Ian O'Doherty

Trauma: ‘There is a deep scar running through our national psyche and the abomination of these mother and baby homes is one of the main reasons’

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion There is plenty of blame to go around, but the church must pay

I was born in the Coombe in November, 1971.

Horror: A woman stops at a memorial for Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick who died after he was beaten by supporters of President Donald Trump when they stormed the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion I tried to defend Trump voters from lazy slurs – but they’ve lived down to worst stereotype

In his highly entertaining 2018 travelogue, Another Fine Mess, English journalist Tim Moore drove an old Ford Model T through the American regions which had voted most heavily in favour of Donald Trump.

One activist claimed Grease was "rapey, racist, homophobic and should never be shown on TV again" after the BBC screened it over Christmas

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion From God to Grease, every generation will create its own taboos

So, what did you make of the hugely controversial sketch on RTÉ on New Year’s Eve?

The vultures are circling: As he tries to guide Ireland through the pandemic, Micheál Martin must now also be wary of fellow party members. Photo: Tom Honan/PA Wire

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Fianna Fáil’s leadership heave is the last thing this country needs

Face mask? Check.

Weaponisation of cancel culture: Justice Minister Helen McEntee plans to toughen up our legislation on so-called ‘hate speech’. Photo by Gareth Chaney/Collins

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Helen McEntee’s hate speech legislation would turn morons into martyrs

I think we can all agree that we just experienced a rather unusual Christmas.

Done deal: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he had agreed to a Brexit trade deal on Christmas Eve. Photo: Getty

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Brexit deal is finally here – let’s hope there are no hidden land mines

Well, that’s that. No more couples counselling. No more last-ditch weekends away in an effort to save a dying relationship. No more futile attempts at a reconciliation. After four years of rancour, recrimination, tears, tantrums and increasing hostility, this divorce is now absolute.

Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones in Normal People

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion If ever there was a year we wanted to end, this was it

Well, that was some year, wasn’t it?

The Christmas buzz on Grafton Street just won’t be the same this year. Photo: Tony Gavin

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion A Christmas like no other – let’s try to make the best of it

Well, we’re nearly there. Three sleeps until the big day.

A dearth of mirth: Paul McGann and Richard E Grant in Withnail and I, the closing scene of which sums up current sentiments

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Christmas is nearly here – and we sorely need this break

‘I have of late — but wherefore I know not — lost all my mirth, forgone all customs of exercises and, indeed, it goes so heavily on my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory.”

Rudderless: ‘Destructive’ Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson has plunged Britain head first into a Brexit disaster with his poor political negotiating skills. Photo: Duncan McGlynn/Getty

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Fishing row is just latest mad gambit from UK – but Boris’s ship may well be sinking

Deadlines. They’re the bane of every journalist’s life. Most hacks file on time. Others? Well, some are renowned for filing late copy and it will probably come as no great surprise that when Boris Johnson was a journo he was a pest when it came to deadlines.

Lost moment: Steve Thompson celebrates winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup with England, a feat he no longer remembers. Photo by Odd Andersen/Getty

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Safety-first mammies may have had the right idea about rugby

When I was a kid, I played rugby. I wasn’t any good and I was initially reluctant to become an egg-chaser because football was and always will be my first love. Not that I was much use at football, but that’s another story.

Wrong message: A demonstrator at the recent ‘March for Freedom’ anti-vaxx protest at Westfield shopping centre in London. Photo: Hollie Adams/Getty Images

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Anti-vaxxers are spouting utter nonsense – but censoring them is not the answer

Under normal circumstances, the fact a 79-year-old pensioner had decided to get the flu jab would hardly be front page news.

Talk is cheap: The supposedly liberal Amnesty International is calling for the censorship of people who hold a traditional view about male and female biology

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Amnesty calling for censorship? But they used to be the good guys

Many years ago when I was still a pupil, our class had a special day out.

Retail therapy: Penneys’ flagship store on Mary Street, Dublin, prepares to throw open its doors again. Photo: Naoise Culhane

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion It’s been a year to forget so let’s make this a Christmas to remember

First they took St Patrick’s Day. Then they took Easter.

Sky documentary: Irvine Welsh with rapper MIA. Welsh says the backlash received for Trainspotting stung, but says unlike now, people were allowed different opinion in the 1990s

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Cancel culture is dangerous and now coming for ordinary people

When was the last time you were offended?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson at London's Westminster Abbey, during a service to mark Armistice Day last week. Photo: Jeremy Selwyn/Evening Standard/PA Wire

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Ian O’Doherty Opinion Boris Johnson’s reign of error has descended into political equivalent of a scrap outside a chipper

Oh what a tangled web they weave.

A mural by Australian artist Scott Marsh is seen on a wall at the Botany View Hotel in Sydney

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion With Donald Trump gone, what are we going to do for laughs now?

I’ve often said that politics is too important to take seriously.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald outside the Convention Centre Dublin for a Dáil session. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Sinn Féin motion of no confidence in Varadkar is just another populist political stunt

As the eyes of the world turned to events in America and the US presidential election, it was nice to see that, closer to home, some of us still enjoy more traditional pursuits.

Bum note: Lady Gaga performing in support of Biden this week. She was criticised for mocking rednecks in a post online. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Donald Trump may have lost the election but his legacy will linger for a long time

Like many of us poor saps who are struggling with chronic boredom during the lockdown, I awaited Tuesday night’s election coverage with an almost unseemly degree of eagerness.

Supporters of President Donald Trump gather for a campaign rally at Opa-Locka Executive Airport, Florida, Fla. Photo: AP/Jim Rassol)

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Whoever wins today’s US election, the loser will be the Divided States of America

After four years of rancour, discord and quite frankly, mass insanity the United States finally goes to the polls today.

Battle with the evil undead: David Soul in Salem’s Lot

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Ian O’Doherty: Halloween is the time to indulge our desire to freak ourselves out

I remember it well. In fact, I remember it like it was yesterday, even though it happened nearly 40 years ago.

Betrayed: Protesters hang babys’ shoes outside Áras an Uachtaráin to highlight their opposition to the sealing of records into the Tuam mother and baby home scandal

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Sealing the Mother and Baby files is another betrayal by Official Ireland

Of all the less than desirable national traits we possess, our consistent failure to exorcise the ghosts of the past is one of the worst.

Trump card: A voter waits in line at a polling station in Florida as early voting begins

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Young people don’t like democracy? Well, they’re not the only ones...

Shock! Horror! The young people are revolting!

Groundhog Day: This empty city-centre street in Galway will be replicated across the country after a new lockdown was announced last night. PHOTO: CLODAGH KILCOYNE

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion We face another six weeks of misery - but does anyone have a better alternative?

Welcome to Groundhog Day. Yes, as the country girds its loins for its return to a version of Lockdown 5, we're reminded once more that we're all in this together, whether we like it or not.

A woman wearing a mask in London. Photo: PA

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Will we ever get out of this Covid funk?

In the last six months, the most exciting thing to happen to me was tripping over a chew-toy last week and falling down the stairs while I carried one of my dogs.

You are what you eat: Flic Everett says the vegan diet she adopted played havoc with her health

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Vegans meat their match when they try to take on the butchers

There’s an old saying that ‘you are what you eat’.

Violent collision: The scenes outside Leinster House on Saturday. Photo: Steve Humphreys

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion Conspiracy and antifa thugs are no laughing matter now they are duking it out on streets

So what did you get up to on Saturday afternoon?

Prayers of the faithful: Daniela Taormina during a pro-Trump rally in New York after it emerged the US president was being treated for Covid-19

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Trump's unhinged critics are now just doing his job for him

The year 2020 has become the year of the cliché.

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It's beginning to look a lot like a Christmas lockdown - is that so bad?

Just when you thought that 2020 couldn't get any weirder (damn, I've done it again!), this week also saw early predictions that Christmas as we know it could be cancelled.

At the height of the pandemic, 598,000 were in receipt of the payment. This has now fallen to 210,000, but could increase in the coming days due to the Dublin lockdown. Photo: Collins Photos

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Ian O'Doherty Opinion We may have dodged a bullet on lockdown for now - but don't be too relieved just yet

That strange noise you may have heard on Sunday evening?

Ian O'Doherty

Ian O'Doherty Opinion There is plenty of blame to go around, but the church must pay

Ian O'Doherty Opinion I tried to defend Trump voters from lazy slurs – but they’ve lived down to worst stereotype

Ian O'Doherty Opinion From God to Grease, every generation will ­create its own taboos

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Fianna Fáil’s leadership heave is the last thing this country needs

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Helen McEntee’s hate speech legislation would turn morons into martyrs

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Brexit deal is finally here – let’s hope there are no hidden land mines

Ian O'Doherty Opinion If ever there was a year we wanted to end, this was it

Ian O'Doherty Opinion A Christmas like no other – let’s try to make the best of it

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Christmas is nearly here – and we sorely need this break

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Fishing row is just latest mad gambit from UK – but Boris’s ship may well be sinking

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Safety-first mammies may have had the right idea about rugby

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Anti-vaxxers are spouting utter nonsense – but censoring them is not the answer

Amnesty calling for censorship? But they used to be the good guys

Ian O'Doherty Opinion It’s been a year to forget so let’s make this a Christmas to remember

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Cancel culture is dangerous and now coming for ordinary people

Ian O’Doherty Opinion Boris Johnson’s reign of error has descended into political equivalent of a scrap outside a chipper

Ian O'Doherty Opinion With Donald Trump gone, what are we going to do for laughs now?

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Sinn Féin motion of no confidence in Varadkar is just another populist political stunt

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Donald Trump may have lost the election but his legacy will linger for a long time

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Whoever wins today’s US election, the loser will be the Divided States of America

Ian O’Doherty: Halloween is the time to indulge our desire to freak ourselves out

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Sealing the Mother and Baby files is another betrayal by Official Ireland

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Young people don’t like democracy? Well, they’re not the only ones...

Ian O'Doherty Opinion We face another six weeks of misery - but does anyone have a better alternative?

Will we ever get out of this Covid funk?

Vegans meat their match when they try to take on the butchers

Ian O'Doherty Opinion Conspiracy and antifa thugs are no laughing matter now they are duking it out on streets

Trump's unhinged critics are now just doing his job for him

It's beginning to look a lot like a Christmas lockdown - is that so bad?

Ian O'Doherty Opinion We may have dodged a bullet on lockdown for now - but don't be too relieved just yet

Ian O'Doherty Opinion From God to Grease, every generation will create its own taboos