What do you do with your unused medicines? A new agreement between the HSE and pharmacists means you will soon be able to bring your old pills and medicines to a community pharmacy where they will be disposed of responsibly. What we do with these is important. Medication waste is a growing ecological, economic and … Read more
How agreeable are you? I would say over my life, I have been quite agreeable. It’s something that I had to work at, in some ways, in my 20s, to make sure that I didn’t allow it to become a dominant idea in my life. When you learn that love is somehow conditional, you tend … Read more
On March 16th, 1926, just over 100 years ago, a young Kerryman, Michael Quill, arrived at Ellis Island in New York on board the SS Pittsburgh. His cousin met him and brought him to East 104th Street in Harlem to live with his relations. The next day he watched the St Patrick’s Day parade on … Read more
James Nesbitt is explaining why his work with the families of the Disappeared means so much to him when he is overtaken by emotion; his voice cracks, he breaks off his sentence, he apologises. “Even now, I find it – I get very moved, sorry.” He turns it into a joke. “I cry more than … Read more
In 1887, the British parliament passed the Merchandise Marks Act to protect British industry from knock-off products which purported to be made in the UK but were in fact made cheaper – and in many cases better – in Germany. The British were, understandably, worried about the emergence of an industrial superpower in the guise … Read more
Neil Jordan looks well. He leans in to catch the odd missed word, but, , now 76, he is still light on his feet and thoughtful in his conversation. Nobody talks quite like him. Apparently random ideas still pop out of nowhere. Questions are answered by sometimes puzzling counter-questions. Digressions progress to the bottom of … Read more
How agreeable are you? I like to think I’m agreeable, but that doesn’t mean I don’t ever draw lines in the sand. I do when I think it’s important and it’s something I really believe in, but I always consider active listening. What’s your middle name and what do you think of it? My middle … Read more
Frequently I am asked, in interviews and in question-and-answer sessions after public events, about the origins of this or that novel – “Where did you get the idea?” – and for the most part I am helpless to answer. Of course, I can go back to the manuscript and find the date when I put … Read more
How agreeable are you? I think very, unless something is wrong or is clearly being done incorrectly. That’s not about being disagreeable, it’s just wanting to get things right. What is your middle name and what do you think of it? My middle name is Padraig, and I love the extreme Irishness of Niall Padraig … Read more
“I’m convinced that the vast majority of my current students today will do jobs that don’t even exist yet,” says Prof Vittorio Bufacchi of University College Cork’s School of Society, Politics and Ethics. His comments come after the University of Galway asked its academics to reimagine how arts courses are offered amid a drop off … Read more