Ciara Kelly

Dublin

Columnist at Irish Independent

Articles

Ciara Kelly: Children are out of their depth with smartphones in exactly the same way they’d be out of their depth with booze

1 week ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

Smartphone bans on kids are failing to equip children for healthy use of technology, according to a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, but are being applied “despite a lack of evidence on their effects”. This only goes to show that experts and evidence are still entirely capable of missing the big picture when it comes to how they assess things.
Ciara Kelly: Walking the Camino, I’m reminded of how far I’ve come from from the day that the pain in my hips left me crying in the street

2 weeks ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

Greetings from your foreign correspondent. I’m writing to you this week from the Camino in northern Spain where I’m inching my way one step at a time towards Santiago de Compostela. I love walking, as many of you know, and this year I’ll hopefully enter the gorgeous medieval city, triumphant on day 100 of 100 days of walking — my pet campaign to get people moving to whatever extent they can. There’s something special about a walking holiday.
Ciara Kelly: This year’s Leaving Cert students are at a massive disadvantage. There should be uproar about the legacy of grade inflation

3 weeks ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

Is your child doing their Leaving Cert in June? Probably a bit stressed working towards the endgame? The whole house on tenterhooks? It’s a very tough exam, lots of us still have dreams about it. On the upside, at least it’s fair in ways that continuous assessment in the era of AI isn’t. At least that blank sheet of exam paper — that is the route to college for most kids — is a level playing field. Except this year, it’s not.
Ciara Kelly: I’m glad to see the pushback on Maura Higgins ‘the homewrecker’ - the days of blaming the woman are over

1 month ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

No one can be ‘stolen’ from anyone else unless they want to be. So why are we still viewing men who have affairs as blameless while labelling thewomen they cheat with as homewreckers? Homewrecker. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that term applied to a man. If certain nouns are gendered like slut or b**ch, homewrecker is definitely female. Although, you don’t hear it too much any more, thankfully.
Ciara Kelly: If I had a chance to meet my younger, headstrong self for coffee, here are the six things I’d say to her

1 month ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

You may have seen the ‘I Met My Younger Self for Coffee’ trend on social media of late. Basically, it features people talking about what they’d say to their younger, generally messier selves, if they met them today with the benefit of age and hindsight — what reassurance or advice they wish they could have given. It’s a fascinating idea. I’d absolutely love to meet young Ciara — maybe in her late teens or twenties.
Ciara Kelly: Turning James Bond into a woman makes just as little sense as creating a male version of Bridget Jones - and I’m a feminist!

1 month ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

So Amazon MGM has taken over the James Bond franchise causing some consternation about where the quintessential British spy might go from here. There are fears there could be some rubbishy TV spin-off along the Disney Star Wars line or, horror of horrors, he might even be played by an American!Now I have no issue with that, not least because I’m not British — but also look at Renée Zellweger and how well she plays Bridget Jones! You would have no idea she wasn’t English, if you didn’t know.
Ciara Kelly: The rise in kids missing school, causing bullying and isolation, is a direct result of lockdowns and our leaders need to own up to that

1 month ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

New Education Minister Helen McEntee says she’s worried about the stark rise in primary and post primary children not attending school regularly. Twenty-five percent of primary school kids are now missing more than 20 days of school a year and that rises shockingly to nearly half — 42pc — when you look at children in disadvantaged areas. These absentee rates have essentially doubled since pre-pandemic times.
Ciara Kelly: The illiberal liberals attempting to silence or cancel anyone they disagree with is only fuelling extremes on the other side

2 months ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

I’ve always believed that free speech wasafundamental principle of being a liberal. From when I first became aware of such things, I thought tolerance for views — even ones you disagreed with — was right and part of what defined liberalism. But I grew up in a more conservative Ireland. Back then liberal views were marginalised, dismissed and derided.
Ciara Kelly: When you understand that happiness is, at least partly, within your control, you can actually make the choice to be happier

2 months ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

Did you know that the Irish are the most optimistic people in Europe? Yes, in a recent study we topped the poll. Admittedly only 49pc of us are feeling it but that’s still more than ANYWHERE else! Apparently it generally breaks down as 80pc of people are naturally optimistic, 10pc are realistic — although how can you be sure about this? — and 10pc of us are pessimistic, which is a tough road as that’s very hard on your mental health.
Ciara Kelly: We think kicking Israel and data centres is no big deal but are we gambling with Ireland’s economic future?

2 months ago | independent.ie | Ciara Kelly

We need to be very careful here. In the golden age of America First, a small open economy should remember that diplomacy and charm are key in international relations. We used to know we were a minnow, and delighted at punching above our weight. But over the past 40 years as prosperity grew, there are generations now who don’t remember the poverty we once had. We became confident about our place on the world stage.

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