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Opinion: Ed Sheeran says he’s apolitical. His Macklemore decision tells a different story

The controversy over the dropping of Macklemore from the UK star’s US tour has rumbled on all week, leaving Sheeran in a sticky spot.

yesterday 10

TheJournal

Peter Flanagan

Stars and Swipes: Donald Trump Jr, The Bahamas wedding and the Russian connection

It’s reported that Putin-linked oligarch Umar Kremlev paid hundreds of thousands of dollars towards Donald Trump Jr’s wedding, prompting concerns...

previous day 10

TheJournal

Marion McKeone

Kelly Earley: Say what you like about Fair City, but Carrigstown forges real Irish talent

We don’t talk enough about how many Irish actors have gotten their start on Fair City, writes Kelly Earley.

previous day 10

TheJournal

Kelly Earley

Raising them right: After 14 years learning Irish, it's safe to say... níl a fhios agam

From Peig to podcasts, how Irish is taught in this country has changed dramatically. Now my children are teaching me to see our native language...

monday 10

TheJournal

Niamh O'Reilly

Money Diaries: An IT consultant on €76.5K living in the southeast of the country

This week, our reader has a busy week of commuting to Dublin for work while making time to see friends and doing some online training.

13.09.2026 10

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

Rural pubs: We need to save them, but not for the sake of the alcohol industry

If rural pubs are to be saved, and they are worth saving, supports that will benefit local communities are needed – not those that will increase the...

13.09.2026 10

TheJournal

Dr Catherine Conlon

Thomas Duffy: Don’t blame the cows for farmers not growing carrots

Ireland’s veg growers are in deep trouble. Between several bad policy decisions and consumer complacency, we’ve now got the farming system we pay for.

13.09.2026 10

TheJournal

Thomas Duffy

We can never get up early enough to truly satisfy them

This week’s targets include poor children, imaginary lazy people and, of course, immigrants.

12.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Carl Kinsella

Why every second import you meet these days seems to have come from Tokyo, not Tottenham

Back in 2019, the UK supplied 95% of all the used cars imported into Ireland. All is now changed.

11.09.2026 10

TheJournal

Paddy Comyn

The big visit: After an eventful week in the US, the Trump show comes to Ireland

As Donald Trump prepares to visit Ireland, the country he encounters is increasingly distant from the USA it once knew and admired.

11.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Larry Donnelly

Gavan Reilly: Six months by law. 24.3 months in reality. Ireland's disability numbers don't add up

The eye-watering numbers of children waiting for Assessment of Need in this country expose a broken system offering little hope to families.

10.09.2026 10

TheJournal

Gavan Reilly

Stars and Stripes: 'The towers suddenly came into view, only the bottom halves were visible'

Marion McKeone recalls the cacophony of shouts and sirens in Lower Manhattan on 11 September, 2001.

10.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Marion McKeone

Supporting patients in distress: Doctors can’t predict suicide, but we can try to prevent it

Around 500 people die by suicide each year in Ireland. As healthcare workers caring for patients with many challenges, we have found that suicide is...

10.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Dr Stephen McWilliams

Lise Hand: 9/11 was televised. I was in New York that day. I’m glad I didn’t have a phone

The horror of September 11th was burned into the memories of those who witnessed it, including myself. Imagine how different and more grotesque it...

09.09.2026 10

TheJournal

Lise Hand

Fuel costs: Increase the carbon tax. Cut excise instead - it's what makes sense

Diesel prices hitting €2 shouldn’t be answered by postponing the carbon tax, writes Kevin McPartlan of Fuels for Ireland.

09.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Kevin McPartlan

It’s time that Irish people learn some walking etiquette

Somehow, we have completely normalised having zero self-awareness in public.

08.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Kelly Earley

Raising them right: Aren’t all families secretly a bit like The Traitors?

Many parents up and down the country are watching The Traitors with their kids, so as fun as the show is, how do we explain all the lying?

07.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Niamh O'Reilly

How is your budget looking at the moment? Would you like to keep a Money Diary for us?

We’re asking readers to keep a diary to let us know how your finances are looking.

06.09.2026 20

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

Niamh O'Reilly: Will the Lindsay Clancy case change anything for mums in crisis?

The trial of Lindsay Clancy has reignited questions about postpartum mental health, and we should look closer to home to address our own failings in...

06.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Niamh O'Reilly

Financial analyst on ECB hike: Interest rates are rising... what should you do?

This week’s ECB rate hike will be the second one since June, and it signals the first real shift in policy on interest rates since September 2023.

06.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Ralph Benson

Postpartum psychosis: What expectant parents and families should know

As the Lindsay Clancy trial brings postpartum psychosis into the spotlight, two Irish psychiatrists explain the symptoms, causes and treatment of the...

05.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Dr Niall Iósaef Ó Gallchobhair & Dr Stephen McWilliams

We could make public transport free for what we're spending to keep it cheap to drive

But most drivers can’t trust or don’t have the public transport system they need.

05.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Paddy Comyn

Back to school costs: €700 for a school iPad? That’s not free education

We’ve just managed to secure free school books, but now parents around the country are faced with whopping bills for iPads or laptops for their...

03.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Laura Harmon

Gavan Reilly: 7.8 million people and 260 TDs by 2049? How Ireland's population surge affects the Dáil

Ireland now has 5.53 million people, and extrapolating some of the data puts us on course for almost 7.8 million by 2049, bringing the constitutional...

03.09.2026 30

TheJournal

Gavan Reilly

Stars and Swipes: America loves its wild mustangs - so why are they ending up in a ‘kill chain’?

A loophole allowing federally protected wild horses to enter the slaughter trade has reignited a decades-old battle over the future of one of the...

02.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Marion McKeone

Ireland's nature heroes: Meet the farmers turning corners of their land into wildlife havens

Jack Morley of The Rewildlife meets the team behind ReFarm Wicklow, one of the ReFarm projects which is helping farmers to make a real difference for...

02.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Jack Morley

A new drug referral scheme kicked in today: Will it reach who it needs to?

The new Health Referral Scheme shifts drug policy from prosecution to support, but its rollout and eligibility rules may end up leaving those facing...

01.09.2026 30

TheJournal

Tony Duffin -

Kelly Earley: We're in the middle of a luxury gym epidemic

But why?

01.09.2026 20

TheJournal

Kelly Earley

Raising them right: Hot school meals won't fix lunches if kids don't have enough time to eat

What is the point in focusing on hot school meals when schoolchildren are being forced to speed their way through food on their breaks?

31.08.2026 20

TheJournal

Niamh O'Reilly

Money Diaries: An administrative officer on €55K living in Dublin

This week, our reader is looking for a new place to rent in between working, socialising and trying to get their Internet provider to fix their Wi-Fi.

30.08.2026 20

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

The wolf is at the door: 10 things we must do to prepare for a hotter, drier future

From restoring wetlands and reforesting uplands to bringing back beavers and protecting our hedgerows, Ireland needs to act now to prepare for extreme...

30.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Pádraic Fogarty

Parenting: Teenage TikTok rebrands, back to school hauls and the battle of the bank card

Back in the day, we covered our copy books with brown paper, now it’s highly curated pastel themes, designer schoolbags and beauty schedules.

29.08.2026 20

TheJournal

Margaret Lynch

Border poll risks ‘rift’ in Northern Ireland, where everything has been fine until now

Those in the north famously love to be told what’s what by Westminster.

29.08.2026 20

TheJournal

Carl Kinsella

Stop worrying about range: How to navigate buying a used electric vehicle

“I bring this up because I get asked, more than almost anything else, some version of the same question.”

29.08.2026 20

TheJournal

Paddy Comyn

Writing a children's book: From Covid bedtime stories to a little boy on a mission

How one mum’s lockdown stories grew into a children’s book about curiosity, community and kindness.

28.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Cherry Jordan

Larry Donnelly: The battle for the Democratic Party’s soul is playing out in Boston

The Boston congressional primary pits a working-class incumbent against a progressive challenger, but the Democrats risk alienating the voters who...

28.08.2026 20

TheJournal

Larry Donnelly

Gavan Reilly: €288k is the Skyclarys asking price, but what is the cost to patients of waiting?

The Skyclarys campaign has exposed a drug reimbursement system designed for bureaucrats and pharmaceutical companies, not the patients whose lives...

27.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Gavan Reilly

Agri future: What words send shivers down the spines of government and industry? Organic farming

Ireland needs to make the bold move to organic, so we can break free from volatile global markets, fossil-fuel fertilisers and an increasingly fragile...

27.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Dr Pippa Hackett

Lise Hand: Behold, the era of Ireland’s new castle kings has begun

Mark Zuckerberg’s castle purchase in Waterford is only the latest in a string of grand Irish estates snapped up by the super-rich. Just 40 years ago...

26.08.2026 20

TheJournal

Lise Hand

Stars and Stripes: Dolly Parton truly belonged to all of America — red and blue

From a one-room cabin in Tennessee to global superstardom, the late Dolly Parton managed to bridge the political and cultural divides that have...

26.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Marion McKeone

Class size problems: Our children are stuck behind their European peers in supersized classes

Ireland’s primary schools are facing overcrowding and unfilled teaching posts that the government should be treating as a priority.

26.08.2026 40

TheJournal

John Boyle

Kelly Earley: If smart glasses weren’t creepy enough, now we have to worry about spy pens

From AI-powered eyewear to virtually undetectable spy cameras, recording technology is becoming cheaper, smaller and harder to spot.

25.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Kelly Earley

School principals burnt out: 'I can't tell you the last time I worked on anything teaching-related'

If Ireland wants ambitious curriculum reform to succeed, principals must be freed from mounting and unmanageable admin demands.

25.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons & Professor Catherine Furlong

Irish Traveller woman: Here's what I think of Channel 4’s new 'Secret Lives of Gypsy Wives'

Irish Traveller writer and activist Emma Ward watched The Secret Lives of Gypsy Wives and has mixed feelings about its portrayal of modern women in...

24.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Emma Ward

Raising them right: Are we missing the real issues in the Lindsay Clancy trial?

The US and much of the world is invested in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, but while amateur sleuths come up with all sorts of theories, the story of a...

24.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Niamh O'Reilly

Money Diaries: It's back to school, end of summer, will you be watching your spending?

As the evenings get darker (yes, we went there), and as your teachers used to say, it’s time to tighten the belt and knuckle down for the winter....

23.08.2026 30

TheJournal

The Journal Reader

A songbird trapped in a cage: Iranian poet Mahvash Sabet’s compelling prison memoir

The Iranian poet’s memoir, written from scraps of paper smuggled out from her prison cell, reveals the human cost of repression.

23.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Dr Brendan McNamara

My neurospicy brain: Ten ADHD traits that took me by surprise after diagnosis

Since my ADHD diagnosis, I’m discovering the unexpected ways ADHD has shaped my life, from how I sit to my sensitivity to injustice, music fixations...

23.08.2026 20

TheJournal

Ranae von Meding

Back to school: The summer is over, here are some tips to help you get the routine right

Yes, it’s that time again… as the summer holidays wind down, here’s how to prepare children for the new school year.

22.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Dr Catherine Conlon

Fort Zuckerberg is the most on-the-nose illustration of Ireland's invasion by Big Tech

And just like our most infamous invaders, we invited them in.

22.08.2026 30

TheJournal

Carl Kinsella