Journalists

Liz Kearney: 'The worst kind of family planning' 

Parents, I've noticed since becoming one myself, tend to divide quite neatly into two subsections. On the one hand, you have the Advance Planning Brigade, who had their kids down for secondary school the moment they'd binned the positive pregnancy test, have their Connemara cottage rental pre-booked every August 'til 2022, and began their Christmas preparations in earnest on July 1. And then there are the rest of us, the Chronically Disorganised, who find it hard to plan past mid-afternoon and can never remember if it's PE day or not.

Liz Kearney: 'Our cynicism should get the darned elbow' 

In the run-up to his 70th birthday, Prince Charles has been enjoying an unusually benign period of press coverage, with a series of fluffy interviews highlighting everything from his popularity with his grandchildren (they call him Grandpa Wales, which is cute) to his culinary inventiveness (he devised a recipe for grouse moussaka, or 'groussaka', which is disgusting).

Liz Kearney: 'I don't need a poppy to think of my grandad' 

I've never considered wearing a poppy, but the annual fracas about who's wearing it and who's not saddens me.

Liz Kearney: If only nature could keep up with us mums 

ELDERLY primigravidas are all the rage this week, which means that for once, I feel fashionable. Doctors apply this charming epithet to anyone over 35 who is giving birth for the first time and as royal mum-to-be Meghan Markle is currently 37, she falls firmly into this category, as did I when I had my first baby at 35.

Liz Kearney: Let's all take Instagram out of picture 

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to Instagram it, did it really fall at all? That is the great philosophical conundrum of the 21st century, when every special moment is snapped, edited in a flattering light, and posted to social media. Enough, says concert designer LeRoy Bennett, who is backing a ban on smartphones at gigs. Bennett, who's worked with stars such as Madonna and Paul McCartney, is irritated by fans taking pictures of the stage and capturing it from a bad angle. The artists get upset, he said, and presumably he gets it in the neck as a result.

Liz Kearney: 'Oh Marie Kondo, how I love you... but not even you can help me now' 

Oh Marie Kondo, how I love you, with your tiny white cardigans, your charmingly broken English, and your lovely, calm, graceful manner as you incite near nervous breakdowns in the homes of those you visit.

Liz Kearney: 'Nativity stars set a shining example to all' 

The preparations were akin to a Broadway show. There were daily rehearsals, with the actors poring over their lines until they were seared, word-perfect, into their memory.

Liz Kearney: 'Putting the merry into Christmas' 

It all started innocently enough when he said he would bring a tree home.

Liz Kearney: 'Michelle's patience gives her real power' 

Hear that? It's the sound of the last nail being hammered into the coffin of the 'Lean In' era. The hammering is being done by the glorious Michelle Obama, who's in the middle of a mega-watt book tour to promote her autobiography 'Becoming', and grabbing headlines wherever she goes with her heart-stopping honesty about love, marriage, careers and children.

Liz Kearney: 'Time waits for no woman - even in France' 

If you can't face another round of Christmas drinks looking as old as you actually are, and dream of nothing more than looking as young as you did a few years ago, I urge you to seek out the newly published book by French author Mylène Desclaux, 'Why French Women Feel Young at 50'.

Liz Kearney: 'We’re far from perfect as a nation. But when it comes to being welcoming, few other countries come close' 

I once worked with a lovely restaurant manager called Kevin whose motto at work – and in life – was: “It’s nice to be nice, it costs nothing.”

'It doesn't matter if your child lives on a farm in Donegal or a mansion in Donnybrook - everyone should get child benefit' 

SOME things are, or at least ought to be, sacrosanct.

Liz Kearney: Jastine Valdez’s murder leaves all of us looking back over our shoulders 

You’re most likely to be murdered by someone you know, we are regularly informed by domestic violence charities and, indeed, the statistics bear this out. A 2017 report from Women’s Aid found 88pc of women murdered in Ireland were killed by a man they knew, most often a partner or an ex-partner.

Liz Kearney The French savour every delicious bite – but they too are losing the obesity battle 

THE endless battle of the national bulge got a shot in the arm this week with the welcome arrival of the sugar tax. Anything which spurs big business to cut the calories in their over-sweet products is welcome, as far as I’m concerned. But will it go far enough? I’m not sure that a few extra pennies on the price of a can of Coke is going to put Professor Donal O’Shea out of business any time soon.

Liz Kearney: It's frightening that there's no alternative to queuing up for homes - and a lifetime of wage slavery 

Every generation has its own housing horror story to tell. Unfortunately, by the time you’ve recovered from the fright and are ready to turn your one-time nightmare tale into an amusing scare-at-bedtime yarn, the next generation isn’t interested in hearing it.

Comment: Jennifer Aniston's a hypocrite ­ and so are you 

Picture the scene: Jennifer Aniston is on a cover shoot for a glossy magazine.

It's not just women who have a problem with rape 

Thanks to the searing eloquence of the unnamed victim in the now notorious Stanford rape case, this weekend many of us are a tiny bit closer to understanding the devastating, long-lasting effects of sexual assault.

The system helps working mums - but we pay a price 

There are few things in life as depressing as the sight of two females arguing about how best to be a modern woman, while the lads sit back and watch.

A quick redesign at the Barbie factory will do little to solve the problem of self-esteem 

'Yes, but which Barbie is the hottest?' He was half-joking, but the colleague who took one look at Mattel's three new-look dolls - the tall one, the petite one and the curvy one - was simply asking the question that the iconic American toy has always demanded we ask of her.

Mums are amazing, dads are amazing, but advertising execs need to cop themselves on 

This week, insurance company GloHealth launched its 'Mothers are Amazing' campaign. The TV ad features a busy working mum who is smilingly devoted to her children. A woman who, as the voiceover has it, is "up before dawn, to get the breakfast, to clear, to work and tend and play. A woman who works all day and returns home to put in another shift and then takes the time to...

Liz Kearney: the digital disaster zone 

How did I end up a stranger in my own home? I'm alone in the sitting room, surrounded by a pile of remote controls I don't know how to use, shouting at the TV in tears because I can't even turn on The Late Late Show (I don't even like The Late Late Show).

High time we called a halt to navel-gazing feminism 

Question: If you are not a feminist in 2015, what does that make you? A sexist pig? A misogynist? Or just someone so tired of seeing the F-word attached to everything from serious sexual violence to light-hearted wolf-whistling that you'd gladly torch your copy of 'The Female Eunuch', rip up 'The Second Sex' and stamp vigorously on 'How To Be A Woman'?

Liz Kearney: How much longer is this rugby thing going to go on for? 

How much longer is this rugby thing going to go on for? I ask because I'm considering removing myself to a place without TVs, radios or any newspapers, where I'll be able to enjoy a sport-free life for the remainder of my tournament while the rest of the country carries on losing its head over an oval ball.

The tragedy of the children who left and who will never come home 

It is 15 summers ago now, but I still remember the tears at Dublin Airport.

The real trouble with girls is that they can be horrible bullies when they smell blood 

On Thursday, the National Women's Council of Ireland hosted a successful conference in Dublin called 'Feminist Futures'.

One short statement has offended quite a lot of mums 

From a mum's point of view, it's difficult to know which aspect of this scandal is the most frightening - the fact that there is so much lead in our water supply that it could harm your baby, or the fact that the HSE's response to this was to glibly point out that actually, we should all be breastfeeding anyway.

The straight man... Pat Kenny 

Within minutes of sitting down with Pat Kenny for what is supposed to be an in-depth, face-to-face interview with the broadcaster ahead of his new UTV Ireland show, he's calling the shots.

What makes Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy so enduring? 

"Doyle's books are credited with giving Dubliners a confidence about the way they spoke and how they saw themselves. And his influence was far-reaching."

The notion that becoming a mother gives you any special insights just isn't true 

Once, years ago, long before I became a mum, I was cooing over a photo of a cute, fluffy white kitten and trying to persuade a male colleague at the newspaper where I worked to put the picture in the paper.

'Fifty Shades of Grey' - a movie where misogyny never looked so mesmerising 

There is a scene in 'Fifty Shades of Grey', this weekend's box-office smash, in which Anastasia, the ingenue who has fallen prey to the sexual charms of billionaire philanthropist and part-time sadist Christian Grey, tries to call the whole thing off.

Into the wild - Ireland's first nature kindergarten 

If you go down to the woods today, and those woods happen to be in the grounds of the beautiful Killruddery House in Bray, Co Wicklow, you'll probably trip right over a gang of pre-schoolers haring around their tree-filled wonderland.

You may be a best-selling writer, but never forget that you're still fat and ugly 

IMAGINE, for a second, that you are a best-selling novelist, a household name whose work has been translated into countless languages and adapted into a global TV hit.

'I just told him I loved him, no matter what': Two Irish mothers on the moment their children revealed they were gay 

When Leo Varadkar told his mother he was gay, she said she just wanted him to be happy. Two mums tell how they felt when their sons came out

The golden age of podcasts: Where next for radio after its ‘Serial’ success? 

As a resolute night owl, late-night radio has always been my best friend. And lately, during solitary nightfeeds with our newborn baby, it was literally my only friend.

Century of memories: Irish people turning 100 in 2015 

Liz Kearney asks five women about the milestone birthday — and the key to a long life

Sale of the century: why do we women love a bargain? 

Every year, newspapers publish photos of shoppers careening through the doors of the nation's department stores, as the post-Christmas sales begin with a bang.

Would you dress your tot like Prince George? 

Prince George looks very cute in his Christmas picture, but his retro outfit for the big day isn’t to everyone’s taste. Two writers argue the case for and against the fashion choice...

I let my baby cry so we could all get a good night's sleep - was I wrong? 

Sleep deprivation. Two words guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of any new parent.

Don't like mothers breastfeeding in public? Then don't look 

Be honest with yourself: what do you really think when you see a mother breastfeeding in a public place?

Campbell's coup...making off with the Turner Prize 

No art award is more coveted, more controversial, or more criticised than the Turner Prize.

AA Gill was a bit harsh, not everyone agrees with him - Darina 

HE'S the world's most feared food critic, and his caustic critiques have been known to push some chefs over the edge.And AA Gill's recent visit to Cork has left a bitter sweet taste with two of the area's most renowned restaurants.

Liz Kearney: 10 things you should never say to a pregnant woman 

Tom Parlon caused a stir at the weekend when he suggested that Lucinda Creighton might be ready to quit politics simply because she's having a baby.

Michelle: it's my party and I'll make you dance if I want to... 

Michelle Obama's 50th birthday celebrations have got off to an inauspicious start. The First Lady is planning a bash in the White House on Saturday -- and the invites have succeeded in making one of the most eagerly anticipated Washington parties sound about as exciting as bingo night at the old-folks home.

High-heels? No, put your runners on 

Confused by Michelle Obama's birthday invite? We've parsed it for you, so that if you get one in the post this week, you'll know exactly what to do

True rite of passage because we knew no different 

Our first reaction on hearing about teenagers as young as 14 getting drunk is usually one of horrified moral panic.

So just how long should you take for maternity leave? 

Broadcaster Claire Byrne is back at her microphone just ten weeks after having her first baby, a snippet of news that many new mums will find impressive and terrifying in equal measure.

Ireland 1914: suffragettes, ice-skating in the park and a country on the brink of war 

'Egg donation enabled me to have the family I had longed for' 

For 10 long years, Sarah and her husband had been trying to start a family, with no success.

How to make it through your first pregnant Christmas 

Christmas can be a bit of an endurance test at the best of times: aching feet from the last-minute downtown dash to buy the final pressies, the indigestion caused by demolishing an entire tin of Roses while supine on the couch watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, not to mention the hangovers caused by three too many at the office party.

Liz Kearney: Now she's off her pedestal, Nigella's more powerful than ever before 

NO ONE envies Nigella now, say the headlines. She's no longer the Domestic Goddess. Her brand is irrevocably damaged, her budding US career thrown into disarray by a deluge of damaging headlines.

Book review: The Rising of Bella Casey - Mary Morrissy 

Fiction The Rising of Bella Casey Mary Morrissy Brandon Books, €11.99, pbk, 352 pages. Available with free P&P on www.kennys.ie or by calling 091 709350

Day-to-day stress-soothing tips 

1 Deal with it now: Don't wait until you're overwhelmed to tackle stress. Learn how to cope when you're well, and you might find that stress never gets the better of you.

Make stress your best friend 

If you've always believed that stress is bad for your health, Kelly McGonigal has news for you. In a TED talk that's become an online phenomenon, McGonigal, a health psychologist at Stanford University, urges us to stop thinking of stress as a heart-attack causing bogeyman.

The woman who wants to protect your fertility 

As first-time mums continue to get older, fertility clinics continue to get busier. That's a poignant consequence of women postponing starting a family until their careers have taken off, or until they've found that elusive Mr Right.

'Amy Winehouse appealed to something in me... You could hear the pain in her voice' 

What is your favourite... MOVIE?

Forget alcohol – plastic and traffic are the new 'threats' to pregnant women 

Pregnant? Then you're probably having a bad week. First, mums-to-be learned that maternity benefits will be slashed by 30 quid a week – cheers Enda! – and now they can add air pollution and plastic to the ever-lengthening list of things to fret about during pregnancy.

Coping with the Budget when you can't do your sums 

There's a name for it: arithmophobia. I'm a lifelong sufferer: I was bad at maths at school, and today, many years after struggling through my last school exam, anything number-related still has the ability to make me break out in a cold sweat.

'When I looked at the bankers who fed the bubble. . . I felt physically ill' 

Big decisions hit the little people hardest, and the bank guarantee was one hell of a big decision. For the citizens sleeping soundly in their beds the night the politicians decided – on their behalf – to keep the banks afloat whatever the cost, years of uneconomic uncertainty lay ahead, not least in the housing market where investors, families and young people alike were badly stung.

An Irish family saga tells story of past 50 years 

Mount Merrion is the debut novel by Irish poet Justin Quinn and it is a mesmerising one, a deceptively simple family saga spanning more than 40 years.

Can you stand by a pathetic man and still keep your dignity? 

The wedding photos are from a fairytale: the tall, willowy princess in the shimmering custom-made Oscar de la Renta gown, jet-black hair pulled back in a chignon, rose-red lips fixed in a broad smile, while beside her, the adoring husband clasps his hands round her tiny waist. His grip is so tight he looks as if he will never let her go.

Cystic Fibrosis: 'We were best friends – but we never met' 

Eleanor Walsh and Jillian McNulty were the closest of friends. They were the same age and they shared a wicked sense of humour. They were so devoted to one another, they were like sisters, and Jillian was utterly devastated when six months ago, Eleanor died at the age of just 37.

McGinley Sr: 'I had a heart attack on the golf course' 

There's nowhere Michael McGinley would rather have been on a sunny afternoon than on the golf course at Dunfanaghy in his native Donegal.

Angelina's breast surgery bombshell brought it all back to me 

When the Hollywood star opened up about her double mastectomy in a newspaper article this week, memories came flooding back to Margaret Keating of her own experience. She talks to Liz Kearney

Liz Kearney: Food porn – the addiction we're all comfortable with 

THERE are many ways that fellow diners can irritate: chewing noisily, talking with their mouths full, or – my own personal bugbear – eating off their knives.

Whose child is it anyway? Surrogacy and the State 

Surrogacy is an increasingly popular option in Ireland for would-be parents who, for whatever reason, cannot have a child of their own 'naturally'.

FIVE GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE 

Every cloud, as the saying goes, has a silver lining, and if the world ends tomorrow, it won't all be bad. Here are five reasons to be happy about the apocalypse:

'I'm 26 and I'm relieved I've had a double mastectomy' 

Deirdre Carolan discovered she had a cancer-causing gene.

Outgrowing the mark of a teen rebel 

It's hard not to feel desperately sorry for Kimberley Vlaminck, the 21-year -old Belgian youngster who has lived to regret having 56 stars tattooed across her face.

The French paradox 

The push for nutritional labels suggests knowledge is power in the battle of the bulge -- yet our svelte Gallic cousins haven't a clue what's in their food, says Liz Kearney

The Manhattan diet: The secret of staying slim in the city 

Apart from being glamorous, rail-thin, celebrity clothes-horses, what do Sarah Jessica Parker, Anna Wintour, and Julianne Moore have in common?

Parenting: ' I was told I'd never have kids - but science gave me Mae' 

Embryologist Kathryn Berrisford spent her working days in a lab at a fertility clinic, making babies for couples who had struggled to conceive naturally. But when she went home, she continued dealing with infertility -- her own.

Could your marriage survive adultery? 

If any wife had cause to walk out on a marriage it would be Mary Archer. Her husband, the best-selling author and disgraced MP Jeffrey Archer, has cheated on her more than once.

Crossing street was a crowning achievement 

IT may be that trying to cross the Liffey bridges at the same time as Queen Elizabeth wasn't one of my brighter ideas, but naively I thought that even such a momentous event as the arrival of the British monarch would not impede people going about their daily business on foot. Silly, silly me.

Liz Kearney: Side line 

IT'S a train journey I've taken thousands of times, so there was nothing to divert my attention from the newspaper as the Dart rattled out of the city centre en route to Bray. Instead I pored over acres of newsprint, trying to get my head around the grim details of a deeply troubling week.

How one woman made online shopping the height of fashion 

Imagine a shop where every new dress, from every leading designer, from every new collection, was laid out on an endless rail in front of you, clearly visible from all angles and shown off to its best advantage.

My own Tour de Kerry 

Cycling is having something of a moment these days. Whether it's the Green Party supporter out saving the planet on his trusty mountain bike, lycra-clad Lance Armstrong lookalikes haring up mountains after a day at the office, or the It girl trundling through Dublin 4 on a quaint set of wheels, they've all got one thing in common: they're part of the bikegeist.

Why that quiet drink at home can play havoc with your health 

Peter Dunne loves wine. After all, it's his business. As a director of Mitchell and Sons Wine Merchants, it's his bread and butter -- as well as a lifelong passion.

Bagging a fake 

Some women are getting their fashion fixes from counterfeit goods. But can they ever be as good as the real thing? Liz Kearney reports

Size zero is dead, long live size 14 

If Vogue magazine is the bible for thin, glamorous, fashion addicts, then French Vogue is the bible for even thinner, even more glamorous Parisienne fashion addicts.

THE SCIENCE BIT ... 

My shock when my friend gave up Facebook 

An email arrived from my friend Lisa the other day. It was short and to the point. "Hello everyone," it read. "I am giving Facebook a break for a while and have deleted my account. See you all in the real world."

Prague: Time to Czech it out 

Some years ago, I suggested to a friend that we go on a mini-break to Prague. She pulled a face. "What would I want to do that for?" she asked. "If I wanted to be harassed by drunken stags, I'd spend a night in Temple Bar."

Prague - Need to know 

Getting There

'My bedtime breathing was so bad, my wife thought I was a goner' 

Each morning, Arthur O'Hara woke up, ate breakfast, and got into his car to drive the short distance from his Leixlip home to his job at Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park. He'd had the same routine for ages -- but a few years ago, something changed.

Cheers -- I'm three weeks off the booze 

TS Eliot reckoned that April was the cruellest month, but that can only mean he'd never spent January in Ireland. If he'd had to contend with the combined challenges of snow, ice, torrential downpours, howling gales, a post-festive hangover and a bank account bled dry by an excess of December parties, he'd quickly have conceded that April wasn't so bad by comparison.

'I always practised safe sex, so I couldn't believe it when the doctor told me I was HIV positive' 

Just four short years ago, Rachel's world was as near to perfect, she reckoned, as it was possible to get. She was 28, loving her job in a big internet firm and best of all, thanks to a tidy lump sum from a previous redundancy package, had just put down a deposit on her first house.

True life: Teens living with cancer 

James Farrelly remembers the day he turned 16 like it was just yesterday, but not for the reasons you might expect.

'I knew I'd made a huge mistake... just months after our wedding' 

It isn't for life, you know, said Peaches Geldof, as she tied the knot at the ripe old age of 19 to guitarist Max Drummey.

I've defied the doctors' odds but I've had a good life -- and now I'm ready to die 

The first thing that greets you in the hallway of Gretta Mahony's neat four-bed suburban semi is the happy chatter of her grandson Josef as he plays with his grandad in the living room.

How my paintings have kept me out of prison 

Sandra Pepper looks much younger than her 41 years. Dressed in skinny blue jeans, a fashionable, stripy blue T-shirt and pristine white T-bar pumps, her wavy hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail as she pores over the paintings she's completed in her new art class.

Male anorexia: 'My body was crying out for food' 

Like most young men, Si Ng loved his food. When it came to doing the weekly shop, he'd spend hours in Tesco, scanning the shelves for his favourite products before returning home to carefully stock his kitchen cupboards with pasta, tinned foods and plenty of sweet treats, such as biscuits and chocolate.

Real Life: Hooked on fishing therapy 

Casting for Recovery's healing retreats bring breast cancer survivors together to share their experiences

Real Life: Art of healing that lets old talents blossom 

MARY O'Brien is seated at an easel in the Anna Gaynor unit at Our Lady's Hospice in Harold's Cross, Dublin. Slowly, and with a shaking hand, she uses a delicate brush to bring a dash of red colour to the petals that dot her canvas.

Stockholm syndrome 

With the Eurovision Song Contest taking place tonight, Liz Kearney paid homage to previous winners ABBA by taking a trip to Sweden’s capital city, where the group’s Benny Andersson has a hotel.

Stockholm syndrome 

If you've never suffered from an inferiority complex before, a short trip to Stockholm might be just the thing to bring one on. Mine starts in the arrivals hall of Arlanda airport. The walls are covered in photos of smiling Swedish celebrities welcoming us to their country. Neither I nor my boyfriend recognise any of them. He has bad eyesight and never recognises anyone, but I am an avid reader of Heat magazine, Hello! and Grazia and I simply don't expect my celebrity- spotting skills to be defeated in such a fashion.

Hospices: Very special places 

AS Walter Walsh drove his wife Maureen through the imposing gates to Our Lady's Hospice in Harold's Cross, Dublin, he knew in his heart that she hadn't long to live. A few short months after her initial diagnosis, Maureen was dying from the effects of an inoperable brain tumour. She was just 39.

'I didn't know about anorexia. But my weight plummeted, I was depressed and I even attempted suicide' 

If you had met Marie Devine in her twenties, you would have encountered an outgoing, chatty mum-of-two who loved her kids and her work as a nurse.

Age is just a number 

Growing old is inevitable, but there is nothing to be afraid of. These young-at-heart senior citizens are living proof that there's a silver lining for most in the golden years

Bone up on dairy and get fit 

AT 23 years of age, Ann Manley felt on top of the world. She was enjoying the hard work and busy social life of her third year at medical school and she'd managed to successfully battle an eating disorder that had plagued her late teenage years.

Power of positive thinking 

FOR more than two years, Gemma* and her fiancé had been trying for a baby without success.

The importance of play time 

MOST parents don't need to be told that their kids need time to play. It seems obvious to say that kids need time to simply be themselves -- and, yet, increased academic pressures, changing family set-ups and the fast pace of modern living have all placed an enormous strain on the time we spend with our kids -- and how we fill it.

Roche furious at 'lethargic work practices' and 'buck passing' NRA 'has no control' over Glen of the Downs project 

A DAIL committee has been told that the National Roads Authority has 'a total lack of control' over the multi-million euro N11 road building project through Kilmacanogue and Glen of the Downs.

Aquarium management defend against criticism Sealife Centre must shape up 

THE owners of Bray's seafront aquarium are to be asked to clean up their act, after their premises was branded 'derelict' at a meeting of the Town Council.

Sirens' speedy charity drive 

A QUARTET of would-be Michael Schumachers are gearing up for their very first race this summer.

IN BROAD DAYLIGHT IN BRAY'S MAIN ST. 

A MIDDLE aged man was mugged at syringe point by thugs who bundled him off Bray's Main Street and robbed him in broad daylight this week.