Bono has failed to give the Irish public any of the things we demand of our stars
We still don’t know what to make of our most famous person – that’s some achievement
To admit weekends are doing the big shop and catching up on laundry is regarded as rudeness
Working to survive leaves little or no room to do or think about anything else
Our daughter has barely started fifth class and the secondary school chat has intensified
Out of her four siblings, only one of them has a job connected to what she studied at university
Ageing men’s extra nose and ear fur lets females know you’ve still got it – that’s the theory
Certainly, as men march through life, hair begins to appear in a wild range of locations
‘What am I for?’ Katie Taylor faces the same retirement question we all do, just sooner
Many retired people find themselves having to start all over again
There are people I’ve interviewed several times who have no memory of having met me
I’ve never forgotten a face, but I am atrocious at names. More precisely, they don’t come back to me quickly
Parents try to create memorable experiences, but these may not lodge in a child’s mind
Memory is a slippery thing, and it’s almost impossible to control what will lodge in the foreground or fade into the dark storage area at the back
There’s more than one way for me to answer ‘Where are you from?’
There are now few parts of Ireland that do not contain first- or second-generation migrants
Talking to a bot about a damage deposit felt dystopian and creepy
I resented the pretence of dealing with a human before our trip, and it spoke after as if it were a friend
Seán Moncrieff - I was given short but specific instructions: Be nice to the dog; fix the table
Erasing history – the physical evidence of all the life that has been lived around it – can cause pangs of regret
Seán Moncrieff: The best fighter in our school was universally feared... until he was bested
Gilbert O’Sullivan and I went to the same school. I wonder what his experience of it was like. Mine was one of fear and violence
Seán Moncrieff: Dublin suburbs in the 1960s created communities. Now, it’s soulless urban sprawl
While the building goes on, established places that used to have a centre are becoming hollowed out
Seán Moncrieff: When I hear an intelligent person say ‘I’m a typical Libra’, I struggle
If there’s one thing addictive doomscrolling taught us, it’s that no basic set of beliefs exist
Seán Moncrieff: I kept my late father’s watch on a bookshelf for 16 years. Then I decided to wear it
It’s not fancy or expensive, and by the time I got it – a few weeks after the funeral – it had stopped
Seán Moncrieff: Time is slowly kicking the crap out of me
Time is slowly kicking the crap out of me and my friends. But I rarely notice the changes