Finn McRedmond

It is easy to assume the world is getting progressively worse. And then along comes a huge leap forward in science or medicine to challenge the misery

Eat, Pray, Love author had opportunity to make a stand against idea that novels should be treated as ethical instruction manuals

By fostering market for phone-based mental health treatment, tech companies bandaging wound they helped create

Finn McRedmond: Harry claims he is bringing this case to draw attention to journalistic malfeasance. But it seems bigger to him than that

Without parishes and shared activity like church-going, society may become coarser, more atomised, preferring individuality over community

The culture wars are not a diversion - they are the language, the style, of politics. One does not exist in a separate realm to the other

Without wishing to be glib, the Anglo-Irish relationship is probably resilient enough to weather this one

What we have learned, if anything, is that most people are basically decent and shouldn't be under the thumb of extremists. And that the harsher the lockdown, the worse its knock-on effects

Argument that we should not worship a man who was a jerk misses the point. Karl Lagerfeld, the controversial choice for Met Gala, was brilliant because he was not nice

Finn McRedmond: Our mid- to late 20s can be difficult, some friends talk about their marriages and mortgages while others are still going to all-night raves

Most things we in Ireland allege to be products of England really are British. Contrast with the visuals of Biden’s grand tour: shamrocks, Irish dancers, green drapery

The #MeToo movement has made men in literature more cautious

Every nation needs its mythology to forge national identity and the Monarch is part of that in Britain

The trouble with the contemporary ethos is that almost by definition it is liable to change - it always has been. And then what?

Finn McRedmond: Whatever bug that infected British politics over the past few years might finally be on its way out

Combined impact of housing crisis and stagnant wages highlighted by 2021 ESRI study

Finn McRedmond: Life isn’t particularly easy for young people in Ireland but the way we measure our wealth extends beyond immediate material factors

The weight-loss drug Ozempic has soared in popularity, generating shortages for those who require it medically

By suspending the sports commentator under the guise of impartiality, the BBC has shown up its own inadequacies

Proper inquiry and benign scepticism about the origins of the virus were sublimated to serve partisan aims

Demonstrating tolerance for ideas we are already convinced about isn’t really tolerance at all

No matter how many yarns we can spin about a crumbling nation devoid of spirit, Britain’s place as a serious actor on the international stage is robust

Short-lived prime minister knows there is a constituency for her low-tax and high-growth fantasy

The film Tár raises fascinating questions about how we think about geniuses – and ourselves

Plans to label wine as cancerous are the latest way of finger-wagging at an oafish public who don’t know how to look after themselves

Anything can be held up by zealots as a means to demonstrate their political affiliation before everyone unwittingly falls into line

Finn McRedmond: Aesthetic case for returning artefacts to Greece is also the moral one

The admission that mistakes have been made on all sides was an act of realpolitk of which Brexiteers thought the Taoiseach incapable, and of which they seem incapable themselves

This was not the year of the thug, or the strongman, or the conspiracy theorist, or the celebration of violent anarchy

It’s time we had a long think about what we have done

Since Varadkar left office in June 2020, Britain has undergone a significant vibe shift. He may face lingering resentment but the energy has moved on from Brexit

We cannot meaningfully talk about a UK winter of discontent without thinking that some of the malaise may have been caused by Westminster’s handling of Brexit

Census returns show an inexorable decline in religious observance but the influence of Christianity is woven throughout western society

Good ideas and moral clarity can come from unexpected places — political purity is counterproductive

Former British health secretary’s decision to welcome the clammy embrace of reality TV shows him up as a politician without substance

Much chatter is given to respecting all traditions, thinking about what a new Ireland might look like - but rows over the wearing of the poppy show the reality

The rapper received special allowances – and millions of dollars – simply because he embodied the trope of the tortured genius

Former prime minister’s fumbled bid to return to office is unlikely to be the end of the UK’s prodigal son

Fully integrated into a multicultural metropolis, they’re also proud of their heritage. And that includes the Guinness, Ballygowan, Club Orange and Tayto

Political climate has stripped young people of the grounding forces of family and community and the promises of a fair society