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Why are we so obsessed with Normal People?

Forget Connell's chain and those sex scenes, Normal People arrived at the right time for this kind of introspection and analysis

"Even new furniture and the very insulation we wrap our houses with can contain indoor air pollutants"

Is your home making you sick?

"Those living in the world-renowned beauty spot of Connemara tended to understate the region's positive characteristics" Photo: Liam Kelleher

Do Swedish women regard nature differently to Irish women?

A thumbs up from Zuck for working from home?

Will working from home mean lower wages and no promotions?

Ouch

How to recover from an exercise injury

More than 2,000 crosses have been placed on the walls of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Balally, Co Dublin in memory of those who have died in Ireland and Northern Ireland

How Irish clergy and faith leaders are dealing with the pandemic

"Once signed by a parent, a voluntary care agreement allows Tusla to accept a child into state care without the need for a court order"

What are voluntary care agreements?

What occupations, sectors and places will be most affected by the "new normal"?

How social distancing and remote working will impact Irish life

From Booterstown to Burma: Laurence Carroll/U Dhammaloka (other five names not listed)

The Irish Buddhist who ended up on trial in Burma in 1911

"Everybody should have access to these spaces within 2km of their homes. If this is not in place in the next few years, then we will have failed to learn from this pandemic." Photo: Kevin Lonergan

How we've rediscovered the natural world during the lockdown

"This is what makes the current situation so very different and potentially hugely problematic"

'People usually leave Ireland when a crisis hits our economy'

More Brainstorm

Ireland.

What occupations, sectors and places will be most affected by the "new normal"?

How social distancing and remote working will impact Irish life

"Despite the negatives, living solo was identified by interviewees as leading to useful life skills and confidence such as taking on tasks usually done by men"

What is it like to be a woman ageing solo in Ireland?

What should our healthcare system look like after the pandemic?

Why it's the right time to kill off the Leaving Cert

How to build a new town in Ireland

Podcasts.

It's my garden now, bud. Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images

Why the fox has moved into our cities

"The more times we expose ourselves to anxiety, the anxiety decreases"

What you need to know about anxiety, panic and worrying

A cyclist in Oslo, a city slowly but surely reducing the number of cars in its city centre. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell/AFP/Getty Images

Reclaiming the streets from the car

"The applications of network science to crime fighting are even more remarkable and this relatively new field of research has proven to be very efficient in studying criminal systems"

How criminal gangs could be stopped by maths

The Leprechaun Brothers (AKA The Swedish Chef, Animal and Beaker) perform "Danny Boy"

From Elvis to The Muppets, the story of "Danny Boy"

st patricks day

You can't blame the Brussels sprouts in January. Photo: Getty Images

The science of farting

"Companies need to look at their complicity in real mental health issues". Photo: Getty Images

Do employers really care about staff mental health issues?

Ideas.

Widespread demand to watch the exploits of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in The Last Dance is one of the reasons why your internet speeds are slowing down. Photo: Vincent LaForest/AFP

Here's why your internet speeds might have slowed down lately

"Musicians of all types have reported that platforms like Zoom and Skype simply do not provide suitable substitutes to playing together live"

Why learning to play music needs more than screentime

How governments can make politically correct investments

Can Trump's partisan base really help him win again in November?

Is it time for a daily arts report on the news just like sports?

Coronavirus.

"Data for April 2020 showed that there are currently 1.3 million people in receipt of an unemployment related social welfare payment"

What's the psychological impact of pandemic-related unemployment?

"The World Health Organisation does not recommend the use of gloves as a means of preventing Covid-19 illness and the HSE advises against wearing disposable gloves instead of washing hands"

Why using gloves in public is 'largely futile' against the ...

Teacher Rebekka Hjorth holds an outdoor lesson with her class in Randers, Denmark. Photo: Bo Amstrup/EPA -EFE

How to reopen schools in a child-friendly way

'It is the less densely populated and mainly rural border counties of Cavan and Monaghan that have been proportionally hardest hit'

What death notices tell us about the coronavirus across Ireland

"The science around the source, spread and control of the virus is evolving and advice on face mask use has been shifting"

All you need to know about wearing face masks in ...

"The ideal vaccine should protect everyone and cause lifelong defences with a single dose"

3 reasons to be optimistic about a coronavirus vaccine

'The spread of fake news and conspiracy theories around the coronavirus is such a significant problem that the World Health Organisation has created a "myth busters" webpage to try to tackle them'

Why the coronavirus has led to so many conspiracy theories

More Coronavirus

Work & Careers.

You on your fourth video call today with that lad from accounts who thinks he's Connell from Normal People

Are you suffering from Zoom fatigue?

Successful executives are often charismatic, confident and driven, characteristics sometimes linked to Antisocial Personality Disorder

My boss is a psychopath: why bad people get good jobs

How can Ireland value, protect and resource an older workforce?

The downsides of working from home

How much are you paid?

History.

Rita Childers in 1973 for RTÉ Guide. Photo: Roy Bedell © RTÉ Photographic Archive

The woman who could have been Ireland's first female president

"Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from Covid 19".

What was behind the Irish grá for garlic as a ...

The Wexford team who won the delayed 1956 All Ireland hurling final

A short history of GAA cancellations and postponements

Some of what the Annals of Tigernach had to say about the events of 664 AD, "a true annus horribilis"

Reeling in the years: why 664 AD was a terrible ...

Sister Kate McCarthy: "it's fitting that she should be remembered because she was an inspiration throughout her life and she still is to women and to Cork and to Ireland"

An Irish nun, the French resistance, the Gestapo and Nazi ...

"For all the challenges they confronted, Anne Franke and the seven others managed to hide in the Annexe for over two years without completely succumbing to despair"

Lessons in isolation and confinement from the diary of Anne ...

"The difficulty of confronting uncomfortable pasts has become heightened in the north, particularly due to the tensions around the issue of Brexit and a United Ireland border poll"

The problems around commemorating the Troubles

Editor's Choice.

The Gooch at large: Colm Cooper in his Kerry heyday

The stories behind 12 great GAA nicknames

Irish playwright and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, Lady Gregory. Photo: George C. Beresford/Beresford/Getty Images

Why Lady Gregory is one of Ireland's greatest cultural figures

A queue for the new supermarket in Shannon. Photo: Shannon Group archives

How to build a new town in Ireland