Medical apartheid surely more shocking than €100 taxJUST TIME for a quick crow about the survey which showed that Irish doctors in general practice are 22 per cent more likely to…Mon Dec 19 2011 - 00:00
Where did our fondness for home-made crafts go?Quilts, jumpers and making your own stuff have ceased to be part of daily life. Sure you can buy everything nowMon Dec 12 2011 - 00:00
Plagued by the two-part drama of the BudgetISN’T IT great that the budget now comes in two parts? Because you know you’d hate to miss any of it.Mon Dec 05 2011 - 00:00
Carrie Fisher? Love her. But what happens when a writer runs out of stories?MEMOIR: Shockaholic , By Carrie Fisher, Simon & Schuster, 156pp. £14.99Sat Nov 26 2011 - 00:00
And the band played on for cup of tea and an old sconeThe Army Band helped inaugurate the President with resigned good humour amid some dreadful weatherMon Nov 14 2011 - 00:00
How illness puts a face on unknown chief executivesI’M VERY interested in that bloke at Lloyds taking time off for exhaustionMon Nov 07 2011 - 00:00
Michael D's best qualities make him a mimic's dreamSincere and venerable, our President-elect provides ample material for the likes of ‘Green Tea’Mon Oct 31 2011 - 00:00
Media use of violent images too easy at one removeDid we want to see Gadafy’s bloodied body on front pages? Media outlets must question their own motivesMon Oct 24 2011 - 01:00
We need a little more complication in our politiciansWHEN ERSKINE Childers died we got the day off schoolMon Oct 17 2011 - 01:00
Harking back to the days of wholesale emigrationDespite the Irish eyes twinkling at Dublin Castle, the link between emigrant and homeland is not a happy oneMon Oct 10 2011 - 01:00
No sign of our rugby superstars dropping the ballImpeccable behaviour both on and off the pitch continues to be the mark of our sporting teamsMon Oct 03 2011 - 01:00
In awe of Sir Roger, a would-be perfect contenderWe should nominate someone pleasant and modest and who has little in common with the other candidatesMon Sept 26 2011 - 01:00
Death knell chimes for two US politicians' daughtersThe lives of Kara Kennedy and Eleanor Mondale Poling ground to a halt this weekend. They were both 51Mon Sept 19 2011 - 01:00
Sissies beware: violent five-star film is not for youThe world is divided into two sorts of film people – those who enjoy being scared and those who get frightened and hide behind…Mon Sept 12 2011 - 01:00
Staying in our comfort zone was our undoingOf course all countries are run by a series of boys’ gangs, which have graduated to being called cabalsMon Sept 05 2011 - 01:00
This happy camper is seriously conflictedDropping the torch in the dark, forgetting tent pegs and, of course, the nettles. So why am I looking forward to this?Mon Aug 01 2011 - 01:00
We would be more productive if we drank less - waterThere is little if any scientific evidence that drinking two litres of water a day has any health benefitsMon Jul 18 2011 - 01:00
Flame-headed red top collapses in crumpled heapWith characteristic sensationalism, the ‘News of the World’ paraded its world view in print one last timeMon Jul 11 2011 - 01:00
Putting a shape on the dark art of exerciseCommercial sport can no longer dazzle every time... much of modern sport is a cynical crockMon Jul 04 2011 - 01:00
Spare us the lecture and show us the moneyNoonan wants us to spend, spend, spend but why is a Fine Gael Minister now acting like a Fianna Fáiler?Mon Jun 27 2011 - 01:00
Entertainer relights fire in way we'll never forgetOne member of Take That stole the show at Croke Park with his cheeky and knowing top entertainmentMon Jun 20 2011 - 01:00
Women on the run deserve more applause and toiletsThe women’s mini-marathon is not about who runs fastest or looks the prettiest. It’s about turning upMon Jun 13 2011 - 01:00
Rooney a role model for refusal to cover up hair affairWayne Rooney’s honesty about his hair transplant should be copied by female celebritiesMon Jun 06 2011 - 01:00
Enda and electorate have a bounce in their stepA central fact about Enda Kenny is that he is handsome and his handlers are pushing this for all it is worthMon May 30 2011 - 01:00
Quiet dignity of crowds exposes the Irish eliteAmazement at Queen’s ability to speak four words of Irish revealed the truly colonial attitude of our leadersMon May 23 2011 - 01:00
New FriendsPOWERS SHORT STORY COMPETITION: TOM WAS wondering about cotoneaster. It was a spreaderSat May 21 2011 - 01:00
Living through every parent's nightmareMEMOIR : Madeleine: Our Daughter’s Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her By Kate McCann Bantam Press, 392ppSat May 21 2011 - 01:00
Azerbaijan takes prize but Jedward still winnersIreland’s energetic, happy twins missed out on Eurovision title but their future success seems assuredMon May 16 2011 - 01:00
All the young dudes show you can't put a price on coolOpening of hip US store provoking hysteria as American dream gets a little bit closer for mesmerised Irish teensMon May 09 2011 - 01:00
Nobody looks more foolish than a porky paramilitaryThere is not a bandwagon in the country that could bear the weight of those boys parading in DerryMon May 02 2011 - 01:00
Time to badger the authorities about all this roadkillGiven the body count it’s strange badgers have not yet turned militant – but given time they willMon Apr 25 2011 - 01:00
Fairy tale must not end with size-six princessKate Middleton is a role model for young women and should look well-nourished on her wedding dayMon Apr 18 2011 - 01:00
Too much perfect gardening will do your head inGardening has always been a ruthless business where the weak are crushed under footMon Apr 11 2011 - 01:00
Death of US political pioneer whose star had fadedBack in the 1980s, an inspirational woman stood as a candidate for the US vice-presidency. She died at the weekendMon Mar 28 2011 - 01:00
Happy faces for once as sun shines on rugby countryThe non-playing residents of rugby country know one thing for certain – Irish rugby isn’t joyful very oftenMon Mar 21 2011 - 00:00
Lukewarm reaction to savage killing is extraordinaryThe Vatican was one of the few western bodies to react adequately to the murder of a Pakistani ministerMon Mar 07 2011 - 00:00
Scotch and telly the national solution to catastropheElection-watching has been a lot like staring at one of those ‘spot the difference’ puzzles in a children’s comicMon Feb 21 2011 - 00:00
Let's all wake up and relive the 'Dallas' dreamParallels between the electoral approach of Micheál Martin and the 1980s soap are rivetingMon Feb 14 2011 - 00:00
The electorate is exhausted - and we have weeks to goThere is a growing movement to ban economists – not just from elections but from all public discourseMon Feb 07 2011 - 00:00
Thomond Park fiesta provides a little reliefJust like Cowen, things have not been going too well for Munster but they put on a good show on SaturdayMon Jan 24 2011 - 00:00
Not many Christmas classics pass the teenager testLong days on the couch in front of the TV reveal time is not often kind to fondly remembered shows and filmsMon Jan 03 2011 - 00:00
Humble garage the last word in luxuryDomestic garages tend to store everything except cars but they are very useful when too much snow fallsMon Dec 27 2010 - 00:00
Unthinking sexism and ineptitude no pantomimeThe Gaiety’s production ‘Aladdin’ is full of sexual remarks, which are unamusing for adults and boring for childrenMon Dec 20 2010 - 00:00
Nice reliable Protestants could set us on an even keelIf the northerners would run our banks for us, maybe in return we could help them win the EurovisionMon Dec 13 2010 - 00:00
We have lots of time to perfect our protestsThe problem with being part of the Irish mob at the moment is that you don’t know where to march toMon Nov 29 2010 - 00:00
Less of all this phoney sovereignty witteringFor a country that spends its whole time emulating and buying from Britain, all this sovereignty talk is just a tiny bit disingenuous…Mon Nov 22 2010 - 00:00
More pressure groups than you could shake a stick atIt is insulting to assume that rural people all take part in the same leisure pursuits and that they all think the same way about…Mon Jul 05 2010 - 01:00
Celebrity intervention may be the solution to crisesSean Penn’s relief work in Haiti may inspire other public figures to work on behalf of deserving causesMon Jun 21 2010 - 01:00
Shameful headcount of State's dead children emergesLetterfrack’s graveyard is tragic proof that we have destroyed many childhoodsMon May 31 2010 - 01:00