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4 days ago | 
extra.ie | Colm McGuirk
A growing number of Irish companies are providing ‘pet-ernity leave’ for their animal-loving workers. And those that haven’t been given paws for thought with the arrival of the inaugural doggie Oscars – Petmania’s Ruby Heart Awards – which will honour pet-friendly workplaces among other categories.
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4 days ago | 
extra.ie | Colm McGuirk
Homes and businesses in rural Ireland are significantly more likely to be hit by electricity blackouts than those in cities, Extra.ie can reveal. The ESB Longford region – which also includes parts of Leitrim and Roscommon – is the worst place in the country per head of population for power cuts, data gleaned from documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) confirms.
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4 days ago | 
extra.ie | Colm McGuirk
Pop singer Lyra admits she still gets ‘upset’ when she is trolled by malicious ‘keyboard warriors’ on social media. The ‘Bandon Beyoncé’ features in the first episode of RTÉ’s Uncharted with Ray Goggins this week, paired with none other than former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
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4 days ago | 
evoke.ie | Colm McGuirk
***Warning sensitive content***Alan Hawe wrote that he 'enjoyed' killing his wife Clodagh and their three children in a letter written in between their murders and his own suicide. Extracts from the 2016 letter are included in a book written by Clodagh's younger sister, Jacqueline Connolly.
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4 days ago | 
extra.ie | Colm McGuirk
RTÉ has to be careful that ‘it doesn’t after 27 years become a middle-class organisation’ when Joe Duffy departs the national broadcaster, the station’s former commercial director has said. Duffy announced this week he will finish up on Liveline when his contract expires at the end of June, after 27 years in the hot seat.
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4 days ago | 
evoke.ie | Colm McGuirk
There are few topics Joe Duffy hasn’t covered in his 27 years behind the Liveline microphone. While some broadcasts provokedoutrage, activism and government action, others generated mirth and national ridicule. For days on end, his show would drag needlessly taboo subjects into the spotlight and give voice to the ignored, including survivors of residential institutions and clerical abuse. Here are some of the most influential, controversial and memorable moments.
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1 week ago | 
evoke.ie | Colm McGuirk
Growing numbers of Irish women are tooling up and brushing up on their DIY skills amid soaring building costs and a shortage of tradespeople to do small jobs around the home. A business running DIY courses for beginners said '90% to 95%' of those signing up are women, while an industry leader said female visitors to hardware shops have become 'a major consumer group in the last few years'.
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1 week ago | 
extra.ie | Colm McGuirk
Campervan owners are parking up at rural pubs to enjoy a night out free of taxis and pricey beds, while more premises are looking to accommodate them to compensate for a dwindling trade. It comes as Extra.ie reported last week that the number of campervans registered in Ireland exceeded 20,000 for the first time last year.
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1 week ago | 
evoke.ie | Colm McGuirk
The Abbey Theatre is desperately seeking Saoirse Ronan – and Andrew Scott – to follow up their Paul Mescal coup. The National Theatre of Ireland confirmed this week that Paul Mescal, 29, will appear in a run of Tom Murphy’s A Whistle In the Dark – though fans will have to wait until 2027 to see him on an Irish stage again.
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1 week ago | 
extra.ie | Colm McGuirk
Timmy Mallet is keeping in mind his late brother’s mantra to help him savour the moment as he cycles down the Wild Atlantic Way, and has uncovered another ‘profoundly moving’ family connection on his travels. The children’s TV legend put April and May aside to see how much of the 2,600km west coast tourist trail he can complete on his e-bike, and is documenting his adventures on social media and through paintings and sketches.
