Burnout is only the beginning

Are you feeling a bit wrecked? Sleeping badly? Suffering from poor digestion? These symptoms and others are now recognised by the WHO as signs of burnout. Burnout, I hear you scoff! I’m not some 80s Wall Street trader, up all night snorting cocaine and roaring at people on the trading floor all day! Or a life [...]

Men are parents too!

We live in an age of unprecedented equality between parents, but, almost three years in, I can confirm that it’s news to many people that men can be parents too. Many of my female friends out-earn their husbands and partners. Sometimes, the early rationale for their career decisions included an expectation that the man would take [...]

2019-05-13T21:12:36+00:00 May 19th, 2019|Categories: Opinion, Personal, Print|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Hope at last on climate action?

Ireland is not usually at the top of the league tables when it comes to environmentalism. In fact, we are regularly close to the bottom among our peers. We miss emissions targets, recycling targets, come close to the bottom in the biodiversity stakes and our dedication to cars and cows means we are not adapting as [...]

Stop hugging at work or you’ll be hugging the HR manager

Some people are huggers. Their first instinct in every situation is to fly at someone, arms outstretched, squealing at them. I’m not one of them. There are exceptions to every rule, of course. I’ll happily hug someone I’m close to or someone who’s visibly upset and makes it clear they’d benefit from a hug. Hugs are [...]

2019-04-29T08:49:44+00:00 May 1st, 2019|Categories: Opinion, Print|Tags: , , , , , , |

Picture perfect parenting fools us all

We’re living in the age of augmentation, when lips, teeth, and breasts are only the tip of the ‘fake it til you make it’ iceberg. These days reality is augmented in every Instagram picture; perfection is entirely achievable with enough patience to capture the right moment, plus the right filters. And it’s turning us all into [...]

2019-04-28T20:51:06+00:00 April 28th, 2019|Categories: Opinion, Personal, Print|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Women’s trauma is a national scandal

Every so often a radio phone-in show opens a Pandora's Box and out pours a hitherto hidden trove of stories that shock the listener. We thought we had heard it all when it came to reproductive healthcare in Ireland after the many shocking stories that led to repeal of the eighth amendment. But all week, call [...]

2019-04-11T15:16:10+00:00 April 11th, 2019|Categories: Opinion, Print|Tags: , , , , , , |

Our health system is held together with sellotape

The unspeakably tragic death of Marie Downey and her newborn son Daragh in Cork University Maternity Hospital this week has yet again thrown under the spotlight the appalling resourcing of our health service and the conditions under which staff are expected to manage critical incidents. I have spoken to nobody this week who is not haunted [...]

2019-04-02T07:51:05+00:00 April 2nd, 2019|Categories: Opinion, Print|Tags: , , |

Change is possible but we have to prove we want it

Sustainability has been a buzz word in consumer products for a few years now, but most of us have done little more than pay lip service to the environment. Now, though, a growing movement to help halt climate change is being led by teenagers, and women activists. For the past few months, young people worldwide have [...]

2019-03-29T21:41:12+00:00 March 29th, 2019|Categories: Opinion|

Follow diet advice? You may as well trust your gut

Sometimes when you’re scrolling mindlessly through your social media feeds, something jumps out at you that challenges your world view to such a degree that you begin to seriously question everything you thought you knew. While the social media companies do their best to prevent this from happening - working hard to make sure we see [...]

2019-02-05T21:11:50+00:00 February 7th, 2019|Categories: Opinion, Print|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Fyre and Brexit have a lot in common

A scam benefiting a few rich chancers, supported by some orange squares. The pernicious influence of ‘positivity’ and ‘getting things done’ flying in the face of all realism. A determination to do the impossible, against all expert advice. And leaving the innocent inhabitants of an island nation penniless and unhappy after a lot of goodwill and [...]