Seán Moncrieff

I regarded university as a resource to be used, not a place to be told what to do

Radio: There are a few queasy moments in what turns out to be an oddly digestible smorgasbord from the Newstalk host

I’m far from the first person to notice this. Trying to be happy all the time will make you unhappy

Seán Moncrieff: After an eight-month search to find a place pretty close to Dublin city centre Number Two and partner are thrilled beyond words

No one glared disapprovingly. Any looks we got were kindly, but perhaps tinged with: you didn’t know?

I’m wary of mythologising the past but still: children having the freedom to just go outside to play is better than driving them to playdates

Why is everyone lugging huge water bottles about? Perhaps I’m gifted with an astonishing ability to resist thirst

I like women now. Misogyny is not wired into our DNA – it is something to be overcome

There was a time – not too long ago – that we might roll our eyes and even feel a bit superior to Americans, given all the stupid things so many of them believe

Seán Moncrieff: There is a human tendency to believe that things were better in the past. Not just in relation to pubs, but life in general

The realisation dawns eventually that overthinking can derail joy, obscuring the fact that every day is precious

Seán Moncrieff: It’s a neat trick: simultaneously criticising the ‘corrupt’ system while trying to become part of it

Day two of parental leave and we’d already learned something new. I’m looking forward to the rest of it

When social media first took off, it was presented as a public commons, where people could exchange ideas and interests. What it eventually became couldn’t be further from that civilised concept

This is one aspect of being a man that can be benign and useful; even an expression of love

RTÉ host’s low-key approach is quietly effective, while Kieran Cuddihy is left speechless by Gazan horrors

Nothing brings people together like knowing another person who is a bit of a melt

On their last 2FM show, a notable theme emerged from listeners' voice notes: it was great to hear culchies on the radio

The dawn of the passion-industrial complex has brought with it a sort of tyranny, especially for young people

We’re better off now so less in need of supernatural explanations, but a family First Communion still felt significant

Seán Moncrieff: I have a job which explicitly involves drawing attention to myself, but I don’t enjoy drawing attention to myself

You have to accept that at some point, you will fail your children, sometimes spectacularly

I drank wine, played loud music and watched a movie in space where nobody talks about their feelings. Weirdly, it felt like something was missing

The danger with this – whether you’re Taylor Swift or you have a dozen followers on Instagram – is that it can quickly become performative

Radio: Even at his most factually minded, the RTÉ presenter can’t resist his mischievous side

The word now routinely comes out of the mouths of people from Kerry or Offaly. It’s like if you met Willie O’Dea and he said Yo

Even among kids, queue-jumping is frowned upon. They understand that the queue is essentially egalitarian

Seán Moncrieff: For some years I had a vague hope that it might go away forever. But I’m past that now. Psoriasis is part of me

The British – or more specifically, the English – think of us as their fun cousins. The ones you want to sit with at weddings

The family drama, particularly in the Irish context, can also operate as a powerful metaphor

It’s only a few decades old, but our reliance on the internet is almost total: financially, structurally and emotionally

Apparently, it gets worse the older you get

Sometimes I talk to people, now dead, who made an imprint on my life

Daughter Number Four’s sassy slang is the start of a realisation that her generation is different to that of her embarrassing parents

If anything, older people should think more about their sex lives than the young

I love the city, as it is now – but I fear that might change. Pray that Prophet Song remains a work of fiction

Sean Moncrieff: Singers represent a country, but all too often they are of mixed heritage, of uncertain gender or no gender at all, yet still attract votes from competing countries

Every time – every single time – I get the 'approval needed' announcement and hear myself saying to some 20-year-old: I am desperate for your approval

Daughter Number Four’s birthday became more of a birthday week, not with the usual play centre party, but a pampering session

Ours are full of fancy corkscrews that don’t work, a slow cooker we never got the point of, a block of blunt knives – will we ever learn?