‘The joke is on Ross and people like Ross’Journalist, author and Ross O’Carroll Kelly creator Paul Howard talks about his new book, his columns and his sense of humourMon Sept 08 2014 - 01:00
Paul Howard: 'What I learned From making Anglo The Musical'Ahead of the launch of his new Ross O’Carroll-Kelly book, Keeping up with the Kalashnikovs, Paul Howard tells Patrick Freyne about the musical nightmare that drove him to gin and helped him lose a stone in weightSun Sept 07 2014 - 08:40
Three days, one field and 41,000 party Picnic peopleFancy dress is mainstream, toddlers are a must-have accessory. It’s Electric Picnic 2014Mon Sept 01 2014 - 07:10
Do drones dream of Electric Picnics?Introducing Steve, the Irish Times flying robot cameraSun Aug 31 2014 - 23:34
“I view Electric Picnic as a sporting event”Patrick Freyne on a festival filled with mud, music, madness ... and a bleeping Deprogramming MachineSat Aug 30 2014 - 13:30
24 Hours in Temple BarIt’s different things to different people: party zone, bohemian quarter, workplace and home to 2000 people. We spend a day and night in Dublin’s Temple Bar, to find out what really happens there over 24 hours. Quite a lotSat Aug 30 2014 - 01:00
That blinding, deafening, sinking Titanic feelingThe Titanic Experience in Belfast is one of the most visited tourist sites on the island, and surely one of the loudestFri Aug 29 2014 - 01:00
A good year for the 2014 Roses? The harvest is assuredFellow culchies know this festival is all about renewing the land for another yearWed Aug 20 2014 - 07:27
Bonnie Tyler: ‘There’s nothing I won’t talk about’Tyler was a country-rock chanteuse before an operation to her larynx transformed her into the husky queen of the power ballad. She will soon take Total Eclipse of the Heart to Electric PicnicWed Aug 20 2014 - 01:00
A quest with Game of Thrones fans through a fantastical land – Co AntrimThe Trip: We visit the place where Melisandre gave birth to a shadow assassin, drive slowly past the site of Castle Black, and see the Giant’s Causeway, which is not in the show (but was built by giants)Mon Aug 18 2014 - 01:00
Culture Shock: Heard the one about the Catholic, the Protestant and the sitcom?What’s the difference between ‘Fawlty Towers’, ‘The Office’, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’? From the way they’re made to the way their audiences respond, each has its own, almost religious approachSat Aug 02 2014 - 01:00
Television: OM Dieu, a ‘Reign’ of error, and the towns of Ireland up in arms‘Reign’ oozes anachronisms; you’ll find a more authentic torture and dark intrigue on ‘Shakedown the Town’Sat Jul 26 2014 - 01:00
Television: Desperately seeking a political edge to these saucy servants of the richThere’s a Marxist message about class struggle deep in ‘Devious Maids’, but it’s been lost under the sex and sillinessSat Jul 19 2014 - 01:00
A tale of two communities in Rathkeale: ‘We live in the same space but different worlds’The settled people of Rathkeale often wish the town’s Travellers would disappear – and the feeling seems to be mutualSat Jul 12 2014 - 01:21
Trust busters and monkey boxing: why Netflix watches everything you watchTodd Yellin talks about how his company strives to individualise content in order to give us what we wantThu Jul 10 2014 - 01:00
Garth Brooks fans lick wounds at news of cancellationSome blame the licensing process but others blame the promoterWed Jul 09 2014 - 01:00
The man behind the Harbo mouthpieceLovin’ Dublin’s controversial owner and ex-contributor Niall Harbison talks about selling a business for millions, writing a book and demonising the less well offSat Jul 05 2014 - 01:00
Methadone: the ‘government drug’The State is official opiate supplier to 10,000 people. Methadone stabilises, and sometimes even saves, the lives of heroin users, but many are in their second decade of dependencySat Jun 28 2014 - 01:00
Ann Widdecombe: ‘I’m a feminist in the 1970s sense. Now it’s a big whinge’The former Conservative minister left politics in 2010, but has not lost her merciless directness. She talks about being single, Cameron’s ‘obsession’ with image and trying to get Patsy Kensit to MassMon Jun 23 2014 - 01:00
Meatballs, flatpacks and plenty of novelty: A visit to Ikea’s HQMore than just a cut-price furniture store, the Swedish company likes to see itself at the forefront of an urban design revolutionSat Jun 21 2014 - 01:00
Shirts and inhibitions shed before mighty SolIt was all smiles and free ice-cream on the lawns of Stephen’s GreenThu Jun 19 2014 - 01:00
The last of the Blasket evacuees: ‘We weren’t great mixers on the mainland’Gearóid Cheaist Ó Catháin has published a memoir that recalls life on the Great Blasket island, the evacuation of 1953-1954 following a panicked plea to De Valera, and why he might never returnMon Jun 16 2014 - 01:00
Culture Shock: My soccer heroes? Roy Race and Billy’s BootsWorld Cup? What’s that? ‘Roy of the Rovers’ was much more exciting than the real thingSat Jun 14 2014 - 01:00
The life span of a man: what men worry about, and what they should worry aboutAnd the real health risks for men, as explained by Dr Ian Banks of the European Men’s Health ForumTue Jun 10 2014 - 01:00
Who will be the new Labour leader? It really doesn’t matter, apparentlyAn Oxford professor says we overestimate the importance of those at the top of the political ladderSat Jun 07 2014 - 01:00
How to create an app (and make money from it)In days gone by, dissatisfied employees dreamed about writing a bestseller or putting a brilliant business idea into practice. Today, they want to build a killer app and get rich quick. How easy is it?Sat Jun 07 2014 - 01:00
Rock and a hard placeTony Parsons was an angry young gunslinger at ‘NME’, then had huge success with his novel ‘Man and Boy’. Now he’s a crime writer – and has just voted for Ukip. Why?Sat May 31 2014 - 01:00
For some the ecstasy; for others agony and consolation of philosophyLosing candidates default to sad-eyed stoicism in contemplation of voters’ wisdomMon May 26 2014 - 01:00
Our selfies alone: the Belfast mayor who’s even faster than his TwitterMáirtín Ó Muilleoir, the funny, fast-talking Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast, does it his way: he is a prolific tweeter, he decided to retain the royal portraits in his parlour, and he once brought a DUP man to MassMon May 26 2014 - 01:00
Underdog candidates at a disavantage faced with the might of party machinesWhat canvassers lack in resources they make up for in passion and ideasMon May 19 2014 - 01:00
What do councillors do all day?On May 23rd Ireland will elect 950 people to city and county councils. But what do these local representatives do once elected, and is it what they’re supposed to be doing?Sat May 10 2014 - 00:56
Julio Iglesias: ‘I was a flirting man, a rock’n’roll guy’The Spanish crooner is about to play Ireland for the first time in 30 years. He didn’t sleep with 3,000 women but he swims naked (maybe)Tue May 06 2014 - 01:00
How I became a cat personI went from putting up with, to loving and then losing a grumpy, fat, white catSat May 03 2014 - 01:00
Maggie and himDamian Barr grew up poor but wanted more from life. So Margaret Thatcher made sense to him. He has changed – but the British PM still dominates his memoir of his 1980s childhoodSat May 03 2014 - 01:00
Elections collections: one man’s campaign to preserve posters‘Some of the stuff from the referendums is real social history. The scaremongering involved is unbelievable’Sat Apr 26 2014 - 01:00
How to make music and influence nobodyPatrick Freyne recounts how he lost his twenties to a bandSat Apr 26 2014 - 01:00
Fassbender and stars attend ‘Frank’ opening in DublinFilm inspired by Jon Ronson memoir depicts both joyous creativity and mental collapseFri Apr 25 2014 - 12:19
Slaying, knitting, musical Vikings: Beware!St Anne’s Park was invaded by Viking fans re-enacting the Battle of ClontarfSun Apr 20 2014 - 16:13
A humdrum finale for two detectives and a loud start to a desperate doAn implausable change of heart and a barrage of existential nonsense give the lie to ‘True Detective’Sat Apr 19 2014 - 01:00
‘I embody Ireland when I play the harp’Harpists have had mixed fortunes since their early medieval heyday. Now Cormac de Barra is helping to restore the instrument’s status. As part of his efforts, he tries teaching it to an ‘Irish Times’ journalistSat Apr 19 2014 - 01:00
Science friction: imagining the futurePatrick Freyne imagines the kind of space-age future he would like to live in. Spoilsport Science Editor Dick Ahlstrom tells him which of his dreams might become reality. Illustrations by Matthew GriffinSat Apr 12 2014 - 01:00
Okay, so the apocalypse is here. Dog-food sandwich, anyone?Don’t panic: survival specialist Lewis Dartnell has written a handy guide to surviving the end of the world as we know it and ‘rebooting’ the planet. It’ll be grandTue Apr 08 2014 - 01:00
Mark Thomas: rebel with guffawsFor 30 years, Thomas has plied a form of comedy rooted in political activism, journalism and situationist pranks. In his new show he attempts to change the world, one act of minor dissent a timeTue Apr 01 2014 - 01:00
Jon Ronson: ‘I still see myself as marginal’The writer often focuses on people who live in irrational bubbles, such as Frank Sidebottom – but then, it’s a state of mind he has personal experience ofMon Mar 31 2014 - 01:00
Kasparov warns of endgame in UkraineFormer world chess champion eager to talk politics on Dublin visitSat Mar 29 2014 - 07:36
Women putting women centre-stageOrganiser of Lady and Trans Fest explain the politics behind the eventSat Mar 29 2014 - 01:00
Blood, gore, nudity and incest: another night in front of the TV‘ Game of Thrones’ is about to return for its fourth season. Its stars talk about working on the epic television seriesSat Mar 29 2014 - 01:00
How the smoking ban was wonOn March 29th, 2004, the Republic became the first country to ban smoking in pubs, restaurants and all other workplaces. It was the end of a long battle between pro- and anti-smoking forcesSat Mar 22 2014 - 01:00