One phrase has always annoyed me: ‘Remember there’s always someone worse off than you’
Am I supposed to take comfort or pleasure in the greater hardship of others? Or is it that there’s a suffering competition?
Weekend
Stories that appear in the Weekend section of The Irish Times print edition
Colin Murphy: Online platforms are engines of outrage, but theatre is one of empathy
All of the playwright’s work is grounded in public life - mainly dramatisations of political events featuring real-life characters
So many of our oldest stories are to do with rebirth in the dark
At Newgrange, on the winter solstice, we knew the light would be faintly visible underground, and we cheered with triumph, defiance, abandon
What could interest a bee in this astroturf in Athenry?
Eye on Nature: Éanna Ní Lamhna answers your queries on bewildered bees, wasp imposters, freaky-looking fungi and avian visitors
Parents who want Irish-language education for their children ‘are being failed by State’
Alan Esslemont, the author and former TG4 ard-stiúrthóir (director general), on agreeability, childhood memory and death being ‘an awfully big adventure’
Fast fashion: Can Ireland turn the tide?
While the over-consumption of cheap, low quality clothing is concerning, a number of new initiatives offer some hope
Iran war is now an international hostage situation - with UAE the hostage
Iran war now an international hostage situation where UAE is the hostage, Iran the hostage-taker, and US will have to pay the ransom
Ireland is trying to fund environmental protection on the cheap
Nature restoration isn’t a luxury. It’s one of the highest-return investments available to the State
Titanic dive widow: ‘We left London as a family of four and we returned as a unit of two’
‘We left London as a family of four. And we returned as a unit of two’
The ‘Irish emigrant’ is no longer a simple concept. Meet the new diaspora
With Ireland’s links to the US weakening, for now at least, the importance of other bonds is emerging
David Attenborough and Ireland: ‘So kind and charming. He joked about my lovely accent’
The natural history presenter, who turns 100 today, has inspired Ireland’s wildlife community through the decades
What is Senior Assassin – the game Leaving Cert students are obsessed with?
Leaving Cert students in desperate need of diversion have embraced the viral game during their last few weeks of secondary school
Some students believe they can be writers without reading. This raises many questions
Wanting to write without wanting to read is, at best, trying to skip the first stage of an artistic apprenticeship
Comedian Killian Sundermann: ‘My parents let me wear a jean jacket for my Confirmation because I was into rock’n’roll’
Comedian and actor Killian Sundermann on the joy of a good comedy gig and his dislike of anonymous notes
Derry Girls actor Kathy Kiera Clarke: ‘I feel like everything I did before doesn’t exist in many ways’
Actor Kathy Kiera Clarke, best known as Derry Girls’ Aunt Sarah, on how the Troubles shaped her early life
Is there an Irish river I can drink from without vomiting?
In the 1980s about 500 Irish rivers were classed as the very best of the best but, today, there are about 20
Michael Dervan: I reconnected with magic 10 years ago to keep my mind off things
The simplest way of reading US president Donald Trump’s contradictory tirades is as the exploitation of magic techniques. His statements are a perfect example of misdirection
As a writer, I have a horror of upsetting someone I know by crossing a boundary
Kathleen MacMahon: Of all the difficulties I’ve experienced in writing fiction, this has been the most unsettling
Does it matter that Ireland’s bar staff and baristas are over-qualified? I think it does
If young people cannot secure jobs commensurate with their level of education, their ambitions will be dashed, creating resentment
They’re brown, hairy and known as woolly bears here in Ireland but don’t panic
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna responds to readers’ queries and observations on the natural world
How weight-loss drugs are reshaping modern life: ‘I’m paying €250 a month not to eat’
GLP-1 drugs are reshaping the lives of many, but such treatments can come with a side order of stigma, even shame
Searching for the disappeared of Cyprus: ‘We are fighting against time’
Fifty years after the worst of the killing, investigators work to find the remaining mass graves from a conflict that tore the small island apart
Own a cinema from €295,000 and be like Cillian Murphy: Four on sale now
With opportunities to buy former small-town cinemas cropping up around the country – would you follow in Oscar-winner’s footsteps?
Ploughing final in pictures: ‘The way the year came, it was just hard going’
After poor weather prevented previous attempts to conduct a competition, the lands of James O’Driscoll in Ballinascarthy hosted the Cork West county final
What is shingles and should I be worried about getting it?
The common viral illness causes a painful rash, but there are very effective treatments
I was a teenage activist, often skiving school for public demonstrations
When you take to the streets in protest, you do so in a position of radical vulnerability. Think of the lone figure before the tanks in Tiananmen Square
Paul O’Connell: ‘I see little difference between a Limerick rugby player and one from a Dublin private school’
Former Ireland, Munster and Lions captain Paul O’Connell talks to Róisín Ingle about how his life still revolves around rugby 10 years after retirement, his love of golf and the difficulties with Munster
Actor Carrie Crowley: ‘I’m not sure I’d like to be a young person in today’s world’
The actor on her ‘ferocious’ independence, her psychological quirk, and what she has lost and would like back
One third of Ireland’s wild bee species could go extinct by 2030. You can help by taking a photograph
Bees might conjure flying through the air and feeding on flowers, but most wild bees spend part of their lives in the soil
I was playing a board game with my four-year-old son in Dublin when I received a threat from Moscow
Though nothing compared with Ukraine’s suffering, in Russia the invasion has detonated a quieter, more insidious kind of destruction
Could the US go downhill for good following Trump’s war on Iran?
The Suez crisis was the end of the road for Britain as a global rule-maker. The US is setting itself up for a repeat
What is this growth coming from my electric socket in Dublin?
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna responds to readers’ queries and observations on the natural world
Rise of ‘new Catholics’ hardens battle lines between US and the Vatican
JD Vance’s recent comments reflect a growing movement of conservative believers promoting a more traditionalist, ethnocentric path
Sally Rooney: Fragility of global fuel systems strengthens the case for rationing
We cannot increase the amount of oil and gas available, but we can decide how to fairly distribute the supply
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Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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