Emer McLysaght

Emer McLysaght columns

I decided to buy almost nothing in 2025. Here’s how it is going

In the local freecycle and swapping groups, anything goes – and the audacity of some of the posts are breathtaking

Now that I am a bus driver extraordinaire, I can pass my wisdom on to you

There’s no point in daintily pumping the huge brake pedal with your toes because next thing you’ll be through the window of a Spar

Smartphones at Pope Francis’s funeral didn’t feel out place to me. It’s 2025

We love to plonk a dead relative in the sittingroom for a day or two

Squirrels don’t hibernate? This information shook me to my core

These creatures have made a laughing stock of me. There’s an army of them working shifts, and I’m not the only local feeding them

Two decades after Weight Watchers, I still have unhealthy attitudes to certain foods

Weight Watchers is floundering but the damaging diet culture it spawned is going nowhere

The Irish live for a sunny day, but with it comes the pressure of having the ‘perfect’ day

Our fetishisation of a bit of sun causes me to retreat, to resent

Emer McLysaght: Fighting Big Tech, Big Landlord and Big Pharma seems insurmountable

I do care about Complete Aisling books being used by Meta to train its AI systems. I just feel helpless to do anything about it

Emer McLysaght: Five lessons Dublin can learn from Zurich

Before a work-related trip to Zurich, I received the usual ‘very dear’ warnings. And with good reason

A ‘middle-aged rave’ that ends before midnight? I’ll get my dancing shoes

Events are springing up for those who want an old-school club experience without the attendant exhaustion the next morning

Emer McLysaght: The best way to enjoy the hotel breakfast buffet and why I love a dry fry

Many poor, harmless fools will choose a nice, rounded time such as 10am. So, you want to aim for 9.20am or 9.50am

Is it hypocritical of me to go to a funeral but not a Communion?

I am church-averse but I know the comfort that religion can bring

I’m not ready to let Bridget Jones go just yet. She has been a constant comfort to me and so many women I know

Watching the fourth instalment of the series required meticulous preparation - and the film didn’t disappoint

I’ve had enough of men smashing into me with their backpacks

In less than an hour, no fewer than four men with substantial backpacks burst past me. After being clobbered by the first two, I was incredulous

I replaced a dripping tap all by myself and only cried four times. I am now unstoppable

I am a woman of the world, I reasoned. I could take on a pesky tap

‘When faced with the ugliness of Dublin, it’s hard not to worry about tourists thinking they’ve been sold a pup’

Plenty of other countries are green but get much less excited about it

Five years ago I entered a psychiatric hospital with an eating disorder

I’m not recovered from my eating disorder and the mental challenges behind it

I finally realised what was behind my ‘Maybe I like the misery’ approach to other people’s driving

Imagine landing down to some place in the country and being asked to move a car, only to have to admit you only drive automatic

My night at the bingo hall: I was waiting on one number. My heart was in my mouth

Wherever bingo happens, it’s taken seriously, but what a gorgeous way to spend an icy January evening

When the 46A ends in two weeks I will say goodbye to those first feelings of freedom and adulthood

A month after we thought we were saying farewell for good, the poor 46A is still traversing Dublin city, handbag in hand and mortified about all the fuss

The seven deadly things you should never buy a child at Christmas

Consider this a free life-lesson in what not to buy for a child. Or, alternatively, what to buy for the child of a sworn enemy

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