Ian O'Doherty

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion We’ve reached the stars but we’re still scared of the dark

So, it’s 2021 and we’re living through some extremely interesting times.

Getting down to business once more at Butcher Otako hair salon in Dublin city centre on Monday, May 11. Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Some restrictions have been lifted – but we have all been changed utterly by Covid

Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we’re free at last.

Deplatformed: Donald Trump faces a six-month wait to see if he will be allowed to resume his Facebook activities

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion We’re on a dangerous road when tech billionaires choose what we can and cannot see

Honestly, you’d need a heart of stone not to laugh.

Manchester United fans set off flares before storming Old Trafford last Sunday, in protest against the club’s owners. Photo: Barrington Coombs/PA

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Nobody can argue with the anger felt by United fans, but mobs are never a good idea

Some readers may remember the heroically daft Dream Team, the Sky One drama about fictional Harchester United that started in 1997 and aired for a decade until it ran out of its increasingly mad ideas.

George Clooney accepting his Oscar in 2006

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion I want my idols to entertain me, not lecture me on fashionable morals

I stayed up late the other night to watch the Oscars.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health Dr. Tony Holohan outside Government buildings. Picture: Gerry Mooney

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Citizens’ Assembly a handy mudguard to shield our leaders from the difficulties of big decisions

Normally, when we vote, we vote for political leaders.

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion The Super League’s demise is far from the final whistle for football’s sickness

Well, that certainly escalated quickly.

Publicans are calling for pubs to be allowed reopen in May or many could close down altogether

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Ian O’Doherty Opinion It’s now 400 days since most pubs closed – is it any surprise publicans are angry?

Now that we’re into the second year of lockdown, it has been fascinating, in a rather grim way, to look at how we have responded to all the restrictions. Restrictions which, even in 2019, would have seemed like something from a nightmare.

Prince Andrew wanted to wear an admiral’s uniform for his father’s funeral

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Royal funeral reminds us that nobody can escape a family feud

‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The opening line of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is rightly regarded as one of the greatest intros in the history of literature. Personally, my favourite remains the stark: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen” from Nineteen Eighty-Four, but that was just because you knew from that line that you were heading into a world of weirdness.

John Witts enjoys a drink at the reopening of the Figure of Eight pub, in Birmingham, as England further eases lockdown restrictions. Photo: Jacob King/PA Wire

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion All eyes on how the UK public acts as society opens up – our fate depends on it

A tale of two countries.

Distraction: Everyone, it seems, is now more interested in ‘likes’ than being simply liked. (Picture posed)

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Kids today don’t understand privacy. I can’t blame them

For the second Saturday in a row, I find myself talking about “kids these days”.

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin, An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, and Minister for Transport and the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan. Photo: Julien Behal

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Covid has changed how we live – and how many of us think about traditional politics

It really is bizarre, when you take a step back and think about it for a minute, that we are now in the second year of living with lockdown restrictions.

Annie Murphy as Alexis and Daniel Levy as David in Schitt’s Creek

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It’s great that we have so many viewing options, but part of me wants to hop back to the old days

Ah, kids today, with their fancy phones and tablets and access to the likes of Netflix and Disney+.

Manager Stephen Kenny just before the whistle goes on the worst result in living memory. Photo: PA

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Timing of poignant documentary on Big Jack underlines current sad state of Irish football

It’s fair to say that every Irish football fan will have experienced quite the emotional rollercoaster over the last few days. The only problem with that statement, however, is that rollercoasters tend to go up as well as down.

Rising tensions: A loyalist paramilitary mural in Belfast

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A united Ireland is a fever dream that will simply end in carnage

To be or not to be united? That is the question.

Protesters and gardaí clash during an anti-lockdown protest in Dublin city centre on Saturday February 27. Photo: Damian Eagers/PA Wire

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion We’re all frustrated and hurting – but you can’t protest your way out of a pandemic

A funny thing happened in the pages of the Indo this day last week – I wrote an optimistic column.

Badge of pride: A spectator at the New York St Patrick’s Day Parade. Many Irish-Americans have a simplistic view of this country

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion I love my American relatives — but they shouldn’t have a vote here

Like many of us, I have lots of relations in America. They’re good people and, as a kid, I always looked forward to them coming back to Ireland for a holiday.

People strolling and cycling along the coast at Dollymount during recent sunny weather in Dublin. Photo: Steve Humphreys

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Glorious sunshine gave me a glimpse of light at the end of this lockdown tunnel

It was sometime in the middle of Sunday afternoon when a strange sensation came over me. I felt, and this is a hard one to describe, but I felt... vaguely content. Forget happiness, even vague contentment has been in short supply these days.

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion The Elliott picture was horrible – but put down the pitchforks

And... they’re off!

Anti Lockdown protesters confront Gardai on Dublin's Grafton Street. Photo: Arthur Carron

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Deluded freedom champions will liberate us all right back into another lockdown

When most of us saw what was happening in the storming of the Capitol in Washington back on January 6, we were stunned.

Online abuse: Republic of Ireland Under-19 international Tyreik Wright. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Social media is now a cesspit. Big tech must do something about it

Well, it’s happened again.

EU president Ursula von der Leyen had to quickly roll back on triggering of Article 16 of Northern Ireland protocol. Photo: Olivier Hoslet

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Ian O’Doherty Opinion Forget Brexit – the pandemic is by far the toughest test the EU has ever faced

We can be a strange, perplexing little country at times.

Scary thought: It was a surprise that so many of those polled admit that listening to Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Sabbath is a great way of reducing their stress levels. Photo: Paul Natkin/Getty Images

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Now that’s what I call good news! 80s music helps reduces stress

Here at the Indo, we like to do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to.

US President Joe Biden made much play of his ability to talk to the kind of blue collar American who had switched their traditional allegiance from the Democrats to the Republicans. Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion The task of spanning a widening chasm in American society may be beyond Joe Biden

A victory for white supremacy. That was the view of one outraged American politician following the end of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial last Saturday.

Political differences: LA Times columnist Virginia Heffernan’s neighbours are Trump voters

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Sometimes the modern liberal just hands it to you on a plate

Quick question — how well do you get on with your neighbours?

Turning point: Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony (right) is sent off during Sunday’s Six Nations defeat to Wales in Cardiff. Photo: David Davies/PA Wire

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Let’s be honest – at the moment, sport is the only thing keeping us going

A friend of mine called me on Sunday afternoon.

Targeted: Daniel Day-Lewis in The Crucible, the 1996 film inspired by the Salem witch trials

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Technology may have changed but we’re not that different to Salem

I watched a fascinating documentary the other night It involved a bunch of young, hysterical people denouncing others and demanding that they be cancelled. These fatuous temper tantrums were then indulged by older people who agreed with their deranged demands and crazy claims and proceeded to punish those who had been on the receiving end of the allegations. Sound familiar?

Alliance: President Biden’s affinity toward Ireland, as well as his Irish heritage, will likely be a big draw to Washington for Taoiseach Micheál Martin

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Ian O’Doherty Opinion We need Micheál Martin to go to Washington for St Patrick's Day – anyone suggesting otherwise is an idiot

Let's take a quick look at all the problems we currently face, shall we?

The novelty has worn off: The fact that schools won’t be open any time soon must have come as a hammer blow to many parents

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Staying child-free has never seemed such a wise choice

I don’t have kids.

A passenger celebrates as he arrives at Belfast International Airport from the UK. Photo: Stephen Davison

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Ian O’Doherty Opinion Hard choices face this government, but there is far more than votes at stake now

At 2pm tomorrow, Irish time, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists are holding a virtual press conference from Washington.