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Ciara Kelly

"Mother’s Day becomes complex for all of us eventually, because none of us have our mums forever."

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Ciara Kelly Opinion I envy people who still have their parents — the one thing truly worth having that lots of us no longer have

Happy Mother’s Day. I don’t subscribe to the notion that we shouldn’t celebrate it, even though I know it’s a difficult day for some. Truth is, whatever is making today hard for some people won’t be materially changed by other people marking the occasion. And Mother’s Day becomes complex for all of us eventually, because none of us have our mums forever.

"I’m lucky enough to have health insurance and I was remarking that I was surprised that, even privately, there was still a waiting list of months for a scan." Stock image

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Ciara Kelly Opinion When radiographers can’t afford to live in Dublin, we need to examine how we pay frontline workers

I had a couple of scans this week. I’m fine; thanks for asking. I got chatting to a very nice radiographer; I’m lucky enough to have health insurance and I was remarking that I was surprised that, even privately, there was still a waiting list of months for a scan. Her response was that they just can’t get staff; accommodation in Dublin is now simply out of the league of many nurses and radiographers.

"We seem determined to underestimate kids’ abilities and refuse to encourage them to reach their actual potential"

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Ciara Kelly Opinion Parenting has moved into an era of protecting children from anything even vaguely boring, challenging or unpleasant, including homework

I don’t really like consensus without debate. I subscribe to General Patton’s maxim, ‘If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking’. On a recent Sunday, I read three articles all telling me why we need to get rid of homework; on top of President Higgins’s bizarre call to ban it, no less. Then, even the Taoiseach chimed in to say he thinks sometimes children get too much and he remembers spending hours doing it as a kid. One might think, as he went on to become a medical doctor and leader of the country, that maybe doing your homework is actually a good thing? So I thought it was time someone stepped in to stop the madness.

Gwyneth Paltrow at the Golden Globes "Basically, people saying that Gwyneth Paltrow, JLo and Jennifer Aniston are not role models for positive ageing and looking good as you get older — that they are peddling a lie that you can look 30 at 50, and that outwards signs of ageing like going grey and getting wrinkly are somehow failings."

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Ciara Kelly Opinion I don’t aspire to looking as hot as Gwyneth Paltrow or JLo but their looking good over 50 benefits all women

I’ve read a lot lately on the faux-itivity around women ageing. Basically, people saying that Gwyneth Paltrow, JLo and Jennifer Aniston are not role models for positive ageing and looking good as you get older — that they are peddling a lie that you can look 30 at 50, and that outwards signs of ageing like going grey and getting wrinkly are somehow failings. So, if I understand the criticism correctly, fighting those signs is toxic somehow, and puts pressure on women to look better than is possible in the normal run of events.

"They are usually posted by influencers with abs like a head of broccoli and limbs like ropes. The subtext being: you too can look like me if you do this simple three-minute routine and drink more water." Stock image

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Ciara Kelly Opinion We no longer rely on our ability to think for ourselves, all in the name of progress — but is it, really?

In typical January fashion, social media is awash with ‘new year, new you’ inspo — workouts, diets and other forms of self-improvement. They are usually posted by influencers with abs like a head of broccoli and limbs like ropes. The subtext being, ‘you too can look like me if you do this simple three-minute routine and drink more water’. Except, the truth is, to look like them, you’d have to work out obsessively. And even that might not be enough.

" When I was younger, I marched for various things — against the invasion of Iraq and the Eighth Amendment. I rowed with people online whose politics I disagreed with strongly, and I felt genuine passion about many issues." Stock image

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Ciara Kelly Opinion The fight’s gone out of me. I appear to have moved into the ‘couldn’t give a toss’ phase of life — and I like it

Do you get het up about stuff? Give out on social media about ‘disgraces’? Have you taken to the streets for housing, climate change, water charges or the like? Did you boycott the World Cup? When I was younger, I marched for various things — against the invasion of Iraq and the Eighth Amendment. I rowed with people online whose politics I disagreed with strongly, and I felt genuine passion about many issues. At times, in fact, I was, ahem, a regular little firebrand.

"A week out from Christmas — the original “No room at the inn” story — we need to have a conversation about immigration."

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Ciara Kelly Opinion Immigration needs to be managed like everything else, but racism can’t be tolerated

A week out from Christmas — the original “No room at the inn” story — we need to have a conversation about immigration. Even without ESRI reports, we know there has been a sharp increase in Ukrainians and other people arriving on these shores and, in some quarters, goodwill is waning. There’s deep disquiet in communities from Killarney to Dublin’s East Wall, where large numbers have been housed. The truth is there are genuine concerns in these areas but also separate racist elements using those concerns to stoke up our innate fear of change. At the recent East Wall protests, one woman told a reporter the area was “destroyed with foreigners” as “get them out!” was being chanted in the background.

"The All England Club’s Chief Executive said: 'We’re committed to supporting the players and listening to their feedback.' You’d almost think periods were a new phenomenon that female players haven’t, in fact, spent decades worrying and fretting about during the tournament."

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Ciara Kelly Opinion Policing women’s underwear is unacceptable. It should never happen — not on a tennis court or anywhere else

I see Wimbledon officials have decided to allow women to wear dark knickers or undershorts with their tennis whites in next year’s tournament — due to players’ ‘period concerns’. Big of them, I must say. It will have only taken 139 years. (Wimbledon — the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club — was founded in 1877, but women were not allowed to compete until 1884).

"I suspect most families have Christmas traditions. Find something that works, then rinse and repeat." Stock image.

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Ciara Kelly Opinion As a child, I believed we were the only family getting it wrong and not having a ‘perfect Christmas’

Ah, December! Season of mince pies and mulled winefulness! In our house, the first weekend in December is when we traditionally put up the tree and the decorations. I say we, but really I mean me. The greatest coup the patriarchy ever pulled off was making Santa Claus a man. I know not a single household where all the elves and Santa himself aren’t, in fact, women.

"It’s Thanksgiving on Thursday — do you note it in any way?"

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Ciara Kelly Opinion If there’s something missing in our lives, we allow it to become the obstacle to life being perfect

It’s Thanksgiving on Thursday — do you note it in any way? Whoa! Steady! I’m not suggesting we import the holiday here — we already have to put up with the American regifting of Halloween to us — there’s only so much pumpkin and saccharine we can take. But it’s not a bad idea, having a think about what you’re grateful for; making space now and then to ponder on the good in your life.

"Thousands of lives have intersected with O’Connell Street in ways small and big. It is our Champs-Élysées."

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Ciara Kelly Opinion O’Connell Street has taken a downturn but it’s not beyond saving — we owe it a chance to shine again

Recent talk about the grimness of O’Connell Street, the main thoroughfare of our capital city, made me a little sad. My GP career started out nearby in North Strand, and the good people of the north inner city came to our practice with their ailments and problems. Drug addiction, poverty and crime were rife back then too, as was generosity and community. We were told — this was at the start of the Celtic Tiger — that the trickle-down was coming and things would start to improve.

"I know that the arts are perhaps what elevate us and differentiate us from our baser instincts. I could, however, probably stare at a painting all day and never be moved by it in the way music moves me." Stock image

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Ciara Kelly Opinion From showtunes to The Smiths to Glen Campbell, what is it about music that moves me unlike anything else?

I love music. I really love it. I would hate a world without it. It absolutely affects my mood, giving me a lift if I’m feeling down. Sometimes, rather than altering my emotions, it just powerfully reflects them — letting me wallow in sadness or feel exhilarated by joy. I thought that Stefanie Preissner’s article in this magazine a few months ago on how our Spotify playlists are a time machine to events in our life was absolutely brilliant. I could’ve written it myself.

"I generally know if I’ve seen someone before, although I may not know where. But I’m truly terrible at names." Stock image.

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Ciara Kelly Opinion I am terrible with names. Is better to admit I don’t know who people are, or lie and pretend that I do?

I’m good with numbers — I can still remember my teenage school pals’ landlines. I’m pretty good with details about people’s lives; I can meet someone I haven’t seen in years and still know every detail of their work situation, what their kids are studying in college or their plans for a kitchen extension. I’m so-so on faces. I generally know if I’ve seen someone before, although I may not know where. But I’m truly terrible at names.

Supporters of author Salman Rushdie attend a reading and rally to show solidarity for free expression at the New York Public Library in New York on August 19, 2022. Picture by REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

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Ciara Kelly Opinion Why are we outraged by the attack on Salman Rushdie but not by the death and rape threats against JK Rowling?

I’ve been musing a lot lately on the conflict between safety and freedom. Apparently, the majority of us crave safety — with only a minority prizing freedom above it. That makes sense from a herd point of view. The species’ main drive is to survive, and if we all went off cliff-diving and setting fire to our legs on a regular basis, there’d be a lot fewer of us and cats would probably be in charge. However, those who prize freedom are important, too.

"This is my fourth home as an adult. All of them we tried to restore to what they might have been in their heyday, but I suppose with a modern twist. ‘Putting our own stamp on it’ in estate-agent speak." Stock image.

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Ciara Kelly Opinion What is the story you leave behind in a house — the indelible mark of the, hopefully happy, life you lived there?

I gave the back of my house a little makeover recently. It has a tumbledown 1980s’ conservatory tacked on to it. It was added by a previous owner — rather than constructed by a builder — as a kind of DIY project, I am guessing. It’s the kind of thing that was cool back then but a total eyesore now. Swollen plasterwork, an icky paint job and a heady combo of white uPVC and aluminium. It was, despite it being bright and leading to the garden, basically a junk room. The uglier the space, the more the room becomes a catch-all for crap, in my experience.

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