Articles

Pandemic can expose deep fault lines in our relationships

Pandemic can expose deep fault lines in our relationships     It's now over a year since the Covid pandemic gatecrashed our lives, spilling its viral and stress load into every aspect of our being. It will be some time before the full psychological impact of the pandemic can be calculated. But we already know that for at least one in four people... Read More

Posted: 04 April 2021

What are we missing most? Each other

What are we missing most? Each other Only when we can meet others will the sense of possibility in our lives be restored Sun, Mar 28, 2021   Half of us feel that the pandemic has had a profoundly negative impact on our lives. Illustration: iStock    The results of the 2021 Sign of the Times survey by Behaviour & Attitudes are published by The Irish... Read More

Posted: 31 March 2021

After: How do we move on from the trauma of the pandemic?

After: How do we move on from the trauma of the pandemic?   Don't dwell on why this happened - ask yourself how you coped and what you learned in the process, writes Maureen Gaffney   ‘The most important life lessons come from setbacks’   'You must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on." Oh Samuel Beckett, where are you now when we need you?  The... Read More

Posted: 21 February 2021

Vaccine will free us from Covid-19 and loneliness

At the end of a long, cold January in Level 5 lockdown, a sombre Micheál Martin announced it was to continue until March. To drive home the point, Leo Varadkar took pains to add: "At least." Thanks, Leo. Hardly surprising then that a recent Department of Health survey found people were reporting significantly higher levels of boredom, anxiety and depression. The wave... Read More

Posted: 07 February 2021

The land of the mother and baby homes

The land of the mother and baby homes   The Mother and Baby Homes report triggers a wash of memories of those grey decades Sat, Jan 16, 2021 The writer Thomas Kilroy set his play, Christ Deliver Us! in 1950s Ireland. In it one of the characters, Winnie, is full of wonder about a local swallow hole, where everything that people discarded ended up,... Read More

Posted: 31 January 2021

Now comes the darkest hour before dawn.

Now comes the darkest hour before dawn. How do we cope?   Vaccines are on the way, but waiting is difficult when so much is riding on the outcome, writes Maureen Gaffney   ‘Engaging in an activity that stretches us is the nearest we get to pure happiness’ Stock photo:    Just over a week ago I fell on a hill walk and cracked a rib.... Read More

Posted: 10 January 2021