Grannycare is no solution to childcare crisisWhat happens to the magic when being a grandparent becomes an obligation instead of a pleasure?Sat Oct 26 2019 - 06:30
The Tipperary town that changed its mind on asylum seekersHow Borrisokane and Ballinamore have reacted differently to direct provisionFri Oct 25 2019 - 11:40
Deborah Orr, RIP: ‘Funny, charismatic and terrifyingly cool’I met her just once – when interviewing her ex, Will Self – but she made a lasting impressionMon Oct 21 2019 - 13:45
Can you be friends with someone you fundamentally disagree with?Jennifer O’Connell: Listening to an opposing view isn’t endorsing it. Civility isn’t weaknessSat Oct 19 2019 - 06:03
‘You can be anything in Ireland now, except English’What is it like to be one of the 114,500 British people living here in the Brexit era?Sat Oct 19 2019 - 06:00
Why hasn’t Ireland succumbed to the populist wave sweeping Europe?The Turkish writer Ece Temelkuran on how Ireland shouldn’t be complacent about populismFri Oct 18 2019 - 00:00
Nancy Pelosi: The woman who stood up to Trump – and wonTrump tweeted an ‘insulting’ photo of Pelosi. She put it on her social media accountsThu Oct 17 2019 - 16:49
Harry and Meghan are in a battle with the media that they can’t possibly winJennifer O’Connell: I like the royal couple but I’m siding with the tabloids on thisSat Oct 12 2019 - 07:40
Being gay foster parents: ‘You just need to be good enough’‘The children have never heard any negative comments about our gender or relationship’Sat Oct 12 2019 - 06:00
Nobel Prize: A short history of hoaxes, mix-ups and disbeliefPranks and misundertandings do occur. Just ask Toni Morrison, Alice Monro or Donald TrumpFri Oct 11 2019 - 20:05
Jennifer O’Connell: It was not just in Gilead that women were stripped of their namesIt is time we remembered all Josephs and Marys whose dignity, freedom and lives were stolenSat Oct 05 2019 - 06:00
Google might be drafted in to help fix our homeless crisis - it should make us all nervousGoogle is not an altruistic enterprise. Its primary responsibility is enrichment of its shareholdersWed Oct 02 2019 - 06:00
What’s the story? In Edinburgh’s Storytelling Centre there are a lot of them being toldTall tales and time machines in a glistening sandstone city that is the jewel of East LothianSat Sept 28 2019 - 06:00
Women cyclists on harassment: ‘They think it’s sexy interaction. I’m just going to work’Only one in every 250 teenage girls gets to school by bike. And it has nothing to do with school skirtsSat Sept 28 2019 - 06:00
Funeral of emigrant who died alone: Joseph Tuohy ‘ashamed of his existence’Hundreds gather for Irish man who was separated from his mother at five years of ageFri Sept 27 2019 - 13:05
Discontented rural Ireland fertile ground for populistsGovernment slow to learn lesson from Brexit and populism sweeping other countriesWed Sept 25 2019 - 06:00
No ordinary Joe: The story of forgotten Irish emigrant Joseph TuohyJoseph Tuohy, who died in July, never got over being separated from his mother as a boySun Sept 22 2019 - 06:00
He had loved this man in secret for years. Now it fell to her to find himShe knew there was someone to be told. Someone no one else knew about. Another manSat Sept 21 2019 - 06:00
Boris Johnson has the charm and depth of an overcooked souffleJennifer O’Connell: Unfortunately, sometimes terrifyingly, we often get leaders we deserveSat Sept 14 2019 - 06:03
Irish pub closures: The slow death of the local barIreland has 1,500 fewer pubs than in 2006. Nowhere has seen a steeper decline than LimerickSat Sept 14 2019 - 06:00
Why is Greta Thunberg so triggering for certain men?Articles of 2019: How can a 16-year-old girl in plaits inspire such rage?Sat Sept 07 2019 - 06:02
Free public transport scheme: ‘If they tried to take it away, we’d fight it’Ireland’s free travel scheme is ‘an extraordinary social programme’, believe older users of bus and rail servicesSat Sept 07 2019 - 06:00
Moderators to take Facebook to court for ‘psychological trauma’One described witnessing Isis executions, child exploitation and animal tortureSat Sept 07 2019 - 02:51
Jennifer O’Connell: Why do we ‘hate-follow’ people on social media?Who is more inane, the influencer posting about their #blessed life, or the outraged follower?Sat Aug 31 2019 - 06:00
Dún Laoghaire’s continuing failure to reinvent itselfIt’s our oldest commuter town, a major port – and a planning mess. Poor little rich suburbSat Aug 31 2019 - 06:00
Being a home carer: ‘Every day is different, every call is different’As one of the fastest growing occupations in Ireland, there are some 44,000 people working in the senior care industryWed Aug 28 2019 - 01:00
Cork haven a sanctuary for 350 people of a certain vintageAgeing Ireland: A unique community development that could form a valuable blueprintTue Aug 27 2019 - 01:54
Ageing Ireland: A retirement village ‘better than a hotel’‘We just do whatever it is to keep them in their own home as long as possible’Tue Aug 27 2019 - 01:01
Rose of Tralee 2019: ‘My escort’s name is Kate – and she is HOT’What Roses will least likely say, and everything else you need to know about the festivalMon Aug 26 2019 - 06:00
Jennifer O’Connell: Second-hand drinking? We call it ‘craic’If you’ve been groped by a drunken stranger in a bar, you’ve experienced second-hand drinkingSat Aug 24 2019 - 06:02
Could artificial sperm mean the end of men?Ovarian freezing to gene editing: Babies could be made very differently in 21st centurySat Aug 24 2019 - 06:00
Rose of Tralee: so safe and smug you just know Donald Trump would approve. Oh look, he doesTalent and ambition are tolerated, but notions are a no-no. Basically, it’s Ireland selecting its fantasy daughter-in-law.Fri Aug 23 2019 - 06:00
Do bras set off the scanners? The secret life of Dublin AirportWhat happens to all the swag? Does Brexit spell trouble? Jennifer O’Connell finds outSun Aug 18 2019 - 06:00
Bringing kids to festivals is the worst kind of performance parentingJennifer O'Connell: If you thought I was fun before I had kids, the toddler-toting festival-goers brag, see me now!Sat Aug 17 2019 - 06:03
Jennifer O’Connell: Am I ever going to feel like a grown-up?Instead of being a life-stage, ‘adulthood’ has become a fraught, anxious goal for many of usSat Aug 10 2019 - 06:03
Mum’s fancy-dress outfit? At Fonsie Mealy’s auction it went for €320,000Tiger heads and brown furniture: a day at the Kilkenny auction yields lots of storiesSat Aug 03 2019 - 06:00
Jennifer O’Connell: Life lessons can be learned from earwigging on the trainThe Philosopher says he’s going outside. This is surprising because the train is movingSat Aug 03 2019 - 06:00
Dazzling ensembles light up Ladies Day at the Galway Races‘You’ve so many fashionable and talented people in one place ... It’s great for inspiration’Thu Aug 01 2019 - 19:10
Online porn and our kids: It’s time for an uncomfortable conversationChildren viewing endless, sexually explicit, violent material shouldn’t be inevitableSat Jul 27 2019 - 06:03
A creche is a business, but childcare is more than a commercial transactionIf our starting point is that parents who use childcare are neglectful, we’re setting a low bar for the standards we expectFri Jul 26 2019 - 12:25
Doll’s house sells for ‘mad’ price of €48,000 at Kilkenny auctionThe 1810 mahogany house, once owned by Vivien Greene, had guide price of €3,000-€4,000Wed Jul 24 2019 - 02:30
Jennifer O'Connell: Things I wish I’d known before having babiesIf I could go back, there’s lots of advice I’d give myself – not that I’d have listenedSat Jul 20 2019 - 06:04
Crested uniforms, iPads and ‘amenity fees’: The true cost of free schoolingSandra calculates that back to school costs for her daughter will come to €1,367 this summerSat Jul 20 2019 - 06:00
Brendan Grace funeral: Ceremony blends sadness and raucous laughterEchoes of their father’s sharp wit as eulogies delivered by each of Grace’s four childrenMon Jul 15 2019 - 17:31
‘Kilrush would be a lot better if it was below in Kerry’It’s not so much that the town had a tough recession – the boom never really arrivedSat Jun 29 2019 - 06:05
Jennifer O’Connell: Sleeplessness is this year's gluten intoleranceSleep has become the preoccupation of my generationSat Jun 29 2019 - 06:00
Life in a commuter town: ‘They call Sallins Dublin 28’Our series on challenges facing rural Ireland looks at what happens when a town doubles in sizeSat Jun 29 2019 - 06:00
Which towns in rural Ireland are worth investing in?A whole tier of Irish towns and villages need major investment. Can they be saved?Sat Jun 29 2019 - 05:50
The niggling question of every parent - how do you get the kids off screens?Give Up Yer Aul Screens: Minecraft was no match for Project Runway family editionTue Jun 25 2019 - 06:00
Is the Catholic Church taking a leaf out of the Trump playbook?Jennifer O’Connell: Church rejection of gender fluidity was perfectly timed for Pride monthSat Jun 22 2019 - 06:02
