Topical-Opinion

Twig-sized models in skimpy bikinis relishing giant bites of hamburger. A lovely young woman who looks to be about 18, clinging seductively to a man easily in his late 50s to early 60s. A Victoria's Secret “Angel” languishing on a bed,…

In this increasingly tribalist environment, trying to understand the other side’s point of view is mocked as being defeatist to whatever cause you happen to favour. There are those on the Left who would assume that one is advocating…

I was 15-years-old the first time I saw a Holocaust survivor speak; she said that “we must never allow this to happen again.” Soon after, I went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. These were experiences of…

In the immediate aftermath of the Belfast case, the Irish Government announced plans to roll out consent classes in primary and secondary schools, and develop a new system for ‘vulnerable victims’ in sensitive cases. Underlying the well…

What used to be the exception is now the rule: women work. In fact, in today's world, many women have become the primary wage earners in their household, either because they earn more than their spouse, as 49% of women now do, or because…

So you’ve lost a parent at that weird stage in your life. You’re not a child, but you still live at home. The state won’t care for you, but you haven’t got a career or your own spouse or family to care for you either. Any sentiments you get…

There was a time when Presidents really were tough; they went to battle in the military, exchanged fire in duels, and fought—with fists—to defend their honour. This, really, wasn’t so long ago. And then there is the 45th President of the…

One of the tree branches I always grabbed hold of while failing to get sober is possibility; that there are so many successful, creative, incredible people who have gotten sober. There was the late writer David Foster Wallace, who got clean…

The 8th Amendment was enshrined in law only months before I was conceived to my 23 year old mother. I often wonder what possessed my young liberal, atheist Irish parents to start a family in that oppressive atmosphere of 1984. In the space…

This series I’ve been writing over the last year concerns the curiosity to understand why we respond to art in whatever form it takes. We become curious as to why we are affected by art and seek out reasons. Curiosity leads to us to…