It sounds like a rude sort of phrase but ‘pulling a Peter’ is about to enter the lexicon of Irish politics. Haven’t you heard it yet? It’s Irish for finding a handy target, preferably an ethnic minority, then accusing it of criminality and in turn blaming it for all our economic ills, in order to win [...]
What about the homeless? I’ve always had an issue with whataboutery. Urbandictionary.com defines “whataboutism”, or whataboutery, as “when you deflect criticism by pointing out flaws in your opponent, specifically using the phrase "what about x?" This is an attempt to excuse you from changing your behavior by painting your opponent as a hypocrite.” It’s annoying, a [...]
When I win the Lotto, I'm going to spend my time reading books and talking books and going to book festivals and maybe, maybe even writing books. (I should probably start doing the Lotto.) This week I was delighted to host a panel at the Waterford Writers' Weekend, part of the Imagine Arts Festival, discussing the [...]
What was she thinking, walking home alone? What was she thinking, wearing that? What was she thinking, getting that drunk? What was she thinking, getting a taxi by herself? Last month, a woman was brutally attacked while walking home from a house party in the early hours of the morning. The attack happened in the Togher [...]
I'm delighted to be back working with the RTE Today show for the sixth season. The show is a real credit to RTE Cork and provides enormous opportunities for new stories and faces. When I started working with the show, my previous TV experience was limited to newspaper reviews on current affairs shows like Tonight with [...]
It's the busiest time of year for events, and I have lots of awards ceremonies and other events coming up between now and Christmas! This month though I am looking forward to hosting: Breaking Barriers: A ball in aid of Cope Foundation and Jigsaww Cork, hosted by Lidl Cork at the Clayton Hotel Silversprings, this coming [...]
The stereotypical whistling builder is the standard starting point for any discussion about gender based street harasment, which usually ends in someone telling a feminist to ‘relax, love’. But, campaigners say, street harassment is a real issue with real life consequences for women’s lives. The international campaign group Stop Street Harassment defines gender-based street harassment as [...]
Ireland’s maternity services are once again under the spotlight, as an overwhelming number of callers to RTE Radio One’s Liveline described difficult experiences of the system. Women told of being dismissed and humiliated, and a minority told of severe injuries to them or their baby. They were all over the country and they had given birth [...]
You judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, and once again it seems we are failing. We’re one of the richest, happiest and most advanced countries in the world but we can not get care - of our children, our elderly, our sick or our people with disabilities - right. We leave [...]
Last month I was delighted to host a panel discussion at the opening of Bibby Financial Services in Cork city featuring local businessmen Tom Leahy of BDM Boylan Solicitors and Seanie McGrath of Hamilton French as well as Bibby's Aoife McGinley and Andrew Perris who works in Foreign Exchange for Bibby in London. The panel discussion [...]
