‘For the love of God, don’t make me defend Paddy Cosgrave’At a superficial level, Cosgrave may be considered a martyr to corporate censorship. Another look might suggest he was brought down by his own restless, scattergun bellicosityWed Oct 25 2023 - 05:50
Parents dropping their children to school by car are part of the idiot driver cohortHeavy backpacks, idiot drivers, the judgment of other parents: we’ve heard it all. Stop making excuses for why children don’t walk to school any moreWed Oct 18 2023 - 06:00
Butchery and raw terror in Israel have remade the face of the Middle EastAs long as the conflict remains mired in raw hatred and violence, new generations of the despairing and disaffected will grow up to replace the prisoners and the fallen martyrsWed Oct 11 2023 - 06:15
Kathy Sheridan: From billionaire to jail. The fall of a crypto-king is a modern morality taleThe most fascinating part of this story is how the cool celebrities and financiers bought it in its entiretyWed Oct 04 2023 - 06:00
Several of Leinster House’s more vocal actors should be shuffling their consciencesNo-one should have to endure threats, harassment or being surrounded in a car in the name of protest, far-right or otherwiseWed Sept 27 2023 - 06:00
Tony Holohan: ‘My wife was slowly dying and would be cut off from her friends and family in the last few months of her life’The public servant who managed Ireland’s Covid crisis now occupies himself with a few part-time or honorary rolesSat Sept 23 2023 - 06:00
Russell Brand allegations have triggered some serious self-questioning about toxicity of 2000sTo quote Russell Brand gives me no joy but it’s important to convey what he saw as a ‘joke’Wed Sept 20 2023 - 06:15
Kathy Sheridan: That creepy ‘peck’ may be Luis Rubiales’s greatest contribution to sportHis Trumpian response elevated what was an unwanted kiss into a tableau of abuse of powerWed Aug 30 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: What exactly did we expect the parents of Lucy Letby to do?How does anyone deal with the dawning possibility that their very ordinary daughter, who liked Zumba and was the first in her family to go to college, is also a killer?Wed Aug 23 2023 - 06:30
Kathy Sheridan: Election posters? Yes, pleaseDon’t meddle with elements of elections that do the job simply, fairly and transparentlyWed Aug 16 2023 - 06:00
Edge of misogyny in criticism of Helen McEntee is unmistakableOur government representatives might examine their casually damaging language and count their blessingsWed Aug 09 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Saying goodbye to the Aga was just the start of my retrofitting problemsTurning this big old house into two smaller energy-efficient ones makes sense. Retrofitting grants don’tWed Aug 02 2023 - 06:30
Kathy Sheridan: The judge who protested on behalf of the TV licence refuseniks Is it wise for a judge to turn news headlines into a rallying cry for accused people?Wed Jul 26 2023 - 06:15
Kathy Sheridan: We’re arguing over coffee cups while the world burnsSlapping a 20 cent tax on a coffee cup won’t slow our extinction. But one thing is certain: the time for climate whataboutery is goneWed Jul 19 2023 - 06:14
If Patrick Costello had his way, we’d be on a grand day off to celebrate King BillyThe Orange Order has never acknowledged responsibility for up to 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries at Drumcree alone. Does that really chime with a jolly holiday?Wed Jul 12 2023 - 06:25
Kathy Sheridan: In a country with a population the same as Barcelona’s, do we need celebrity journalists?When RTÉ chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh says it’s time to bin the talent, we should listenWed Jul 05 2023 - 06:20
Protesters think silly little Ireland can’t stay sober around sexy, scheming NatoPolls suggest prevailing attitude to Nato is total confusion. Influential figures should be chivvying us all towards expert forums to make up our own mindsWed Jun 28 2023 - 06:24
Kathy Sheridan: Some youngish TDs are quitting. The question is why more are not? Unlike most occupations, the question of whether politics is worth the downside is not just about the individual, but the whole family. Is it worth the in-your-face threats and protests on the doorstep?Wed Jun 07 2023 - 05:15
Kathy Sheridan: Fine Gael’s squeezed middle are actually the country’s top one thirdLimp FG kites already in flight suggest party’s ambitions limited to 20-25% core vote and talking only to themWed May 31 2023 - 05:15
Kathy Sheridan: An acquaintance believes Ireland is full. When facts are scarce, it’s no wonderIf people are unsure what to think about immigration, it’s hardly surprising. Clear, timely information is the first requirementWed May 24 2023 - 05:35
Kathy Sheridan: Nuance evaporated as Higgins and economists got lost in scrum for last wordSweeping attacks on any profession, trade, group or class are not helpful. Let’s have a civilised debate between the president and selected economists in a public forumWed May 17 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: The Ireland into which Annie McCarrick vanished was a different countryHer family believed then and now she was being harassed or stalked. But those terms had barely entered the language, let alone the lawWed May 10 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Michael D Higgins thinks economists are out of touch. They could say the same of himKathy Sheridan: Michael D Higgins has a history of taking pops at economists. No wonder they’re seethingWed May 03 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Karma may finally be catching up with the world’s terrible individualsTucker Carlson is gone, Murdoch may be next; the notion it could one day be Putin and his fans seems outlandish, but hope abidesWed Apr 26 2023 - 05:00
Everyone knew what Biden’s Irish visit was about apart from the sulking British press The reception given to the US president provoked a kind of quasi-racist needling in right-leaning UK papersWed Apr 19 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Conscientious objections to abortion are leaving big gaps in the serviceFour years on, almost half of maternity sites don’t offer termination-of-pregnancy services, leading to a postcode lotteryWed Apr 05 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Chief executives should ring their own helplinesStarbuck’s chief plans to spend four hours a month serving coffeeWed Mar 29 2023 - 05:00
Netanyahu’s overreach may prove politically fatal for himIsraeli public opinion is not homogenous and has given the prime minister notice that his government can go only so farWed Mar 22 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Truth the first casualty in a housing crisisHammy theatricals, performative anger and ranty soundbites designed for the main news bulletins are no substituteWed Mar 15 2023 - 06:00
Kathy Sheridan: Lo, in the fourth year of Covid, the ancient game of hindsight returnedAnyone tempted to hammer at decisions made by others in the scorching heat of the pandemic should be careful to examine their own sometimes complex recordWed Mar 08 2023 - 05:00
Growing chants that all wars come to an end and negotiations must begin feeds Putin’s hopes the West will crumbleDo they think that after Putin has demonstrated what a great leader he is and how he defeated the mighty Nato, he’s going to stop there?Wed Mar 01 2023 - 05:00
Sunak has nowhere else to turn and nothing much to loseIt’s time for the Tory leader to stand up to his own party and make the protocol deal a confidence issueWed Feb 22 2023 - 05:00
Irish public have a case to answer when it comes to Bertie AhernBefore turning our noses up at his statements to the Mahon tribunal, let us not forget 42% voted for him in 2007Wed Feb 15 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Call the far-right what it is - a menace to our democracyLies, distortions, overt racism, online grift and props such as the national flag are imported straight from the Trump/Bannon playbookWed Feb 08 2023 - 05:00
Brexit wasn’t all for nothing. It’s worse than that – and the people are realising itThree years on, British backing idea leaving EU was an error and they were never destined for sunlit uplandsWed Feb 01 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: No one is ‘entitled’ to wreck someone’s day with unfocused angerSomewhere between the bank bailout and the election of Trump, incontinent rage became normalisedWed Jan 25 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: The ‘Ireland is full’ brigade should reflect on how globalisation has transformed our fortunesThe population has soared, we are close to full employment and life expectancy is the highest in EuropeWed Jan 18 2023 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Authoritarianism on back foot in face of Iranian women and Ukrainian resistanceMeanwhile, Putin is terrified of his own people and even more terrified of battlefield humiliationWed Dec 28 2022 - 00:00
Kathy Sheridan: Old-fashioned common sense could be on the way backThere are people – usually men – who will set the world on fire rather than admit to defeatWed Dec 21 2022 - 00:00
Ireland is unique in making its leadership swap workSaturday’s simple transfer of power between Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar must be celebrated in context of world politics buckling under autocracy and threatWed Dec 14 2022 - 00:01
Kathy Sheridan: Brexit serves up a warning on a Border poll Right now, the don’t knows and undecideds seem by far the most sane and rational of thinkersWed Dec 07 2022 - 05:00
If partition is to end, Amhrán na bhFiann must be first in the firing lineSeven out of 10 Irish voters would refuse to give up Amhrán na bhFiann for the sake of unityWed Nov 30 2022 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: The notion that football transcends politics is well and truly deadWhen a front row guest of honour at the World Cup opening is Saudi’s Mohammed bin Salman – what is it but purest geopolitics?Wed Nov 23 2022 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: To watch or not to watch Qatar World Cup? England’s first game is against Iran, a regime shooting and battering teenage girls while keeping Putin supplied with drones to murder and maim Ukrainian childrenWed Nov 16 2022 - 05:00
Citizens’ assembly on unity would have its work cut out for it Issue of how to accommodate unionists in a united Ireland would be a big ask for 99 ordinary citizensWed Nov 09 2022 - 05:00
Good riddance: First Trump, then Johnson and now BolsonaroPast six years show how deeply proud nations can sink once a strongman rises, populism takes hold and democracy’s guardrails are removedWed Nov 02 2022 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: What happens to Twitter under a megalomaniac?Businessman’s bid to buy Twitter began as a grab for instant gratification, with a total absence of due diligence, followed by a gigantic case of buyer’s remorseWed Oct 26 2022 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Generational events matter — you had to be there to sense the anger and despairGenerational memory is important because the past is always with us, regardless of whether or how we wish to project itWed Oct 19 2022 - 04:45
Steve Baker’s Brexit U-turn only comes after incalculable destruction and toxicity Despite a startling apology, there is nothing to explain his whipsaw conversion to the cause of rationality in Northern IrelandWed Oct 12 2022 - 05:00
Kathy Sheridan: Give me a boring politician any day of the weekWhile Truss and Kwarteng backtracked on tax cuts, UK Labour soared in the polls — something has shiftedWed Oct 05 2022 - 05:00