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Fiona Sherlock Opinion For all their folly, young people will be key to saving planet earth

What is folly? Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “foolishness or deficiency in understanding”, it’s a reality of life that mistakes made in youth can last a lifetime.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Between good and evil lie far, far stranger things...

Stranger things have happened. We’ve all heard the saying at some point.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Children in need of mental health care are abandoned on a merry-go-round of despair

It can be difficult to imagine how abandoned children feel until mental illness reaches your own door. Today in Ireland, there is a parent sitting in a hospital emergency department somewhere with a teenage child, their clothes smeared with the blood drawn by the child herself through self-harm or by attempted suicide.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion DIY approach could help to build morale and fix our finances

How can we find comfort and happiness in life in this era of shortages? Since the end of World War II, most of the western world has lived in abundance. Luckily, most of us do not know what it is like to go hungry, to go to bed cold, or go without work.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Why is crime fiction so popular, and what does it say about us?

Violent crimes haven’t been far from the headlines this month. There have been many extremely upsetting and sorrowful tales. But it seems that instead of avoiding stories about criminals, we continue to seek them out — crime novels occupied four of the top 10 bestseller slots last week and true crime podcasts are more popular than ever.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion God save the Green – how do we really feel about the British royals?

As Britain marks Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee this weekend, are Irish eyes smiling? How does this display of pomp and pageantry sit with us? As peace becomes a presumption instead of a destination, is it possible to observe the proceedings as an inquisitive observer?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Let’s seize the opportunity to make remote working a reality

Official research released by the CSO last week paints an overly optimistic picture of Ireland’s shift towards remote working. On average, households in the State are situated 5.6km from a remote work hub and 1.6km from a childcare service. However, distance alone is not a marker of viability, but merely a starting point for the building of infrastructure which allows workers to stay in rural communities.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Sally Rooney’s slow-moving millennial masterpiece is fast becoming a modern Irish classic

Lenny Abrahamson’s visual renditions of Sally Rooney’s books are an important moment for youth culture in Ireland — which I’m not certain I’m still a member of, at 33. With such competition for TV audiences and production, can the subtle exploration of human relationships in Conversations with Friends compete for viewers against all those thrillers out there?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Women are wary of the National Maternity Hospital plan as we’ve been lied to before

Sound legal instruments are no antidote for decades of traumatic maternity experiences in Ireland, so is there any wonder there’s broad disquiet at the proposed ownership structure of the planned new National Maternity Hospital in Dublin?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Toxic battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard can be a wake-up call for our own trials

Johnny Depp’s defamation case against Amber Heard is a lesson to us all in understanding our own toxic behaviours. The actor is suing his ex-wife for defamation based on a 2018 domestic abuse article she wrote in the Washington Post, although she did not name him. Their relationship is being sifted through in the most public, painful way. But could it be a lesson for all of us in privately identifying situations that don’t serve us?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Making mothers doubt their bodies so formula makers can bank profits

Working mothers are a step closer to legislated breastfeeding breaks until their baby is two under the provisions of the Work Life Balance bill announced last week. But what other policy changes are needed to support the health of our babies and toddlers?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Ticking ‘Yes’ wasn’t enough — be vocal and visible with LGBTQ+ support

When an unspeakable thing happens, like the vicious homophobic savaging on Dame Street last week, we must ask ourselves how we can support the LGBTQ+ community.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Census time capsule is a snapshot of our lives, but will we want anyone to see it?

In this digital age, when the art of letter writing has been lost, what legacy do we leave our children?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion We have 70,000 thoughts a day, so taking time to reflect can only do wonders for our mind

Peace, it may seem, has disappeared from our world. From Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars to humanitarian disasters such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, everywhere we look, listen or scroll, there is strife, division, conflict. But by finding peace in our lives, we can remember just how much we have to be grateful for.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Michael Healy-Rae’s Dáil rant shows up divide between urban and rural dwellers

Last week’s heated Dáil exchange between Michael Healy-Rae and Leo Varadkar highlighted the clash in attitudes between urban and rural dwellers.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Our need to fully embrace the great outdoors has never been stronger

Can gardening improve our mental health? From daffodils popping up in the fields to the scent of blooming crocus bulbs erupting outside a flower shop, spring has sprung. Our gardens and outdoor areas are waiting to offer us a path to more energy and less stress, anxiety and depression.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion While my kids play Lego, Ukrainian children clutching teddies are fleeing death

Seven-and-a-half million children in Ukraine now face death, serious injury, or displacement. This is not hypothetical. Children who were going to school on Wednesday are now waiting to be buried.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Why are so many millennials buying into cryptocurrency? Do they know something you don’t?

With soaring living costs and a rejection of some traditional forms of employment, the idea of conjuring up a windfall is appealing. With an estimated 456,000 Irish people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, owning some form of cryptocurrency, why are millennials investing in virtual money?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion We can all play our part to protect elderly from rural crime

We must all be more vigilant to help protect our elders against the spate of vicious burglaries which have blighted the country in recent weeks.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Early years educators are the superheroes we need to rescue

What’s your superhero power? Is it the stamina and endurance of The Bionic Woman? The youth of Wonder Woman? Batman’s intelligence? Captain Marvel’s ability to sense when something is not quite right? Ireland’s early years educators have something in common with these comic book heroes — they manage an impossible feat for the good of society’s most vulnerable, our children.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Return to the office can’t mean reverting to old gender roles

With long delays on the M3 and Marty in the Morning musing that the office return is well under way, what’s life like for those who won’t be going back to the office?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Moon’s power continues to inspire one giant leap in our imaginations

It was difficult to ignore last week’s Wolf Moon — whether it was a surprise illumination of your attic room or a timeline peppered with snaps of our celestial satellite as it sat on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Covid caterpillars face big shift as we leave our cocoons

I have started making plans. Dates which had been pencilled in for weddings or holidays are turning into booked flights and hotel reservations.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Cold shock of wild swimming conquers immersion in anxiety

I am a bit late to wild swimming. As dryrobed influencers snapped sunrises on the beach during lockdown I couldn’t imagine climbing down the muddy banks of the Boyne for a dip. Growing up, it was genuinely considered the domain of the half-mad.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Work do on ice again? Pass the home brew

For a second year, offices won’t be hosting a Christmas party — that one night of the year where it’s possible to swap professionalism for merriment. The loss of this ritual will be felt by employees and employers alike, after so long meeting on Zoom.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Just when our kids thought pandemic was behind them at last... Oh, no, it isn’t

“Ariel, listen to me, the human world, it’s a mess,” Sebastian the crab sings to the Little Mermaid. Hundreds of children will have been looking forward to hearing Under the Sea at the Gaiety pantomime this weekend, including my little girl.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion We reap what we sow so ancient myths and rites can guide us well in these turbulent times

As the Americans gear up to mark Thanksgiving this week, how do we identify with our national myths today in Ireland?

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Big business has been milking infant formula for far too long

The proposal to ban online advertising by infant formula companies was criticised last week. For a country with one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world, whose interests are best served by advertising formula online? Formula companies want to recruit first-time mothers just like gambling websites want new punters.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion If we cherish our children, then every Cleo and Parwana must be rescued

Waking up in the morning to find your child’s bed empty is every parent’s worst nightmare, so the discovery of Australian four-year-old Cleo Smith alive 18 days after her disappearance is a testament to the triumph of good over evil. Though we live in an age of uncertainty, there are some things we hold sacred.

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Fiona Sherlock Opinion Migrant workers deserve a little more céad míle fáilte from us

A silent cohort of hard-workers plug the gaps in our society. From the beef in your carvery to the tidy main street in your town, whether you realise it or not, migrant workers make your life better.