The human brain cannot easily cope with very high levels of power. Why? It’s doubtul the Fifa president feels himself constrained by anything bigger than his ego
Progress that appears solid can be all too easily undoneIf parading regulation unravels, Drumcree would not be the only reawakened flashpoint
Dolly Parton’s death proves shared cultural reference points act as a social adhesiveMillennials, Gen Z and Boomers are united in their valorisation of the most popular woman in the world
Photographing the first day of school will freeze the moment but not the memoryRemembering is an active process. Each time we revisit an event, we reconstruct it
We’re not the best or worst, but we could be great if we were as brave as our emigrantsNothing like Dublin in the drizzle to ignite dreams of moving Down Under or somewhere closer
Will Ireland continue to take TikTok’s money after M9 crash? Too bloody true we willWe are living off the immoral earnings generated by deliberately addictive and toxic content aimed at children
What will you say when a child asks: ‘Why are we driving a vehicle that is killing our planet?’The car industry is still promoting all sorts of ‘eco’ labels, hybrid models and plug-ins which are nowhere near as good as electric vehicles
It seems we will tolerate any wrong so long as it is small‘Sure look, it’s not that bad’ can be seen as a national strategy of its own, regardless of political or financial agenda
With Meta’s ‘pervert glasses’, we really are going through the digital looking glassLike a phone held aloft filming, the device places a layer between the wearer and the real world
August is the strangest month, the ‘Sunday of the year’Sometimes I want August to be over. It begins to feel like a waiting time, too much anticipation and not enough result
The discourse around super-thin is fraught: Could we replace it?On SkinnyTok, a TikTok subsection devoted to ‘thinspiration’, people claim extreme caloric restriction is the new mindfulness
Opinion: As Trump poll ratings slide divisions threaten to fracture Republican Party World View: The party has always been a fractious coalition, but more recently a split has emerged between the libertarians and a putative ‘national conservative’ tendency
We can and should do better for Gaza students seeking to study in IrelandWhat is needed is a funded partnership model between the Government and the institutions backed by fee waivers and donor support
Madonna should invite Micheál Martin over for dinner – they have a lot in commonAfter all, both performers continue to flourish despite being in the twilight of gilded careers
College entry system is rigged in favour of comfortable classes Our system of admissions to higher education is designed to sort students into colleges and courses starkly divided by class
Are we a nation of flaming hypocrites? Answer not straightforward: Sociologists categorise religious faith as having three aspects – belief, behaviour and belonging
How do we explain joy that went beyond traditional supporters when Mayo won All-Ireland?Rite and Reason: The reaction when the county’s footballers finally won the Sam Maguire was unpredictable
There are lies, damned lies and AI: why I despise ‘artificial intelligence’Quackery, fakery and deceit are all too obvious in this modern frontier of machine-learning
M9 crash: Why does extreme risk-taking appeal to some young people and what can we do about it?Psychology helps us understand why rewards of excitement, recognition or social status can temporarily outweigh appreciation of consequences
Huguenots’ legacy written across fabric of Ireland, including Waterford’s famous ‘blaas’August 24th marks anniversary of massacre of Huguenots in France
Ireland may not have mutant Blitz attitude to climate crisis but we have our own potent versionAny kind of climate scepticism has shrivelled in the dry heat of another scorching summer
I’m now a lecturer at the college that didn’t offer me a place when I did my Leaving CertBeing rejected from NCAD at 17 felt devastating, but more than two decades later Rachel knows one letter did not determine her future
M9 crash exposes limits of rules on social media giants when it comes to online harmsDeaths of five teenagers linked to popularity of high risk-taking for ‘likes’ and affirmation
Few embrace athletics to get rich, but we are indebted to them for their achievementsMemoirs of notable athletes contain triumph, but most are punctuated with much punishment
Stephen Collins: Water rationing is probably inevitable unless people are made to pay for itThe existing system of unlimited free public water for all households is unsustainable in the long term and unfair
We reached ‘peak-woke’ in 2020-2023. Today that looks ridiculousParticipants subtly try to distance themselves from their 2020-2023 behaviour in shaping groupthink mindset
Sláintecare is meant to move us towards universal healthcare, so why has this not happened?Private health insurance firms are entrenched behind slick advertising, reminding people they will be safeguarded as long as they can pay
A strict approach to citizenship would be a policy of inclusionCitizenship is mocked by near-identical forms of non-citizenship for non-citizens
What a shameful, disreputable clown Donald Trump isThe idiot king has stabbed his South Korean ally in the back because a nuclearised North Korea is showing him respect
Ireland’s approach to religious-run schools breaches many families’ constitutional rights If we are serious about every child feeling a sense of belonging in school this needs investment and political leadership
M9 crash: Grown-ups had a role to play in dangerous actions by childrenNo parables of good versus evil, or yelps of outrage are going to change those broken lives
Bad political leadership is blocking Ireland’s path to energy efficiencyPlans and strategies will pave the way to climate hell, unless they are actually implemented
Irish Government remains silent on a shameful game - and it’s not against IsraelUnlike the soccer team’s bad luck in being drawn against Israel, Cricket Ireland did this – excuse the pun – entirely off its own bat
Help to Buy scheme is a money pit that benefits higher earnersThe Coalition could invest wisely in building more social housing directly, as just 16% of this valuable stock was built by councils last year
The Phoenix Park has an identity problem. But there is an easy fixIt is a park that neither accentuates Dublin city nor switches it off; it is merely a way to commute through the middle
Ireland needs an agriculture policy. Instead it has an agri-food industry Denmark no longer has an agriculture minister – Ireland should follow suit
Big brother can be protective. As a driver and cyclist, I like cameras I’m not in favour of state surveillance, but more cameras on our roads would save lives
Why you should quit the coding job and retrain as a philosopher for hireUS philosophy graduates are more likely to have jobs than their computer science peers
Twenty years on, Amanda Knox is still in trouble for laughingKnox was wrongly convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher before being acquitted in 2011, yet she seems to be the only person not entitled to have a view on it
Patrick Honohan: Why Anglo bankers were never sanctioned like those at INBSJust two banks, INBS and the much larger Anglo Irish, account for all of the net cost to the Government of €37 billion
The Danube ran dry, and revealed an overblown metaphor Its water levels have sunk so low that dozens of wrecked Nazi warships have been exposed. It’s hard not to see this as an extreme metaphor
Europe can’t have it both ways on migrationEurope cannot ethically base its economy on the availability of cheap migrant labour while demonising those who seek better lives
Christian Brothers are an easy target but I am slow to stand in judgmentRite & Reason: I think of what it must be like for the small number of men who are still in the Order now to have all this ignominy poured on them
A brief history of the PDs, Ireland’s most influential small party everFor 14 of their 23 years of existence, the PDs were in government. Whatever you think of their ideology, they came with an agenda and they changed Ireland
Lara Marlowe: Putin’s pact with the Russian people is fraying and his paranoia is deepeningA former news editor from Russian state television claims journalists prepare a special news broadcast for Putin nightly, shorn of anything which might anger or upset him
To see the woman convicted of my sister’s murder pictured with President Connolly broke meThe fetishisation of the Troubles by Kneecap is part of the same normalisation
To manage migration, Europe should help African countries improve their citizens’ livesWorldview: Ceuta exemplifies how political surprises cut through the best diplomatic preparation
Photographing the first day of school will freeze the moment but not the memoryBy Ciara Greene and Gillian Murphy
What will you say when a child asks: ‘Why are we driving a vehicle that is killing our planet?’By Eamon Ryan
An Irish DiaryStairway to Heaven – Frank McNally on how our favourite painting became a TikTok sensation