Tiny bowls are the secret to happiness. There’s little in life they don’t improve
Miniature things deliver such a shot of dopamine into our brains. I know you’ve giggled at those tiny Nutellas
Emer McLysaght
Emer McLysaght columns
If you haven’t already sorted your festive waste management plan, you might be beyond help
Anyone serious about their waste collection strategy has been Jenga-ing cardboard into the green bin since late October
You are one of six types of people – and your Spotify Unwrapped results will reveal which one
Your Spotify Unwrapped for 2024 is due: Best to fess up to the Sabrina Carpenter
There’s great drying out. Unless you live in an Irish apartment
In Ireland, property management companies seem wedded to ludicrous standards about what is and isn’t acceptable to be seen
Here are 14 reasons why teachers deserve all the respect in the world
Fine Gael is under pressure over comments about teachers by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary
Emer McLysaght: I often wonder what impact having a female president had on my generation of little girls
Emer McLysaght: Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson in her ninth decade continues to work tirelessly for peace and climate justice
‘Irish tapas’: These pub delicacies must be what heaven feels like
These divine snacks are just waiting to be pulled down and spread wide open for all to feast upon (is anyone else blushing?)
Salad days: When rocket came to Ireland
Before the peppery sprig entered the national food chain, my leaf knowledge was mostly limited to butterhead and iceberg
I’m a walking, talking example of how driving home the message of the Catholic Church in schools does not work
At a time when school divestment should be ramping up, it seems like boards of management are digging their heels in
Emer McLysaght: The Inuit may have dozens of words for snow, but in Ireland the vocabulary around rain is bountiful and necessary
There’s a slim line between the drizzle of a soft day and the heavy yet almost imperceptible precipitation we like to call ‘wet rain’
‘High protein’ fad sounds like repackaged diet culture to me
Emer McLysaght: Pathologising food to the point of seeing it only as a macro in a calculation is just another reason to obsess and judge and self-sabotage
Sally Rooney gets photographed with an owl, looking unimpressed. I’m asked to ‘look zany’
My comedic, commercial fiction has been described as ‘fluffy’ or ‘an easy read’ more times than my heart and ego can take
My friends group finally celebrated our Covid-delayed 40th birthdays in Spain. We swapped tales of air fryers and steam mops
In our 20s, we were all talk of boys, post-work drinks and feral nights out. Now it’s recipes and magnesium supplements
Hamilton in Dublin will be incredible. It has evidence of the Brits being at it again in spades
Seats are already very limited, but if you’re going or thinking of it, here’s a survival guide
You’ve no right to park outside your home. You buy the house, not the road in front of it
Deciding to live in a highly desirable location is always going to have its downfalls but hoarding parking spaces with traffic cones is not on
I foresee Bono re-enacting that famous photo with David Trimble and John Hume, except with Liam and Noel
Emer McLysaght: The cynic in me believes that the revenue generated from the Oasis reunion shows will be more important than any familial rift
Wedding culture is bananas and I will be dressed in black whether you like it or not
I’ve witnessed friendships end over wedding expectations, couples speak about how much cash they’ve made from guests, and homophobic homilies
Emer McLysaght: Is your hair flat on top and curly underneath? Commiserations, you have ‘Irish hair’
Emer McLysaght: It’s safe at the sinks but being in the hairdresser’s chair is one of life’s more humbling experiences. Even on a good day the salon mirror is confronting
Getting a table at Marqette in Dublin Airport in July is a discipline that would test even top athletes
Emer McLysaght: I went to the same primary school as Rhasidat Adeleke. Sure I’m practically an Olympian
Emer McLysaght: Six things that confuse American tourists visiting Ireland and Europe
Our friends across the Atlantic are coming to Ireland and Europe in their droves - and it’s not just wealthy baby boomers
A middle-class millennial at a Kneecap gig: am I just cosplaying at republicanism?
The bilingual west Belfast hip-hop trio take Galway by storm with an act that is in reality more satire than sectarianism
Holidays with my ‘family’ of 11 involve pooled childcare, cheap villas and red as a lobster insults
My travel companions often dream of creating a year-round version of our annual trip but it would all fall apart at the four-week mark
Crisis piercings and other classic signs you’re heading towards middle age
I still feel largely like a child who doesn’t really know what they’re doing, but with the freedom of an adult who can do whatever I want
My three nights at Taylor Swift cost me €47 an hour. Cheaper than therapy
Stevie Nicks and Julia Roberts were there, and Swift played ‘my’ surprise song. Who knew one song had such healing powers?
Was it Positano or Dubrovnik or Santorini? No, we were in Wexford
Us two dopes from Dublin had the time of our lives over 48 hours in the sunny southeast
Sarah Breen: ‘I get excited when I see turf being cut. If I can see turf it means I’m on my holidays’
Breen, co-author of the Aisling series, talks about the west coast, being an only child and her phobia of blimps
People chat at concerts these days. My advice is to move to a more respectful area of the crowd
As summer concert season gets into full swing it’s vital that you’re prepared for the talkers
Six Irish cultural touchstones for Barry Keoghan’s popstar girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter needs to be educated in the ways of Mattress Mick, stone-age election recounts and keeping corpses company before the big day
I love Nicola Coughlan. She might just be my Princess Diana
The work she’s doing may seem superficial but it is incredibly, incredibly important
Our local supermarket had a creche, and I happily survived it
Every Saturday I was faced with the dilemma of the week: go with Mam to do the shopping or go into The Playhouse and play with exotic toys
Emer McLysaght: Good riddance Operation Transformation. Here’s what RTÉ should put in its place
Ireland’s Best Bungalow, Normal People 2 and Daft on Daft would be perfect to fill a gap in the schedule
Every time I travel abroad I am gripped by the fear that Ireland is making a fool of me
Emer McLysaght: Even Disneyland’s neon lawns seem more affordable than Dublin
Emer McLysaght: You’re going to see phones at gigs. Suck it up
It was a thrill to accompany a tween and her seven-year-old sister on their rite of passage at Olivia Rodrigo recently
I’d never wear my big straw hat on the streets of Dublin. Someone would call me JR Ewing
Emer McLysaght: Irish people have developed the art of slagging down to the finest line between humour and cruelty
I’m all for AI as long as I can have a robot to do all the housework
Emer McLysaght: I dearly wish it could hang out the clothes and defrost the freezer, but I’ll draw the line at asking it to write my next book
Emer McLysaght: The ‘cry laughing’ emoji has been my nemesis for as long as I can remember
Emer McLysaght: This tainted emoji has tormented so many for so long. Why then, do I now find myself softening towards it?
The eight people you meet in the posh emergency department, including the minor sports-adjacent celebrity
Emer McLysaght: A glorious hospital porter once allayed my fears on the way to theatre with some daring swerves of the bed and jokes about what they might do with my tonsils
Emer McLysaght: Dryrobes and Francis Brennan pyjamas – here’s Cillian Murphy’s actual bedtime routine
The New Yorker thinks it knows the Cork actor but, having met him twice – though we didn’t speak – I am best placed to speculate on his sleep preparations
An evening at Dublin’s new Silent Book Club: ‘It’s free, it’s chill’
Monthly gathering at Dublin’s Mish.Mash Art Caffé aims to create a calm, welcoming space to read with others
Irish people have been doing the Gaelic gasp since the Vikings first landed on our shores
Irish people love talking, and we’re not going to let pesky breathing get in the way
All I’m asking is for the bloody Dublin Bus to show up. That’s not too much, is it?
Emer McLysaght: Dublin busses regularly vanish into a Bermuda Triangle between app and reality, and nobody seems concerned
My whole body was engulfed in a shiver of nostalgia when I saw the viral TikTok on David Gray’s Babylon
Emer McLysaght: The Welsh singer’s Babylon has the power to make you feel a bit less despondent
I did a DNA test and guess what? I’m as Irish as a bog body
Emer McLysaght: I know I should care more about how I might be helping mega-companies to control and predict humans
Emer McLysaght: The Government has made a dog’s dinner of the whole referendum thing, no?
My first Dublin vote will not be an easy one, and the weight of it will sit heavier than in 1999 when the Leaving Cert and getting a summer job trumped who I thought should become a county councillor
Your week abroad hasn’t begun until you’ve taken in the beauty of the foreign crisps aisle
Emer McLysaght: Fancy Dunnes, Big Tesco, regional Supervalu, Mercadona – I love them all
Taylor Swift has been on high for so long another tumble feels inevitable
Emer McLysaght: Her Swifties would fight to the death to defend her. I’d call myself Swiftie-lite
Emer McLysaght: I’ve never drunk a full pint of Guinness
At the risk of setting feminism back to the marriage bar, there is a coolness about a woman drinking a pint of the black stuff
What would St Brigid make of 2024 Ireland? She wouldn’t know what vibes are, but she’d get the drift
Emer McLysaght: The saint performed Ireland’s first documented abortion and other things the church don’t want you to know about her
I’m worried people think Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal have made a gentle, sexy romcom. Prepare to be devastated
Emer McLysaght: I’m comfortable saying All of Us Strangers is one of best films I’ve seen in years
Emer McLysaght: Social media is flooded with influencers drinking water 24-7. How thirsty are these people?
When I think back to my childhood, there was nobody drinking water
When I first met Barry Keoghan, 10 years ago, he asked my friend for her number. She probably regrets saying no
Emer McLysaght: Keoghan carries himself like a man who’ll say no to nothing, and that’s exciting in Hollywood
‘Vapewrath’ and Ireland’s first ‘she-seach’ – my 2024 word predictions
Emer McLysaght: In that moment I was giving ‘embarrassing millennial with zero rizz’
The smell of farts was as unnatural as the metal can hurtling through the air at 30,000ft
Emer McLysaght: I’m reminded of the epic journey I made home from Cambodia via Paris with a developing case of dysentery
I’m going to a restaurant for Christmas Day, which goes against almost everything in my DNA
Emer McLysaght: Is it finally my year to receive the My Little Pony Dream Castle from Santa?
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