Kathy Sheridan

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Kathy Sheridan

A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself, said playwright Arthur Miller. And in the hours after Alan Hawe brutally murdered his wife Clodagh and three young sons before taking his own life in their Co Cavan home almost 10 years ago, newspaper coverage was probably a fair reflection of a horrified, bewildered national conversation. “Why did he do it?” How could a well-liked, churchgoing family man, a primary schoolteacher and GAA stalwart commit such a heinous crime?

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Kathy Sheridan

The wind is in favour of the anti-woke and a proud reappropriation of “free speech” to speak hateful thoughts. Irish people delight in free speech – freedom at last, thumbs up Donald – until young Óisín on the J1 visa announces he needs a burner phone to get past US customs because of the anti-Trump/pro-Palestine stuff on his real phone. Or Gráinne gets detained on her return to Chicago because of an age-old brush with the law. The message is to be careful what you wish for.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Kathy Sheridan

A few weeks ago I barely made it on to a crowded commuter train where the only empty seat was beside a man whose numerous devices and cables were sprawled all over it and the table. Apart from that, one of the devices was blaring music loud enough to drown out a small city – which probably explained the generally uneasy atmosphere. I gestured at the seat; he immediately cleared the space. Encouraged, I leaned over and asked if he could use headphones.

2 months ago | irishtimes.com | Kathy Sheridan

On Easter Sunday morning, social media posters happily confirmed that Pope Francis had declined a meeting with US vice-president JD Vance. Social media got it wrong of course. On the most crowded weekend of the church’s Jubilee Year, the US vice-president managed to organise a brief, awkward meeting with a visibly struggling pope who had repeatedly criticised his policies and rhetoric. No fewer than 40 4x4s were considered necessary for the 17-minute visit to Vatican City.

2 months ago | irishtimes.com | Kathy Sheridan

Back in the mists of 2004 the Dublin Chamber of Commerce had a vision. They published it in a brochure and set it in the far-off year of 2020 in which happy Dubliners reflected on a triumphant seven years for the first directly elected “mayor of Greater Dublin”, a creature represented as a youngish Dub whose CV in no other way resembled Conor McGregor’s.