menu_open Columnists

TheJournal

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Mass exodus: Why I and hundreds of solicitors have quit criminal legal aid

The justice minister says some solicitors want to maximise their earnings, but solicitor Kate McGee argues the new fees model is ill-considered.

latest 2

TheJournal

Kate McGee

Surrealing in the Years: Housing minister's war on targets comes for homeless children

Ah, sure targets only remind us how rubbish it all is anyway.

latest 3

TheJournal

Carl Kinsella

The fuel crisis changed something. The question now is whether it sticks

A new survey of Irish drivers reveals a dramatic shift in EV sentiment since last spring’s fuel protests.

latest 6

TheJournal

Paddy Comyn

Gavan Reilly: 7 PMs in 10 years show Starmergeddon might be the new norm

Our political stats stan Gavan on the worrying trend of government by opinion poll.

previous day 10

TheJournal

Gavan Reilly

Stars and Swipes: JD Vance is revealing himself as a shapeshifter with no fixed principles

In his latest memoir, the vice president of the US attempts to explain his religious epiphany, but instead reveals a politician in endless...

previous day 10

TheJournal

Marion McKeone

Opinion: A whole of government approach is key to addressing drug use, addiction and recovery

As we implement a health led response to drug use in Ireland, we must be careful not to assume health interventions alone can solve the addiction...

wednesday 7

TheJournal

Dawn Russell

Thirty years on: What Veronica Guerin can still teach us about dogged journalism

Crime reporter Veronica Guerin was murdered in 1996. Lise Hand reflects on her friend’s enduring legacy and what it can teach us about journalism at...

wednesday 6

TheJournal

Lise Hand

An Irishman melting in Spain: Life in a 40°C city is no joke

Madrid’s latest heatwave is more than a test of endurance, it’s a glimpse into Europe’s increasingly dangerous future, writes Cormac Breen.

wednesday 10

TheJournal

Cormac Breen

Ivana Bacik: Religious orders must now be compelled to pay redress for child abuse

Appeals to Christian morality have not worked; it’s time these institutions paid their dues and were held to account.

wednesday 10

TheJournal

Ivana Bacik

Kelly Earley: Social media bans for teens make the internet a worse place for all of us

Keeping teenagers off social sounds like a noble pursuit, but it risks a drop in standards for all other internet users.

23.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Kelly Earley

Dogs and the heat: A complete guide to keeping your furry friends safe in hot weather

The breeds most at risk, the signs of heatstroke and the simple steps that could save your dog’s life, by Suzi Walsh.

23.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Suzi Walsh

European Parliament president: This is Ireland’s moment to take the lead for Europe

Roberta Metsola visits Dublin today, ahead of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

23.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Roberta Metsola

Body of Evidence: Hearing loss and brain health - what is the science telling us?

Dr Catherine Conlon looks at the research linking hearing loss to brain health, heart disease and social isolation, while there are promising new...

22.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Dr Catherine Conlon

Raising them right: What gifts, if any, do teachers actually want this June?

How much should you spend, who should you buy for, and do teachers really need or want a gift as the school term ends?

22.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Niamh Oreilly

Money Diaries: A clerical officer on €32K trying to save for a mortgage deposit

This week, our reader is trying to save but finding that life often just gets in the way.

21.06.2026 10

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

Lynn Ruane: When eviction becomes part of Ireland's housing policy, everyone loses

Housing insecurity spreads harm through communities like an epidemic. In the midst of record homelessness, policies should prioritise keeping people...

21.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Lynn Ruane -

Elon Musk platformed: The world's first trillionaire and the poverty of values

Bobby McDonagh argues that Elon Musk’s growing fortune has been matched by his amplification of far-right voices, raising questions about wealth,...

20.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Bobby McDonagh

Small cars are cool: We just forgot.

Maybe the arrival of genuinely affordable small electric cars will remind people that fitting neatly into the world is not a failure.

20.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Paddy Comyn

Ukrainian therapist in Ireland: Trauma follows people wherever they go, but therapy helps

Ukrainian therapist Liudmyla Nakonechna reflects on displacement, the trauma of conflict and helping fellow refugees rebuild their lives in a foreign...

19.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Liudmyla Nakonechna

Larry Donnelly: The US-Iran deal raises more questions than answers

Our columnist wonders if the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran is worth the one page it’s written on.

19.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Larry Donnelly

The case against the West: Just who enabled Gaza’s destruction?

Fintan Drury’s new book, Genocide: Sponsoring the Destruction of Gaza, is out today. In it, he argues that the scale of Israel’s destruction of...

18.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Fintan Drury

Gavan Reilly: 1,854 days between acknowledging the problem with short-term lets and fixing it

With acute rental shortages and impact on housing stock, why has it taken Ireland so long to act?

18.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Gavan Reilly

Maternity medical negligence cases: The adversarial legal process fails families and taxpayers

Children affected by birth-related injuries need lifelong support, not to have their families dragged through Ireland’s cruel and lengthy claims...

18.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Dr Suzanne Crowe

Stars and Swipes: New York is having a moment. The Big Apple is back

A long-awaited Knicks championship and the energy of its new mayor Mamdani have unleashed a wave of civic joy across New York.

17.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Marion McKeone

Beyond the decks: The movement that opened up Irish electronic music

Ireland’s dance music scene looks very different today thanks to the community organisers and artists who helped to make it more inclusive.

17.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Kate Butler

What will your spending look like this summer? Would you like to keep a Money Diary for us?

We want to hear from readers on how they will be handling their finances this summer.

16.06.2026 10

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

Beyond Bloomsday: Where Joyce met Nora, and other Dublin stories we ignore

Dublin’s streets hold plaques marking remarkable moments in history, yet most of us pass them by without a second glance, writes Lise Hand.

16.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Lise Hand

Raising them right: Is it time to retire the phrase 'hands-on dad'?

Praising fathers for doing basic parenting may have made sense once, but now it risks distracting from the invisible mental load carried by mothers.

15.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Niamh o'reilly

Money Diaries: An engineering director on €75K living in Co Wicklow

This week, our reader is commuting to Dublin for work and spending quality time with his daughter.

14.06.2026 10

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

Beyond burial and cremation: How Ireland is rethinking remembrance

As cremation becomes increasingly common, new questions are emerging about where and how we honour the dead, writes Dr Brian Casey.

14.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Dr brian casey

A puff of smoke: I caught my teenager vaping and lost my mind

Parents are often blamed when their children start vaping, but these products are engineered to appeal to young people, writes Margaret Lynch.

13.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Margaret Lynch

The greatest cars ever to grace the big screen

Cinema strips a car back to its most essential quality, and decades on, these cars still do it.

13.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Paddy Comyn

Gill Perdue: How the injury, recovery and resilience of my past have inspired my new book

From childhood surgery to a broken leg and caring for her father with Parkinson’s, the author and dancer drew on her own life experiences for her...

11.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Gill Perdue

Stars and Swipes: Ivanka Trump's island dream and the Balkan backlash

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s vision for a private Adriatic paradise has unleashed allegations of cronyism, displacement and foreign influence.

11.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Marion Mckeone

Gavan Reilly: Can TDs criticise double-jobbing consultants when many hold down second careers?

One in six TDs have a separate role alongside being a public rep – and that presumes we don’t view ‘landlord’ as a job.

11.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Gavan reilly

Artificial intelligence and humanity: AI is here, now we have to decide what to do with it

Ireland is embracing artificial intelligence faster than many other countries. The question now is what kind of AI future we want to build.

10.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Dr siobhán o’sullivan

Wish you were here: Everyone up for the World Cup of global dreams and Irish regrets?

In a new column, Lise Hand looks at Ireland’s World Cup memories, our missed opportunities and why Irish football fans are already dreaming of...

10.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Lise Hand

Feeder's Digest: Another series of MasterChef UK has come and gone, did any of us watch?

Anna Haugh and Grace Dent may be welcome additions to the UK offering, but new judges alone can’t rescue a format that’s been sleepwalking for years.

10.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Patrick hanlon

The childcare barrier: The lack of options meant I had to turn down my dream job

Amy Greer Murphy reflects on the career opportunities she has missed out on, because suitable childcare simply wasn’t available.

10.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Amy greer murphy

The World Cup and domestic violence: When the final whistle of a match brings fear

Major football tournaments unite millions in celebration, but they can also coincide with a rise in violence against women behind closed doors, writes...

09.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Karol Balfe

Kelly Earley: How giving up alcohol strengthened my connection to the LGBTQ+ community

Alcohol and nights out have long been central to Irish queer culture, but stepping away from drinking altogether left me feeling more connected to my...

09.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Kelly earley

Forgotten people: Palestine's Bedouin face forced displacement as Israel advances its E1 master plan

The proposed expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank threatens Bedouin communities, any hope of a two-state solution and the credibility of...

09.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Brendan ciarán browne & bana abu zuluf

Raising them right: From percentiles to tummy time, the trials of the public health nurse visit

For many new parents, public health nurses are a source of comfort, but for others, they bring stress and a reminder of how overstretched public...

08.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Niamh o'reilly

Dr Paul Davis: AI didn't break universities, it exposed them

Universities are panicking about AI, but the real question is whether traditional essays ever measured genuine critical thinking in the first place.

08.06.2026 30

TheJournal

Dr Paul Davis

Money Diaries: A self-employed engineering consultant on €120K living in Co Galway

This week, our reader is juggling life at home and at work, and keeping spending under wraps.

07.06.2026 10

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

Ireland on fire: Climate breakdown and wildfires go hand in hand, and we're woefully unprepared

With hill fires devastating habitats in Ireland in dry spells, we need tougher enforcement, restored peatlands and a new approach to managing our...

07.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Pádraic Fogarty

Great Irish road trips: A new book guides you through the best routes to travel in Ireland

In an extract from her new book, Nicola Brady shares a spectacular one-day drive through Louth and the Cooley Peninsula, discovering ancient sites,...

06.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Nicola brady

The scrappage scheme: Who will be the biggest winners?

About 30,000 cars aged 13 or older were traded into garages across Ireland in 2025 alone.

06.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Paddy Comyn

Confessions of a curtain twitcher: Why are we so fascinated by other people's problems?

Whether it’s a parenting forum, an advice column or a family feud, other people’s problems can be impossible to ignore, writes Gwen Loughman.

05.06.2026 10

TheJournal

Gwen Loughman

Larry Donnelly: The Senate battlegrounds that could shape an indifferent Trump's final years

As Trump’s popularity wanes, three crucial Senate races could reveal whether his grip on the Republican Party remains an electoral asset or a...

05.06.2026 20

TheJournal

Larry Donnelly