Nollaig na mBan is just business-as-usual with a trendy titleInstead of mounting an uprising, I’m going to list my Women’s Christmas resolutions here to make the rest of 2026 a little less chaoticMon Jan 05 2026 - 05:31
Should we ban social media for under-16s? Irish teens share their thoughtsAustralia’s ban on social media for children under 16 is being closely watched around the world - and also by young peopleSun Dec 28 2025 - 06:00
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ‘If men gave birth maternity hospitals would be palaces and we’d get three years off’Ó Ríordáin’s youngest daughter Róisín was born prematurely a few days ago at 26 weeks’ gestationThu Dec 18 2025 - 06:01
From toe-nail clippers to jaffa cakes: What’s the worst Christmas gift you’ve been given?What’s the craziest, or most unexpected present you’ve ever received?Tue Dec 16 2025 - 15:00
Virtual reality as a lifeline: ‘For some young people it’s the social’Foróige GoVirtual seeks to connect vulnerable and isolated young people through virtual realityTue Dec 16 2025 - 06:01
‘It used to be you sent in something small’: Christmas presents for teachers in Ireland ‘There’s never anything about teacher gifts. It just puts unnecessary pressure on families’Tue Dec 09 2025 - 06:01
‘I am the Grinch,’ one friend told me as I teased him about disliking ChristmasJen Hogan: Plenty of people feel the season-to-be-jolly is overratedMon Dec 08 2025 - 05:31
The WFH parents balancing work and childcare: ‘I struggle with it. The two things don’t mix at all’Some parents say they have no choice, but is working from home with no formal childminding arrangements feasible, or even acceptable?Sat Dec 06 2025 - 06:00
The most annoying thing about parent-teacher meetings? Parents who hog teachersOn behalf of frazzled parents everywhere, please make a separate appointmentMon Nov 24 2025 - 05:31
Richie Sadlier: ‘My kids will be sick of me mentioning the word sex’Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Nov 18 2025 - 06:00Listen to Richie Sadlier: ‘My kids will be sick of me mentioning the word sex’Listen | 45:55
I’ve changed my old stance on teens and alcohol – it’s snus and vapes that are the problemI suspect few enough of us reached 18 before having our first alcoholic drinkMon Nov 10 2025 - 05:31
Tanita Tikaram: ‘The Beatles taught me to sing low’The singer of Fijian and Malaysian descent penned her hit single, Twist in my Sobriety, when she was a ‘introverted, opinionated’ teenagerSun Nov 09 2025 - 06:00
Sophie Ellis-Bextor: ‘We were going out six weeks when we found out I was pregnant’Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Nov 04 2025 - 06:30Listen to Sophie Ellis-Bextor: ‘We were going out six weeks when we found out I was pregnant’Listen | 35:16
Chris Hadfield: ‘I have an Irish granddaughter and I couldn’t be more delighted’Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Oct 28 2025 - 06:30Listen to Chris Hadfield: ‘I have an Irish granddaughter and I couldn’t be more delighted’Listen | 33:09
Women leaders at Ireland’s all-boys schools: ‘Boys love clarity, fairness and consistency’School principals Caroline Garrett and Elaine Kelly, and head coach Tania Rosser, on changing the gender dynamicFri Oct 24 2025 - 12:10
Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: ‘My mum was mortified I was breastfeeding in a restaurant’ Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Oct 21 2025 - 06:30Listen to Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin: ‘My mum was mortified I was breastfeeding in a restaurant’ Listen | 45:58
Boys-only Dublin private school appoints first woman principal in 190-year historyElaine Kelly has been appointed principal of the all-boys, fee-paying Castleknock CollegeTue Oct 14 2025 - 17:49
Ciara Kelly: ‘A consultant shamed me for being an unmarried, pregnant junior doctor’The doctor-turned-broadcaster on raising four children, loving the teenage years and how her career has influenced her parentingTue Oct 14 2025 - 06:28Listen to Ciara Kelly: ‘A consultant shamed me for being an unmarried, pregnant junior doctor’Listen | 42:54
‘Silent sidelines’ at children’s matches: How utterly depressing that this is where we areJen Hogan: Adults’ behaviour is having a detrimental effect on children playing a game. Just let that sink inMon Oct 13 2025 - 05:31
Separated couples who can’t afford to live apart: ‘It is hugely difficult and horrible’The housing and rent crisis adds another challenge to those in the middle of a relationship breakdownSun Oct 12 2025 - 06:00
Weight-loss injections: ‘Two years ago I had to use a mobility scooter, this year I am hiking’High costs are a common worry among users of Ozempic, Mounjaro and other weight-loss drugs, who report varying levels of successSat Oct 11 2025 - 06:00
Prof Donal O’Shea: ‘I’ll be advising my girls to go on HRT’On this episode of Conversations with Parents, Jen Hogan speaks to the consultant endocrinologist and HSE clinical lead for obesityTue Oct 07 2025 - 06:30Listen to Prof Donal O’Shea: ‘I’ll be advising my girls to go on HRT’Listen | 46:35
‘I would have loved to have been a stay-at-home dad’: Fintan O’Toole on fatherhoodConversations with Parents podcast with Jen HoganTue Sept 30 2025 - 06:15Listen to ‘I would have loved to have been a stay-at-home dad’: Fintan O’Toole on fatherhoodListen | 43:58
Some wisdom learned from a half a life (and counting) spent parentingConversations with Parents podcast is back with a brand new season starting on September 30thMon Sept 29 2025 - 05:31
Horse trainer Henry de Bromhead: ‘We miss Jack, but we know he’s always with us’Father is proud a new equine centre in honour of his late teenage son will help children with disabilitiesFri Sept 26 2025 - 06:00
What do the President, Kim Kardashian and I have in common?Jen Hogan: I never anticipated that one day, Kim Kardashian and I might take a similar stance on educational issuesMon Sept 15 2025 - 05:31
Life after school: Next stage options from those who have chosen different pathsWhether you choose a PLC, an apprenticeship or the straight-to-college route, there’s more than one way to take the next stepTue Sept 09 2025 - 05:31
The guidance counsellor: ‘I think we’re overly educated, but perhaps not skilled enough’Remaining focused on CAO points means overlooking ‘wonderful’ alternatives such as apprenticeships and tertiary degreesTue Sept 09 2025 - 05:31
Middle-aged renters: ‘At this age, unless I won the Lotto, how would I afford anything?’Average asking rents are now twice what they were at the peak of the Celtic Tiger period. At the 2002 census, 27 was the age at which more than half of householders owned their own home. In 2022, it was 36Sat Sept 06 2025 - 06:00
Ireland’s largest school forced to close classes due to secretary and caretaker strikeGorey Community School has limited attendance each day to a restricted number of year groupsWed Sept 03 2025 - 18:25
It took a while to get used to being called ‘mum’. After all, ‘mam’ is the correct termJen Hogan: We live in a society that defines women by their uterine activity – how many pieces have you read about working dads?Mon Sept 01 2025 - 05:31
How can new students get the best from their college experience?Societies are a great source of community which is important when coping with the big changes of being away from home Tue Aug 26 2025 - 17:01
‘When it comes to supporting club football, Liverpool don’t really count as an English team’Jen Hogan: A lifelong devotion to the Reds by fans on this side of the Irish Sea has produced a club following unlike any other Mon Aug 18 2025 - 05:31
‘We can’t have nice things in Ireland because no one follows the rules’: Emigrants on returning homeMore than 30,000 Irish citizens returned to Ireland in the year to April 2024. Four recent returnees share their experiences of coming homeSat Aug 16 2025 - 06:00
Back to school costs: Handy tips you can use to ease the financial burdenIt’s an expensive time of year, but resourceful use of WhatsApp uniform swap shops and taking stock of usable existing items are among ways of cutting backMon Aug 04 2025 - 05:31
Middle-aged, middle-class cocaine use: ‘Even if he stopped today, I don’t know would we ever get him back’Once seen as a young person’s drug, cocaine has become much more prevalent among older age groups and across all strata of society, at weddings, in pubs and at work eventsSat Aug 02 2025 - 06:00
Paul Newman: ‘He was kind of like a big kid himself. He just loved to play,’ daughter saysClea Newman says working for the children’s charity network, which includes Barretstown, is her full-time passionTue Jul 22 2025 - 06:01
Jen Hogan: We couldn’t afford Rome due to our ridiculous number of children. Galway it wasI still feel 25, never mind 25 years married, though my right hip begs to differMon Jul 21 2025 - 05:31
A summer of down time: how can three months with nothing to do be good for teenagers?We often hear how it’s good for kids to be bored, but surely that depends on how long it’s forMon Jul 07 2025 - 05:31
The loss of never becoming a grandparent: ‘You always assume it’s going to happen to you’Parenting Taboos: It’s normal to feel a sense of loss if you know you won’t have grandchildren, but it’s important to respect your adult children’s decisions Tue Jul 01 2025 - 06:01
The summer juggle: How to work while the kids are offHurray for no more homework, lunchboxes or hurried school mornings. But boohoo for the panic and stress of school holidaysMon Jun 23 2025 - 05:31
Irish influencers trolled on Tattle life: ‘The link to my dad's funeral was posted and all my trolls watched it’Social media influencers in Ireland have been the subject of ‘horrific’ commentary on the gossip website, including about their children.Sun Jun 22 2025 - 06:00
A walk down memory lane in front of the TV took a darker turnJen Hogan: A family viewing of Housewife of the Year proved to be an eye-opening experience Mon Jun 09 2025 - 05:31
John Simpson: ‘It’s been great to watch how Ireland went from a pretty backward country to a real powerhouse in Europe’Veteran journalist and broadcaster, now 80, on the dangers of his profession and his continuing affinity with Ireland Sun Jun 08 2025 - 06:00
Ireland’s broken social contract: ‘I have worked since I was 17 and I have nothing to show for it’From the housing crisis and precarious work to putting off big life decisions such as marriage and children, four people aged 19-37 are wary of what’s aheadSat May 31 2025 - 06:00
‘I’ll be grand,’ I reassured my concerned child and headed on my merry wayIt’s not something I’ve ever enjoyed – my own company, or walking for no reasonMon May 26 2025 - 05:31
Ireland’s rising rents: ‘Our budget would have been €1,300 a month, there isn’t even anything listed for that’With rents across the State rising at the fastest rate in decades, people tell us about the challenges tenants faceSat May 24 2025 - 06:00
Wills and family fall-outs: ‘Money and grief bring out the worst in people’The absence of a will or a poorly prepared one can result in bitter disputes between surviving family members. Six people share tales of conflict and resentmentSat May 17 2025 - 06:00
‘Am I too old to wear this?’: It’s a question I never thought I’d ask but here I amJen Hogan: Motherhood can also bring limitations, but only if we impose them on ourselvesMon May 12 2025 - 05:31
Ferris Bueller was right: life moves pretty fast. If you have children in school, you could miss itThere is nothing quite like having a sixth year in the house to remind you how quickly the years go byMon Apr 28 2025 - 05:31
