For You

A selection of the best human interest reporting, interviews, opinion and lifestyle features.

Mark O'Connell: A hamster falls down a hole, and I learn something about death and dying and loss

I have fallen for a new podcast series which is ostensibly about animals, but is really a joyful and melancholy celebration of humans, among other creatures

By Mark O'ConnellSat Jun 15 2024 - 07:00

Rishi Sunak and Dakota Johnson have something in common. Bleak desperation

Overlong and stuffed with unsavoury characters: is it a Marvel film or the Conservatives’ reign in Westminster?

By Laura SlatterySat Jun 15 2024 - 06:00

Taylor Swift: This billionaire self-styled ‘Miss Americana’ is now in her no prisoners era

The singer’s Eras tour is finally blasting its way to Dublin, bringing with it a cocktail of industry savvy, depressive new songs and points to prove

By Laura SlatterySat Jun 15 2024 - 06:00

‘If he had his pipe in his mouth, I was playing well’: Victor Costello on his father’s influence in his success

Paddy Costello was a shot putter, an international rugby player and an inspiration to his son, to whom he conveyed tips through his deeds, notes and pipe

By Paul HowardSat Jun 15 2024 - 06:00

Malachy Clerkin: Irish athletics has hit new heights, but let’s not lose the run of ourselves

Paris Olympics: After the Irish team's heroics in Rome, it’s important not to overburden our best athletes with incessant medal chat

By Malachy ClerkinSat Jun 15 2024 - 06:00

‘I felt the social divisions much more acutely in England than I do in Northern Ireland’

Belfast writer Aimée Walsh on violence against women, ‘assertive’ Northern Irish writing, and laughing out loud at Joe Lycett’s audiobook

By Martin DoyleSat Jun 15 2024 - 05:00

The dark side of the tradwife trend that sees women return to ‘domestic bliss’

A social media fad of women glamorising a very retrograde ideal of domesticity is a fantasy world with hidden dangers

By Siobhan MaguireSat Jun 15 2024 - 05:00

Spice: The 16th-Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World: Mariners and commodities as a map of history

Roger Crowley explores how ‘restless Europeans’ such as Spain and Portugal created a global ‘maritime belt’ of trade and empire

By Christopher KissaneSat Jun 15 2024 - 05:00

All That Glitters by Orlando Whitfield: How rich people ruin art

Art dealer and gallerist digs into his friendship with fraudster Inigo Philbrick to portray a world of greed far removed from the struggle of painters

By Gemma TiptonSat Jun 15 2024 - 00:00

Simone Gannon: The affordable Irish haircare line that should be on your radar

Salon-worthy results for less than €20, thanks to Andrew Fitzsimons

By Simone GannonFri Jun 14 2024 - 07:00

Neale Richmond should know better: calling grown women ‘girls’ is inherently belittling

Imagine anyone calling Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel and Indira Gandhi ‘the girls’

By Justine McCarthyFri Jun 14 2024 - 06:00

Six Irish cultural touchstones for Barry Keoghan’s popstar girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter needs to be educated in the ways of Mattress Mick, stone-age election recounts and keeping corpses company before the big day

By Emer McLysaghtFri Jun 14 2024 - 06:00

Where can you eat outdoors in Dublin without breaking the bank?

From markets to wood-fired pizza to stylish French cuisine, we have you covered

By Corinna HardgraveFri Jun 14 2024 - 06:00

First-time buyers looking further afield for homes amid stiff competition, BPFI research says

Nearly a quarter of all first-time buyers borrowed against a property in a different county last year

By Ian CurranFri Jun 14 2024 - 06:00

This week Adeleke performed, and the people spoke

Athletes like Adeleke don’t come around that often, athletes who naturally belong and thrive in the thin air of the larger global events

By Johnny WattersonFri Jun 14 2024 - 06:00

I’m leaving Ireland. I don’t have the energy for life here

This country teased a lightness out of me. But so many people leaving Ireland for Australia is down to more than sunshine

By Brianna ParkinsFri Jun 14 2024 - 05:45

The Playbook by James Shapiro: Gripping account of theatre as cultural agent of New Deal

Federal Theatre Project in the late 1930s fused entertainment and news in productions seen by a quarter of the US population

By Declan HughesFri Jun 14 2024 - 05:00

Catholic church cancels ‘incompatible’ concert by Dublin gay men’s choir

Clerical official wrote to choir to say event was ‘not compatible with our mission as a Roman Catholic parish church’

By Colin GleesonThu Jun 13 2024 - 06:00

China vows ‘all necessary measures’ over EU move to impose additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

Beijing accuses bloc of ‘weaponising’ trade issues

By Denis StauntonThu Jun 13 2024 - 06:00

World may have no more than six years to act on climate change, says Mary Robinson

Former president Mary Robinson warns of climate change ‘tipping point’ that will make world unlivable for future generations

By Marie O'HalloranWed Jun 12 2024 - 21:51

Your work questions answered: Does a special arrangement for a colleague’s maternity leave set a legal precedent for me?

Employers offering top-up maternity payments normally require employees sign an agreement to return to work for a specified period

By Jack WhiteWed Jun 12 2024 - 08:43

Should Simon Harris call an early election? Gerard Howlin and Justine McCarthy debate

All attention is on when a general election should be called. Waiting until next spring carries risks – but so does an autumn election

By Gerard Howlin and Justine McCarthyWed Jun 12 2024 - 06:00

‘This is horrendous - it’s no way to treat a child’: Parents’ anger over lack of school places in Taoiseach’s home town

All three secondary schools in Greystones, Co Wicklow are heavily oversubscribed

By Carl O'BrienWed Jun 12 2024 - 05:00

Sinéad Hussey: ‘We treat miscarriages as a blip or something that’s easily forgotten’

Parenting in My Shoes: RTÉ journalist says she will always remember the babies that didn’t make it because remembering them keeps them close

By Jen HoganTue Jun 11 2024 - 06:01

Sinn Féin was the shock absorber of Irish politics. It’s worn out

Local and European elections: Don’t be fooled by the Coalition parties’ electoral success. The right is rising

By Fintan O'TooleMon Jun 10 2024 - 14:27

My husband has found a new life direction – and I feel left behind

Ask Roe: I feel isolated in our relationship and I want to be able to communicate my feelings with my husband without fear of an argument. How to proceed?

By Roe McDermottMon Jun 10 2024 - 12:13

If you could meet your dead parent again through virtual reality would you?

Unthinkable: Technology is throwing up new moral dilemmas - “screen studies” may help us to answer them

By Joe HumphreysMon Jun 10 2024 - 06:00

‘You’re not Irish. You’re not one of us’: Northern students on a year in the South

In the Republic, some students have encountered ignorance, distorted views and even hostility

By Emma Hanrahan and Hugh DooleyMon Jun 10 2024 - 06:00

American XL bullies are different to pit bulls in one respect – they’re a product of social media

There is a brisk online business in breeding dogs that are best understood as snarling 65kg status symbols

By Jennifer O'ConnellSun Jun 09 2024 - 07:00

Palestinian mothers holding their dead babies’ bodies can’t look away. Neither should we

The intensity and persistence of images I am currently seeing from Gaza surpasses anything I have ever witnessed

By Razan IbraheemSun Jun 09 2024 - 06:45

How to have a more eco-friendly barbecue

Let the garden grow wild, avoid balloons and forgo the red meat

By Joanne HuntSun Jun 09 2024 - 06:00

Fifteen great audiobooks for your summer holidays and beyond

From Ann Patchett read by Meryl Streep to Anne Enright read by the author, there are plenty of books to curl up with this summer

By Darragh GeraghtySun Jun 09 2024 - 05:15

An Irish designer in America: ‘Don’t overthink it ... if it makes you happy, then just do it’

A move to the US saw Phoebe Edmondson make the leap from pharma to interior design. Now she’s renovating a home in the Boston suburbs

By Alison HealySun Jun 09 2024 - 05:00

How to bake the perfect lemon drizzle cake with help from Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater and more

Beth O’Brien tests recipes from Nigella Lawson, Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver, Felicity Cloake and Dan Lepard to find out the best way to make the classic lemon drizzle cake

By Beth O'BrienSun Jun 09 2024 - 05:00

The story of Ireland’s first witch and the taboo of a woman’s rage

Molly Aitken’s Bright I Burn tells the story of the fierce and ambitious Alice Kyteler, and how ‘creative writing is a way of revoicing the past’

By Niamh DonnellySun Jun 09 2024 - 05:00

The ‘Splinternet’ Election: Campaign was fractured, aggressive, costly and humourless

Politics has always been a performance, but performative violence - abuse as content creation - is something new, at least at the scale that the anecdotal data suggests. We are now in a dangerous era of hybrid online-offline political violence

By Liz CarolanSat Jun 08 2024 - 07:15

Requiem for a middleweight: the life and death of Darren Sutherland

He was an Olympic medallist, but that was only one side of Sutherland. Fifteen years after his death, his family continues to remember him as the ‘amazing man’ he was outside the ring

By Paul HowardSat Jun 08 2024 - 06:00

Human rights court hears case of 15-year-old Afghan boy ‘forced’ on to raft and left to ‘drift at sea’

Tightening border controls under EU migration pact paves the way for further “border violence”, says Dr Niamh Keady-Tabbal

By Sorcha PollakFri Jun 07 2024 - 12:39

Nicola Coughlan: I’m hyper aware of what’s going on in Gaza... if I get a few mean Instagram comments, I’ll live

Luke Newton, who plays Coughlan’s on-screen love interest, also attends screening at Lighthouse Cinema

By Ellen O’DonoghueFri Jun 07 2024 - 06:44

A pollster broke down in tears on Indian TV - pollsters everywhere know how he feels

Opinion polling is not dark force. But as it becomes more complex, its impacts needs to be examined

By Justine McCarthyFri Jun 07 2024 - 06:15

I love Nicola Coughlan. She might just be my Princess Diana

The work she’s doing may seem superficial but it is incredibly, incredibly important

By Emer McLysaghtFri Jun 07 2024 - 06:00

How to know when it’s summer in Ireland: The signs are subtle so pay close attention

Brianna Parkins: You have to pay close attention to nature: young women shivering in dresses, people milling awkwardly outside pubs, lads with their tops off

By Brianna ParkinsFri Jun 07 2024 - 05:00

Multitasking beauty products to have on hand

Try these no-fuss reliable skincare and make-up products to achieve more with less

By Simone GannonFri Jun 07 2024 - 05:00

Claire Byrne and Mary Lou McDonald come unexpectedly close to a shouting match

Radio review: The reliably poised RTÉ Radio One presenter gets into tetchy exchange with Sinn Féin leader. On Today FM, Matt Cooper swaps ballot-box coverage for indignation

By Mick HeaneyFri Jun 07 2024 - 05:00

Voting in the Local and European elections: Where to vote, who is on the ballot paper, and other tips

What we’re voting for on June 7th, how to do it and what happens when a TD becomes an MEP

By Jennifer BrayThu Jun 06 2024 - 17:00

No child should come away from school sports day feeling worse about themselves

Jen Hogan: School is for all children, and sports day must be too – an occasion that can be enjoyed by all

By Jen HoganThu Jun 06 2024 - 06:00

Living in Tel Aviv, I struggle to understand the apparent indifference of many Israelis to the carnage in Gaza

Israel’s mainstream TV channels have largely avoided showing the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Instead, viewers are presented with grainy, black and white, video-game-like footage of IDF bombing, all at a distance

By Paul KearnsThu Jun 06 2024 - 06:00

In Dalkey I feel the same thing Matt Damon surely did before me: this is where I’m meant to be

The sea air masks a weight that would otherwise be crushing: no kidney transplant or living donor has worked out for me yet

By Orla TinsleyThu Jun 06 2024 - 05:31

Dodgy boxes and suspect streaming: can Irish viewers be persuaded away from illegal services?

In fighting piracy, the challenges for film and TV makers include not just the wealth of consumer options and the resulting confusion factor

By Aoife BarryThu Jun 06 2024 - 05:00

We need more walk-in restaurants in scenic spots like this - absolutely delightful

This south county Dublin café by day and wine bar by night is a winner

By Corinna HardgraveThu Jun 06 2024 - 05:00

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