Brianna Parkins: Nothing beats an Irish wedding – just watch out for the sucky-in knickers, child waiters and the cleavage policeMercifully, Irish weddings seem to have an inbuilt buffer for guests who got tricked by Google MapsSat May 27 2023 - 05:00
How to take control of your money: It sounds boring but it’s actually liberating Budgeting is one of those things we know we should do but end up avoiding because it seems too hard, too boring or just plain miserableWed May 24 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: TV presenter pairings are so falseWhere did it all go wrong for co-hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby?Tue May 23 2023 - 15:58
Brianna Parkins: Looking for a new therapist is like a very expensive form of speed-datingYou are shopping your trauma around to see who can help fix it without getting ripped off by a cowboy operatorSat May 20 2023 - 05:00
‘Money talks but wealth whispers’: An Irish man in Malta who caters to the super-richWild Geese: Stephen Place, MaltaFri May 19 2023 - 05:00
A guide to avoiding the costly mistakes of a holidayComing home to bank statements with mysterious charges can cancel out any relaxation the holiday was meant to buy in the first placeWed May 17 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Life would be better if we pretended the internet shut down at nightGo to bed and ignore your loved ones the old fashioned way, by turning over and reading a book with your back presented to them. Isn’t that better?Tue May 16 2023 - 09:22
Brianna Parkins: You can always spot Irish men on a sun holiday Ireland will humble even the most genetically blessed by making them look a bit dorky by the seasideSat May 13 2023 - 05:00
The walls of the local pub have eyes and also the Bainisteoir’s phone number Drink bans: The local pub is a well established rural panopticon. The walls have eyes and also the Bainisteoir’s phone numberThu May 11 2023 - 05:00
Is it even worth going back to work after having children?Making a decision to give up work should be more than just a matter of crunching the impact of tax and childcare costsWed May 10 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Things I have learned about grief after the death of my nephewI have discovered there are helpful and unhelpful things people do when someone diesSat May 06 2023 - 05:00
There’s an assumption in Ireland that Australians love the British. They don’tAustralia is a country that doesn’t mess around much with its constitution. There have only been eight changes since 1901 compared to Ireland’s 32 since 1937Wed May 03 2023 - 10:05
The high price of bad financial advice: ‘Be very, very careful where you get your information’Handed-down financial advice can be highly subjective or dated, and dependent on economic conditionsWed May 03 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Men, you don’t ‘help around the house’ if you live in itModern men are not expected to provide like their fathers might have, but they’re not eagerly picking up their mother’s jobs eitherSat Apr 29 2023 - 05:00
Sitting in the Rolls-Royce I thought, ‘I don’t care if you pay me – I’d do this for free’ Wild Geese: Terry Kane has gone from a kettle factory in Co Down to a job with Meta in DubaiFri Apr 28 2023 - 05:00
Returning to Ireland? Here’s what to consider before making the big moveHousing remains the biggest headache for people coming back home, but getting your paperwork in order is also critical to smoothing your pathWed Apr 26 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Why bother with a coronation-playlist drama? Just hire an Irish wedding DJThe Proclaimers are 500 miles from King Charles’ coronation after the official playlist dumped them after complaints about their ‘anti-royal’ views.Tue Apr 25 2023 - 14:15
We make manky banana bread as we feel guilty about food waste – before we throw it out Brianna Parkins: Environmentalism has given us a stick to poke each other withSat Apr 22 2023 - 05:00
Counting the cost of having a babyMoney Matters: Families worry about their ability to afford the ongoing costs of having a child even after allowing for one-off items and the cost of childbirth itselfWed Apr 19 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Michael D Higgins should have a messy desk. I would be worried if notIf the President’s desk was on a Pinterest board under ‘organised office inspo’ we would probably be facing a constitutional crisisTue Apr 18 2023 - 12:37
Brianna Parkins: They don’t mix, they don’t assimilate and their culture is too powerful - they’re the Irish in AustraliaIreland eats other cultures up and spits them out while wearing the Tricolour and whistling the Fields of AthenrySat Apr 15 2023 - 05:00
Are we coming on too strong as we always do when American presidents visit?Brianna Parkins: In fairness Biden is not the type of distant cousin to turn up once, take a photo and then ignore your Facebook requestTue Apr 11 2023 - 14:07
Brianna Parkins: I’ve been at the mercy of several dodgy landlords The rental market was tight in Australia, but I was always able to find an affordable place to liveSat Apr 08 2023 - 05:00
The lure of the exotic draws west Mayo native to BangkokWild Geese: Marion Walsh-Hédouin, BangkokFri Apr 07 2023 - 05:00
Criticising body shaming in Friends TV show is not ‘political correctness gone mad’Jennifer Aniston says there is a new ‘sensitivity’, but not everyone found the Friends jokes funnyTue Apr 04 2023 - 10:46
Airport Mammy, the Irish woman who’s having none of it, is a national treasureI heard a loud ‘Excuse me just one second now!’ Airport Mammy stepped forwardSat Apr 01 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: I feel sorry for the agent employed to monitor my dataTikTok has given us so much, like the Womblands saga and Rushtok, but what is it taking from us in return?Wed Mar 29 2023 - 06:05
Brianna Parkins: ‘I thanked mum recently for helping me on the glorious path of not giving a shit what my body looks like’‘I rang mum up recently to thank her for helping me on the glorious path of not giving a shit what my body looks like, leaving me free to pursue other fun things such as coping with various mental illnesses’Sat Mar 25 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Spare me from the ‘why aren’t you married’ brigadeSomehow men are prize animals we have to lure into lifelong commitment against their will with a piece of ham and no sudden movesSat Mar 18 2023 - 05:00
Tipp man went to New Zealand for Rugby World Cup and never came home Wild Geese: Shane Minogue, AucklandFri Mar 17 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Kerry Condon in yellow was the supreme winner on Oscars nightIn the true competition of gúnas, at least, we know Kerry Condon was the supreme winner, and the pride of the parish, in her yellow numberMon Mar 13 2023 - 11:45
Brianna Parkins: Be patient with us clueless foreigners this ‘St Patty’s Day’‘I envy the American and European tourists happily bopping around Dublin with their Craic Dealer hoodies’Sat Mar 11 2023 - 05:00
‘It’s hard to see any financial benefit for a couple that remain unmarried’It’s not very romantic, but tying the knot brings all sorts of benefits for those who are married under Irish lawWed Mar 08 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Yes to female CEOs, but I’m more interested in fair treatment for the women who allow us all to be hereIt's not right that people who work in essential, female-dominated industries are deemed to be worth less than unskilled construction labourersWed Mar 08 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: What’s the point in packing early for holidays, other than to tell people you’re all packed?My trip is four days away. Of course, I’m not packed - it is not 40 minutes until we have to leaveSat Mar 04 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: pay attention to your credit history — it could be the key to unlocking a future loan Having a poor credit history doesn’t mean you won’t get a loanWed Mar 01 2023 - 05:00
Politicians talk about taking drugs in the same way your mam put you off getting a belly-button piercingBrianna Parkins: Uncool political confessions could be in the pipeline, but help for drug addiction is in short supplyTue Feb 28 2023 - 12:21
Brianna Parkins: When someone has a problem with you in Ireland, they would rather tell everyone else but youI had been living under the ignorant assumption that if someone was mad at you, they would just tell youSat Feb 25 2023 - 05:00
Building a business in Australia on the back of a bag of TaytoWild Geese: Eamon Eastwood, SydneyFri Feb 24 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Building your own home can save money but is not for the faint-heartedCompliance and cost issues can easily emerge if you are not familiar with construction, architect warnsWed Feb 22 2023 - 05:00
Now it’s okay for men to pee sitting down, here are a few other changes they could makeBrianna Parkins: It also turns out that seeking help from trained professionals might not make a medical condition worseTue Feb 21 2023 - 15:12
‘I became one of those insufferable new parents whose once interesting feed turns into pictures of a small creature’Turns out I wasn’t alone. We never said we were exclusive, but this revelation made me feel cheapSat Feb 18 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: When lockdown hit, some of us made banana bread. Others began investing in stocksMarket volatility took a toll on retail investors last year but there is still a return to be made on investing in stocks once your not looking to make a short-term killingWed Feb 15 2023 - 05:00
Rihanna’s Super Bowl show: Unbothered, effortlessly cool – and an unexpected guest on boardRihanna is suspended on a moving light-up platform at a height I can only measure as ‘too bloody high to be up at with that tiny tether for safety’Mon Feb 13 2023 - 11:03
Brianna Parkins: We are a different family now, the family that lost a childOn a family trip to Amsterdam after my nephew’s death, we found solace in the most inappropriate placeSat Feb 11 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Buying a first home in Ireland is very difficult, but not impossible Here are some tips and tactics to improve first-time buyers’ chances of getting the key to their own doorWed Feb 08 2023 - 05:00
JLo and Ben Affleck: If you’re going to bicker in public, at least do it loudly enough for me to pick sidesBrianna Parkins: At the Grammys, Affleck looked like any other man made to go to his wife’s work do. Lopez gives him a loving jab to at least look like he’s happy to be thereTue Feb 07 2023 - 12:29
Brianna Parkins: Growing up without siblings, I knew I was on to a good thingSibling people view my kind with deep mistrust. We are spoiled. We are selfish. We always have to get our own waySat Feb 04 2023 - 05:00
Using remote working to travel abroad looks attractive, but it can come with a large tax billDigital nomading can get expensive when it comes to managing your tax affairsWed Feb 01 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Did I really need to buy all that shite? Let me tell you what I regret the mostMikayla Nogueira built a huge TikTok following for her product reviews. Now a dodgy lash threatens her standing. Shouldn’t we stop listening to influencers?Mon Jan 30 2023 - 13:42
