The Irish spice bag has arrived in Australia and not everyone is happyBrianna Parkins: Sometimes, when you’re a big distance from home, it’s the small things that give you comfortFri Jul 26 2024 - 05:00
My relationship is just like Princess Diana’s. There are three of us in it It is very crowded between me, my partner and the GAA but I’ll still be in a pub wearing an ugly bucket hat at 2am next week, watching my partner’s mistress on tellyFri Jul 19 2024 - 05:45
Everyone under the age of 25 should have to work a year in hospitality or retailYou will need patience, resilience and the self-control required not to headbutt the publicFri Jul 12 2024 - 05:00
I’m glad I never got the things my younger self thought I wantedIt’s rarely a good idea to get what your young heart desires. I would have been negative craic with terrible tattoos and a vacuous existenceFri Jul 05 2024 - 05:00
The bar is so low for violent men they are ‘to be given credit’ when they admit their guiltCase of Natasha O’Brien shows up keyboard warriors who want to frighten women, to shut us up, to stop us from calling men out on their behaviourFri Jun 28 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Moving to the other side of the world has given me practice in swatting away the chancersI recently overheard a woman utter a magic incantation that would banish having to put myself out against my own will. It changed me foreverFri Jun 21 2024 - 05:00
‘The psychiatrist didn’t believe in ADHD’: People with condition struggle with the health systemFor some with the neurodevelopmental condition, accessing medication to treat it is still the ‘luck of the draw’Mon Jun 17 2024 - 06:00
I’m leaving Ireland. I don’t have the energy for life hereThis country teased a lightness out of me. But so many people leaving Ireland for Australia is down to more than sunshineFri Jun 14 2024 - 05:45
How to know when it’s summer in Ireland: The signs are subtle so pay close attentionBrianna Parkins: You have to pay close attention to nature: young women shivering in dresses, people milling awkwardly outside pubs, lads with their tops offFri Jun 07 2024 - 05:00
Bagged and abandoned dog poo should be the cornerstone of all local election policy platformsFootpath etiquette and turning coworking spaces into libraries should also feature in manifestosFri May 31 2024 - 05:00
The Dublin Portal allowed us to indulge in our favourite national past-time: self-flagellationBrianna Parkins: Since the invention of cameras, people have been acting badly in front of them and this project was never going to be the exceptionFri May 24 2024 - 05:45
Vapes, ‘rollie’ cigarettes and nicotine pouches: how people in their 20s are using tobacco Brianna Parkins gets reaction to the Government’s plan to increase the minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco from 18 to 21Sat May 18 2024 - 06:00
Hoping that household chores don’t include having to ask men to do them ‘properly’How one word can become a battle line of domestic warfare between the sexesSat May 18 2024 - 05:00
Quiet quitting: Why should an employee doing the job they are paid to do and then going home be a problem?Many workers suggest employers should not expect them to go ‘above and beyond’ as a matter of routineSun May 12 2024 - 06:00
She’s a felt maker. He has a food truck. How did they get a home loan?Scant resources and a housing crisis have made us narrow our eyes in suspicion at each otherFri May 10 2024 - 10:10
Here’s some of the best life advice I’ve ever receivedOpportunities can come from realising that no one knows what they’re doing a lot of the timeSat May 04 2024 - 05:00
What’s infuriating about neurotypicals? Here’s a listA professional ADHD-haver offers a guide for the neurodiverse on how to deal with everyone elseSat Apr 27 2024 - 05:00
The best way to finance a new carFinancing a car purchase means navigating an alphabet soup of credit productsWed Apr 24 2024 - 06:00
Taylor Swift isn’t the first to monetise her heartbreak. Here are five of the best examplesThis list will make you ponder what you could have done after a break-up instead of sitting around the house mopingTue Apr 23 2024 - 14:09
Brianna Parkins: Is a personal loan the right choice for you?Unsecured loans can be useful, but be wary of the terms and conditionsWed Apr 17 2024 - 06:00
I’m sick of being asked why I don’t have kidsBrianna Parkins: The kid question is not really a straight request for information. It’s asking someone ‘please justify to me why your life does not look like mine’Sat Apr 13 2024 - 05:00
Cillian Murphy would like us all to know that’s just his face. Okay!His face remains unimpressed on the red carpet, in press interviews and meeting members of the British royal familyTue Apr 09 2024 - 14:41
Brianna Parkins: I fantasise about moving back in with my parentsHome might not be quiet or relaxing or emotionally stable but it’s still where I sleep bestSat Apr 06 2024 - 05:00
Marie Kondo has fallen. Tidying up is out. Wall to wall tat and clutter is inThe cleaning guru has given up on her teachings since becoming a mother. It’s time we bring back display cabinets filled with treasuresWed Apr 03 2024 - 16:04
‘Don’t dream it’s over’: how to move to Australia with a familyRelocating to Australia with a family is manageable but make sure you budget for extra costsWed Apr 03 2024 - 05:00
‘My brother-in-law loves the Zoo, Milky Way stars and big diggers: yes, he’s six’He doesn’t pull out his phone at a family gathering and subject the room to videos about cryptocurrency or his golf swing, but he will happily share his favourite YouTube clips about how planes landSat Mar 30 2024 - 05:00
Olivia Colman used the F-word over gender pay gap. We all shouldBrianna Parkins: It’s any wonder women aren’t all screaming them into the void over the situationTue Mar 26 2024 - 15:38
Dog poo droppers, menacing kids and red-light breakers of Dublin: this writer did not get the non-confrontation memoIt feels there’s been a gradual shift away from challenging bad behaviour in personSat Mar 23 2024 - 05:00
Australia can be tough financially for young Irish workers. Here’s how to navigate money matters down under Get familiar with rules on tax, the ‘super’, accommodation and costs - and worry less about snakes and spidersWed Mar 20 2024 - 05:00
You won’t find this in guidebooks but here’s what it really means to be IrishBeware of the constant fear in Ireland of telling someone bad news. For example, instead of saying a restaurant is overbooked a manager might tell you they can find a table ‘in a bit’Sat Mar 16 2024 - 05:00
Rupert Murdoch is the last of the great hopeless romantics, or is that just money talking?The Australian mogul might be one of the most ruthless operators in the media but despite four divorces, he refuses to be jaded about loveTue Mar 12 2024 - 06:00
I have failed to get more than five hours of sleep a night since November. Enter: the British royalsBrianna Parkins: I’m on a slippery slope to becoming my grandmother, who has both her own room and a fierce loyalty to Lady DiSat Mar 09 2024 - 05:00
Should you switch your main bank account to Revolut or another digital player?As people move away from cash, they are using neobanks more and more, but there can be pitfallsWed Mar 06 2024 - 06:00
Brianna Parkins: Where is Kate Middleton? The people demand, but are not entitled, to knowWe already have a plausible explanation for Kate Middleton’s absence from UK public life: she’s playing drums with SlipknotTue Mar 05 2024 - 06:01
Fairy tales about marriage are a way for rich people to feel as if they deserve their charmed livesThe usual research has been trotted out to back up marriage as the superior family structure, blurring the lines between causation and correlationSat Mar 02 2024 - 05:00
What is house hacking and is it the right move for you?The popular TikTok trend is a new spin on an age old strategyWed Feb 28 2024 - 06:00
What do you really need to know about other people? They’re putting on a frontBrianna Parkins: It’s tiring hearing your inner voice say ‘do better’ every time you see a fitness blogger’s fridge or someone you went to school with go on a fancy holidaySat Feb 24 2024 - 05:00
Is it really possible to retire early? Look at how you are spending your moneyIs it spent on things that actually make us happy or is that Amazon order of junk just holding us back from future happinessWed Feb 21 2024 - 05:30
Could getting scammed out of $50,000 really happen to anyone?One financial advice columnist didn’t think it could happen to her. Then it didTue Feb 20 2024 - 15:28
Brianna Parkins: I was dumped for an exotic dancer. Here’s what it taught me about loveIt might hurt to discover you’re a placeholder in a relationship, but who wants to waste years of their life not getting the partner they deserve?Sat Feb 17 2024 - 05:00
Is private health insurance worth getting for the financially squeezed late 20s and 30s?People are reconsidering the merits of private cover amid sharply rising insurance costsWed Feb 14 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: AC/DC and other things the Irish get wrong about AustraliaEven though many have observed us up close in our natural habitat, they still don’t get our true ‘boganity’Mon Feb 12 2024 - 16:15
I was sent to an all-girls school in case I dumbed myself down in front of boysI would once have argued for sending my hypothetical future daughter to an all-girls school. Not any moreSat Feb 10 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: How the Queen of Denmark met her prince down the pubUnlike Queen Mary, the rest of us won’t ‘marry up’ - no matter how many etiquette classes we takeWed Feb 07 2024 - 16:46
Starting a small business in Ireland in 2024: A rough guideThere are many pitfalls when you strike out on your own: here’s what to think aboutWed Feb 07 2024 - 06:00
Brianna Parkins: Some people fear ageing but you couldn’t pay me to go back to being 19 againYoung girls on TikTok are terrified of getting older, but they have no idea how good the crone years can beSat Feb 03 2024 - 05:00
How to be smart with your wedding budget, save money and still have the day of your dreams Simple choices like having the ceremony and reception in the same place eliminate other costs such as hiring carsWed Jan 31 2024 - 05:45
Brianna Parkins: TikTok says you can buy your way into being a better personSurprise, surprise, it turns out more stuff is not what you need in your lifeTue Jan 30 2024 - 14:32
Brianna Parkins: I am an economic migrant, as my mother and grandparents were before meLike a lot of Irish people past and present, my family felt emigration was their best hope at a better life. They were rightSat Jan 27 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: We know sunbeds are bad for us so why does Kim Kardashian have one in her office? Owning a sunbed in 2024 is a bit like insisting on using lead paintWed Jan 24 2024 - 08:30
