Is it ever okay to get with a friend's ex-partner? That's the question on everyone's lips this week after Ant McPartlin paired off with his personal assistant who, it transpires, was a friend of his...
Meet Jen. She's a 38-year-old mum-of-two who knows a thing or two about pregnancy. Morning sickness, melasma, gestational diabetes - she's been there, done that, and she's happy to share her experiences with new mums. Jen is warm, funny and engaging, but there's something that you...
Anyone who works in an office environment will know that there are dozens of business buzzwords that have lost all meaning.
She's alive! After a 24-day 'disappearance', Melania Trump has been found safe and well at a White House event to honour Gold Star families.
I recently attended a cookery course with a longer-than-average meet-and-greet session.
A friend of mine recently described a concert he attended as a "religious experience" so intense that he burst into tears during the finale.
At 11.59am tomorrow, Meghan Markle will arrive at the west steps of St George's Chapel and give the world the first glimpse of her bridal gown.
In an EastEnders-worthy will-he-won't-he? turn of events, Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, was last night reported to have backtracked on his plans to miss out on his daughter's wedding.
"When you judge another," said the late author Earl Nightingale, "you do not define them, you define yourself."
Millennials don’t get it easy. They’ve been maligned as the ‘Snowflake Generation’; criticised for their apparent lack of workplace nous and blamed for destroying everything from bricks-and-mortar retail to dinner dates and cursive writing.
It was business as usual for Kate Middleton as she stood on the steps of St Mary's Hospital and introduced her third child to the world on...
We often hear about the hidden costs of hosting a wedding (cake-cutting, corkage, etc) but less is said about the hidden costs of attending a wedding, especially for certain guests.
Love is in the air, peonies are in season and gilt-edged invites are beginning to stack up.
Francis Brennan has always enjoyed the finer things in life: Egyptian cotton, China tea cups and, as he revealed in a recent interview, living alone. "I've lived on my own now for 55 or so years," said the hotelier and TV personality, "and I have got very used to my own ways."
The tests came back clear. You don't have coeliac disease or gluten-intolerance and there's no evidence of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.
Wondering how to keep the candle burning bright in your romantic relationship?
Almost 50 years ago, Jilly Cooper wrote a guidebook aimed at the recently married. How To Stay Married had advice on sex, rows and in-laws, and even though the author had only been married to her late husband, Leo Cooper, for seven years when she wrote the book, it quickly became a bestseller.
Actress Jane Fonda has never denied having plastic surgery but, like many women of her generation, it isn't a topic she likes to talk about.
I'm not looking forward to the day that in-flight WiFi becomes readily, and cheaply, available on airplanes.
We quivered when he lifted her veil. We swooned when they kissed on the chapel steps. We pored over every tiny detail that emerged from their wedding reception.
In less than two weeks, Meghan Markle will walk down the aisle with Prince Harry in what is surely the most anticipated TV event of the year.
I’M barely in the door of the BeDo7 head office when the gaffer makes himself known. There’s a brief stand-off, a once-over and a few cursory sniffs before Hugo the chow-chow succumbs to the rubs and tickles.
A friend of mine, a fellow yogi, was recently asked to demonstrate a yoga posture during a class.
Once there, she found the patriarchal culture challenging and the poverty devastating, but the bond she made with the Maasai women is something she'll treasure forever, she tells our reporter.
It's less than a month until the Referendum on the Eighth Amendment and uncertainty abounds.
Trying to get fit? You're not trying hard enough, according to Halle Berry who has recently transitioned into an Instagram Fitspo star with an unashamedly militant streak.
Festival season gets underway in a few months and tickets are selling like hot cakes.
I once spent six months looking for a sofa. Furniture showrooms were searched, custom sofa websites were scanned and, still, I couldn't find anything that hit the hat-trick of comfort, style and value.
You cut out the complex carbs. You exercised three times a week. You even took the time to weigh 30g of nuts for your mid-morning snack. But now, months after embarking on the latest fad diet, you've noticed that the weight you lost is slowly, but surely, creeping back on.
The once-troubled marriage of Beyoncé and Jay-Z looks like it's stronger than ever after the couple announced that they'll be hitting the road together for a worldwide tour in June.
An 'attitude of gratitude' has emerged as the antidote to modern ills in recent years.
We get our eyes tested, our blood pressure checked and our cholesterol monitored. Our hearing health, on the other hand, is often overlooked.
Two distinct camps of people emerged during Snowmageddon. The first group, the forward thinkers, fetched shovels from their sheds and bought enough bread to last a week. The second group, the pleasure seekers, kept themselves busy sending memes, building igloos and turning laundry baskets into DIY sleighs. It's obvious which group Bláthnaid Treacy falls into...
Yet another couple have been reported to the name police in France - this time for trying to call their baby girl Liam.
Liz Cusack wasn't especially concerned when she noticed a rash on her legs and arms in 2006. It was probably an allergic reaction to laundry detergent, she surmised. Or maybe it was the stress of the upcoming Leaving Certificate.
There was a time - and it wasn't that long ago - when the word 'productivity' was used to describe labour and output.
The Beast from the East is here and, once again, Irish people are proving that there is no such thing as calm before a storm.
Niamh Bonner always knew she wanted to do something altruistic after she qualified as a nurse. She saw herself volunteering in Africa but the pressure to meet mortgage repayments and the precarious nature of work kept her and her now-husband David closer to home shores.
Actress Gabrielle Union recently revealed that she makes a vision board displaying her dreams, hopes and ambitions, every year.
The online market for highly-addictive benzodiazepines is booming, but what effect is it having on our health? Katie Byrne reports on Ireland’s love affair with sedatives
The cultural shift of the #MeToo movement has made us all sit up and rethink the way we behave in the workplace. Men and women are talking more openly about what constitutes sexual harassment at work (and why a mug emblazoned with 'Office Perv' might not be the best choice of Kris Kindle gift…).
How much do you earn? It should be a straightforward enough question when we reveal our relationship status on Facebook and our dinner plans on Twitter.
The typical competitive figure skater tends to follow a certain trajectory. They start when they are very young; they train consistently and relentlessly and they have easy access to a local ice rink that becomes their home from home.
A rose is a rose is a rose, wrote the late Gertrude Stein, but any woman who has lived through enough Valentine’s Days will know that not every rose is created equal.
A rose is a rose is a rose, wrote the late Gertrude Stein, but any woman who has lived through enough Valentine's Days will know that not every rose is created equal.
Ten years ago, mindfulness was something of a fringe activity promoted by New Age types and yoga practitioners. These days, it's a mainstream movement that is helping an increasing number of people to manage stress and cope with the breakneck speed of modern life.
They say a house renovation always costs more than you had budgeted and takes longer than you anticipated.
Twitter craic merchant NasMaraj caught the mood of the moment last week when he posted a viral tweet about the month that won't go away.
Have you ever taken the time to think back upon the decisions you made while under stress, or wondered what role tension may have played in conflicts and disagreements?
The late writer Nora Ephron had plenty of wisdom to impart when she addressed the graduates of private women's college Wellesley, in Boston, in 1996, but one line in particular stood out. "Above all," she said to the women seated in front of her, "be the heroine of your life, not the victim."
Did you smile for just a little bit too long at the handsome barista who passed you your coffee this morning? Did you steal a glance at your ex's Facebook page to break the monotony of the long bus journey? Did you forget, for even the briefest of moments, that you shouldn't show interest in anyone other than your beloved?
Today is Blue Monday, purportedly the most depressing day of the year, but actually a protracted PR stunt that gained ground through pseudo-science and click-baiting.
We always look for new and novel ways to shift the festive pounds in January, hence the glut of diet books at the top of best-seller lists and the sudden interest in the latest fitness trends.
How do you stand out at an event where the dress code is all black? That was clearly the question on many minds ahead of Sunday's Golden Globes, where most of the attendees wore black in a show of solidarity with the #MeToo movement.
If you're one of the unfortunate women trying to buy Cystopurin today, you've probably discovered by now that your local pharmacy is out of stock.
Comedian and actress Deirdre O'Kane didn't have to think twice when she was asked to take part in the second season of RTÉ's Dancing with the Stars. Her answer was an emphatic and unequivocal no. Not now, not ever. No, no and no.
And so it's almost time to atone for our festive sins by drawing up the annual list of unachievable New Year's resolutions.
In a week's time, Christmas will be over and we'll all be thinking towards our New Year's resolutions. A few days later and our social media feeds will be clogged up with the digital manifestos of friends and family members announcing their personal goals and plans to join Crossfit.
The most wonderful time of the year can also throw up all sorts of health hazards and seasonal stressors. We've rounded up a group of well-being experts to find out how to enjoy a happy - and healthy - Christmas.
It's around this time of the year that companies start rolling out their employee performance appraisals. These one-on-one reviews can be daunting, but most employees that are managed well will agree that they are practical and, for the most part, helpful.
Do you need to invite the neighbours? What should you give the host? And how do you clear everyone out when you're ready for bed? We asked some of Ireland's seasoned party animals to share their wisdom...
Do you know those bumbling dads who inadvertently put red socks into the white wash, and unwittingly dress their children in Halloween costumes?
Christmas is supposed to be the season of goodwill and cheer, but as the singer Kesha recently pointed out in an essay for TIME magazine, it doesn't always have that effect.
What not to buy for your... mum
Every family has their own time-honoured Christmas traditions. Some go sea swimming on Christmas morning; some don't get out of their pyjamas for the entire day.
Meghan Markle said she had just one question for the friend who set her up with Prince Harry: "Is he nice?"
The engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has been billed as a game-changing, ground-breaking shift for the Royal Family.
Losing a loved one is never easy, but the pioneering Hospice Friendly Hospitals programme, now in its 10th year, makes it a little easier to bear. Those coping with the loss of a loved one tend not to remember the finer details of the hospital experience; yet they never forget if their loved one's last days weren't handled with the respect and reverence they deserved.
Can a couple ever overcome an infidelity? That was the question on everyone's lips when The Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood and his wife Alexandra announced their separation after 20 years of marriage.
The term 'anti-ageing' is slowly falling out of favour in the beauty industry. US-based magazine Allure recently banned the term from its pages. Meanwhile, there is an emerging trend towards products that promote vitality rather than youth, and a change of shift from 'defying' ageing, to accepting it as a natural process.
Sometimes, when trying to overcome all-consuming emotions, it helps to reframe them... or at least peel away the layers to examine what's underneath.
What should canny investors put their money into next year? Cryptocurrencies? Lithium stocks? Property in Bucharest?
When we think of the self-development movement, our thoughts usually turn to the current crop of oratorical grandstanders who pound up and down convention centre stages, evangelising into detachable microphones.
The world is divided into two types of people: those who giddily tune into Christmas FM on November 28 of each year; and those who lose the will to live when they hear Mariah Carey explaining that she doesn't want a lot for Christmas for the third time that day.
Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of Power isn't a book that you want to be seen reading in public. It's not just because the book's bright red cover and flagrant title will attract attention, rather because the controversial content divides opinion.
Groucho Marx once opined that "a man's only as old as the woman he feels".
Artists who don’t like to be interviewed generally fall into one of two camps. The first group subjects the interviewer to monosyllabic answers, silences that seem to go on for days and an occasional weary sigh, just for effect. The second camp are much more obliging. They may not...
We all knew a bouncy castle and a piñata wasn't going to cut the mustard when Asahd Tuck Khaled, the son of American hip-hop producer DJ Khaled, celebrated his first birthday.
The actress Minka Kelly apologised for staying silent when she became one of the growing group of women to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct via her Instagram account last week.
While Alison Collins always knew she wanted to have children, she never expected to be weighing up her fertility options as a single woman in her early twenties.
I've always been of the opinion that people tend to give up just before the final hurdle, but it was only recently that I began to wonder if this applied to small, daily tasks as much as it applies to big, far-reaching goals.
According to a recent survey, the average full-time UK office worker is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes of the work day.
The word iconic is overused, yet it's the only word that can describe the moment fashion designer Gianni Versace sent Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford down the runway to the soundtrack of George Michael's 'Freedom' in 1991.
Nancy Dell'Olio - remember her? Put on her highest heels and famously declared that she felt "fantastico" when it emerged that her boyfriend, Sven-Goran Eriksson, had an affair with fellow Swede Ulrika Jonsson.
It can be difficult to converse with one of my friends - a father of four - when I call him.
In case you missed the memo, the Danish lifestyle concept of hygge is so last year. This is partly because our attempts at pronouncing it sounded like a drunken interpretation of the haka, but mostly because it was supplanted by the Swedish concept of lagom, which was in turn overtaken by the Japanese ethos of ikigai.
Downton Abbey fans may remember the moment when Dowager Countess Violet Grantham turned to rival matriarch Martha Levinson, and sneered: "You Americans never understand the importance of tradition."
There was a lot to love about Dublin’s victory in the Ladies’ All-Ireland football final on Sunday, but two moments in particular warmed our hearts: Paul Flynn congratulating fiancée Fiona Hudson, and Dean Rock congratulating girlfriend Niamh McEvoy.
It's strange that the team behind Lady Gaga's recently-released Netflix documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two, decided to leave one of the most tantalising vignettes until the very end.
There are hundreds of books on the self-development shelf promising to help you find your life purpose, - identify your true calling and discover the work you were born to do.
What kind of employees do millennials make, and how is the working world adapting to meet their needs? A recruitment director, a career coach and a career management consultant weigh in.
Thanks to author Mireille Guiliano, there is a widely-accepted belief that French women don't get fat. Our Gallic counterparts, she explained in her bestselling book, can eat pains au chocolat for breakfast and still fit into their Isabel Marant skinnies, and enjoy crusty white bread at lunch without falling into a carb-induced food coma at their desk an hour later.
When James and Laura McIlvenna's Labrador chewed apart their wedding album during his early biting phase, the couple didn't growl or snap.
After years of venture-capital schmoozing, elevator pitching and product evangelising, Silicon Valley techies tend to develop a technologically advanced capacity for hyperbole and hogwash.
We are often told that there are two types of deception: white lies, which are small, trifling and sometimes necessary; and black lies, which are sophisticated, complex and sometimes devastating.
Scarlett Johansson didn't wow the fashion press with her choice of gown at the Oscars earlier this year. Her jewellery choices, however, got a resounding thumbs-up.
You would swear the Rosetta Stone has just been discovered, such is the hype surrounding Taylor Swift's new song 'Look What You Made Me Do'.
Aislinn Connolly is a team player, both on the pitch and off it. The former All Star-winning Galway camogie player is now a brand development manager at Google, and "collaboration and inclusiveness" continues to be her raison d'être.
Approval-seeking manifests itself in many different ways. Sometimes it's obvious and ugly - think gloating and bragging; and sometimes it's quiet and reserved - think not speaking up for fear of losing favour.
Some people think of their 70s as a leisurely period of retirement, golf outings and bridge classes. Prolific horse trainer Jessica Harrington has other ideas. Rather than winding down, her career has been on the up and up since she turned 70 in February. The following month, she had three winners at Cheltenham, an unprecedented success made all the sweeter when she won her first Gold Cup with Sizing John - her first ever runner in the race.
Parents bringing up Snapchatting, selfie-taking, screen-dependent digital natives have come to realise there is no map for raising children in the social media age.
It's almost lunchtime in the LAB on Dublin's Foley Street when theatre director Caitriona McLaughlin calls for a rehearsal break - but first she has some notes for the 16 actors who are standing in front of her.
I've covered a couple of International Fashion Weeks during my time as a journalist. These assignments almost always included a visit backstage so that I could file a gritty frontline report on high fashion, hairspray and hysterics.
Earlier this month, Nicola Maloney, a UK-based business development manager, decided to "speak up" about the unwanted attention she has been receiving from men on LinkedIn.
Parents are often asked about the moral values and life lessons that they would like to teach their children. It's less common for them to be asked about the lessons their children have taught them.
Podcasting, in case you haven't noticed, is the new black. Depending on who you listen to, it's also the new blogging, the new talk radio and, as one writer, musing on the medium's tranquillising quality, recently put it: the "new Xanax".
His profound yet simple teachings have already helped countless people throughout the world find calm, contentment and greater fulfilment in their lives. Here, Eckhart Tolle shares his 15 ways to find inner peace.
Middle-class status has never been easy to define. Some determine it by income, especially if it happens to be over €50,000 a year; others by expenditure - with particular emphasis on yearly holidays and golf-club memberships.
Playing organised sports can help girls do better off the field as well as on. Katie Byrne looks at 10 facts - from barriers to benefits - concerning women in sport.
There are a few commonly suggested ideas to help women achieve gender parity in the workplace.
The Buddhist practice of non-attachment, in the simplest of terms, means not to cling to people, places or things. I was reading about it recently when it occurred to me that we actually have very little to cling to these days.
Anyone who has been to Ibiza will know that there are two sides to the so-called White Island. There's the south side, which is brassy and boisterous, and the north side, which is tranquil and laidback. There's an Ibiza for hedonistic party people looking for all-night parties and an Ibiza for abstemious spiritual seekers who practise yoga in the hills.
You may have noticed that the buzz cut is having a moment, with the likes of Cara Delevingne, Kristen Stewart and Katy Perry chopping off their locks in favour of no-nonsense, close-cropped styles.
We've all had moments when we've had to concede that we are perilously close to reaching Peak Stuff.
Apparently former TD Pat Rabbitte had a keen sense of his electorate. When canvassing door-to-door in the Tallaght area, he could tell, with almost 100pc accuracy, if the female householder was - as he put it - "an An Cosán woman".
![An Cosan, Jobstown educators, [back row] Edina Milivojevic, Liz Waters, Wayne Martin[ Education access officer] Maura McMahon [CEO] and Anne Genockey and sitting Lorraine Quinn and Jennifer Wickham - pictured at An Cosan in Jobstown Tallaght. Photo: Frank Mc Grath](https://cdn-04.independent.ie/incoming/article35935161.ece/52f2d/AUTOCROP/w245h135/Jobstown.jpg "An Cosan, Jobstown educators, [back row] Edina Milivojevic, Liz Waters, Wayne Martin[ Education access officer] Maura McMahon [CEO] and Anne Genockey and sitting Lorraine Quinn and Jennifer Wickham - pictured at An Cosan in Jobstown Tallaght. Photo: Frank Mc Grath")