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
Seán Moncrieff: My wife and daughters wear my clothes and everything looks better on them
At least they are deriving some small amount of style inspiration from actual human beings
Seán Moncrieff: Humans are innately political, but when does an issue become a moral one?
For the Eurovision and international sporting competitions, you can’t have a rolling beauty contest where only ‘approved’ countries can take part
My wife bought art. It looks like something we found in the back garden
Interesting economic and philosophical questions, and the cost, are what have largely prevented holiday art purchases by Herself
Seán Moncrieff: The Dart in good weather seems to induce a screaming insanity in teenagers
They are loud and boisterous and invariably carry a portable music device which thuds sounds through the carriage, startling everyone
The NCT system, like most systems, favours rich people
NCT testing couldn’t be more classist... all too often it’s expensive bad news. There’s humiliation too
It wasn’t that my parents were strict; everyone went to Mass. You didn’t think about it
To be suddenly presented with a choice, to not do something I had been doing every Sunday of my life, felt distinctly weird
Seán Moncrieff: If you’re not part of a WhatsApp group, you are a failure as a human being
There are groups for family, friends, colleagues, other colleagues who want to bitch about the colleagues in the first group
Seán Moncrieff: Irish weddings can be quite un-Irish
The couple can have spent years, and tens of thousands of euro, in an effort to produce a day that is fairytale perfect
Seán Moncrieff: My new granddaughter has advantages most other kids don’t
Globally, about 380,000 babies arrived on the same day as Granddaughter Number Two. A fifth were born into poverty








