing and rent crisis adds another challenge to those in the middle of a relationship breakdownSun Oct 12 2025 - 06:00
Weight-loss injections: ‘Two years ago I had to use a mobility scooter, this year I am hiking’High costs are a common worry among users of Ozempic, Mounjaro and other weight-loss drugs, who report varying levels of successSat Oct 11 2025 - 06:00
Prof Donal O’Shea: ‘I’ll be advising my girls to go on HRT’On this episode of Conversations with Parents, Jen Hogan speaks to the consultant endocrinologist and HSE clinical lead for obesityTue Oct 07 2025 - 06:30Listen to Prof Donal O’Shea: ‘I’ll be advising my girls to go on HRT’Listen | 46:35
‘I would have loved to have been a stay-at-home dad’: Fintan O’Toole on fatherhoodConversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Sept 30 2025 - 06:15Listen to ‘I would have loved to have been a stay-at-home dad’: Fintan O’Toole on fatherhoodListen | 43:58
Some wisdom learned from a half a life (and counting) spent parentingConversations with Parents podcast is back with a brand new season starting on September 30thMon Sept 29 2025 - 05:31
Horse trainer Henry de Bromhead: ‘We miss Jack, but we know he’s always with us’Father is proud a new equine centre in honour of his late teenage son will help children with disabilitiesFri Sept 26 2025 - 06:00
What do the President, Kim Kardashian and I have in common?Jen Hogan: I never anticipated that one day, Kim Kardashian and I might take a similar stance on educational issuesMon Sept 15 2025 - 05:31
The guidance counsellor: ‘I think we’re overly educated, but perhaps not skilled enough’Remaining focused on CAO points means overlooking ‘wonderful’ alternatives such as apprenticeships and tertiary degreesTue Sept 09 2025 - 05:31
Life after school: Next stage options from those who have chosen different pathsWhether you choose a PLC, an apprenticeship or the straight-to-college route, there’s more than one way to take the next stepTue Sept 09 2025 - 05:31
Middle-aged renters: ‘At this age, unless I won the Lotto, how would I afford anything?’Average asking rents are now twice what they were at the peak of the Celtic Tiger period. At the 2002 census, 27 was the age at which more than half of householders owned their own home. In 2022, it was 36Sat Sept 06 2025 - 06:00
Ireland’s largest school forced to close classes due to secretary and caretaker strikeGorey Community School has limited attendance each day to a restricted number of year groupsWed Sept 03 2025 - 18:25
It took a while to get used to being called ‘mum’. After all, ‘mam’ is the correct termJen Hogan: We live in a society that defines women by their uterine activity – how many pieces have you read about working dads?Mon Sept 01 2025 - 05:31
How can new students get the best from their college experience?Societies are a great source of community which is important when coping with the big changes of being away from home Tue Aug 26 2025 - 17:01
‘When it comes to supporting club football, Liverpool don’t really count as an English team’Jen Hogan: A lifelong devotion to the Reds by fans on this side of the Irish Sea has produced a club following unlike any other Mon Aug 18 2025 - 05:31
‘We can’t have nice things in Ireland because no one follows the rules’: Emigrants on returning homeMore than 30,000 Irish citizens returned to Ireland in the year to April 2024. Four recent returnees share their experiences of coming homeSat Aug 16 2025 - 06:00
Back to school costs: Handy tips you can use to ease the financial burdenIt’s an expensive time of year, but resourceful use of WhatsApp uniform swap shops and taking stock of usable existing items are among ways of cutting backMon Aug 04 2025 - 05:31
