Brainstorm | Opinion, Analysis, Reports, Features | RTÉ

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"It is the quality of the seeing not the themes or the places that matter." Photo: Paul Butler

What a photographer sees when he visualises John McGahern's work

Culture • 21 Jan

Pana otters or Dublin otters? Photo: Vincent Wildlife Trust

Why otters are taking up residence in our towns and cities

Nature • 21 Jan

"The research team undertook two additional case studies within Garda Sub-Districts experiencing disproportionately high levels of serious crime committed by children"

How can we stop criminal gangs exploiting up to 1,000 Irish kids?

Ireland • 21 Jan

Canon Sheehan's 1901 novel Luke Delmege contains a rare contemporary fictional depiction of a Magdalene laundry.

Canon Sheehan, the Magdalene Laundries and Irish incarceration

History • 20 Jan

New Irish citizens taking place in a citizenship ceremony in October 2013

How Ireland could help 50,000 EU citizens in Northern Ireland

Brexit • 15 Jan

"Standing on Grattan Bridge in Dublin's city centre, it's 2km to either the Royal or the Grand Canal, Docklands or the Phoenix Park." Photo: Getty Images

4 steps to make Dublin a better walking city

Walking • 15 Jan

"81% of respondents said that they would be interested in finding out more about a career in the public sector and 37% found a career in the public sector attractive"

How civil service careers can attract millennials and Gen Z

Work and Careers • 14 Jan

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin giving a State Apology in the Dáil after the findings laid out in the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes

Ireland's complex relationship with shame

Society • 14 Jan

Can Ireland provide leadership on the UN Security Council to reboot Iran's JCPOA nuclear accord?

Can Ireland help to get the Iran nuclear deal back on track?

Iran • 14 Jan

"Frank Broome played for Shels from February to April 1955 and earned £5 per week, though a newspaper reported that it cost an additional £10 a week to fly him from Birmingham to Dublin and back home again". Photo: Aston Villa FC

The story of the Shelbourne player and Hitler's Nazis

History • 12 Jan

"The general public's concerns about flooding have increased for many over the last 10 years, and a large majority of people expect the problem to get worse in the coming decades" Photo: RTÉ

Would you buy a house with a 10% chance of flooding every year?

Housing • 11 Jan

Genevieve Lyons: "audiences prefered to go to Dun Laoghaire to see Lyons as Sally Bowles than go to see Harris in the same role on the big screen". Photo: NUI Galway Archives

How one of the world's biggest musicals found its star in Dublin

Brainstorm • 08 Jan

A swimmer watches the sea at the Forty Foot in Dublin during the lates Covid-19 Level 5 lockdown. Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Why the dryrobe wars shouldn't put you off outdoor swimming

Swimming • 08 Jan

"Undoubtedly, Mrs Doyle from Father Ted spoke for vast swathes of Irish people when, disgusted by the TeaMaster salesman who assured her that his contraption took the misery out of making tea, she retorted, 'Maybe I like the misery.'"

What's behind the Irish obsession with death and misery?

History • 07 Jan

"For the first time in Ireland, HPV vaccines were offered in 2019 to both all girls and boys in the first year of secondary school". Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Why we need to educate teenagers about HPV and vaccines

Health • 07 Jan

"The world of climate action is moving fast and Ireland risks being side-lined in a global race for sustainability."

Why 2021 will be a pivotal year for climate action in Ireland

Climate Action • 06 Jan

Gallery visitors examine a Hilary Heron sculpture at the Living Art Exhibition at the National College of Art, Dublin in 1963. Photo: RTÉ Stills Library

The fascinating life and work of Irish artist Hilary Heron

History • 08 Jan

"The custom was that women made social calls to the homes of their friends and neighbours and enjoyed tea and the last of the Christmas cake". Photo: George Marks/Getty Images

The roots and traditions of Nollaig na mBan

Ireland • 06 Jan

Arklow's Main Street in 1992. Photo: RTÉ Archives

Will rural businesses survive the pandemic?

Business • 18 Dec 20

"If lucky, those in the Cairn may witness the sunlight snaking its way through the lightbox up the ancient path to penetrate the centre of this stunning architectural monument to a magnificent feat of nature."

How to mark the Winter Solstice's shortest day and longest night

Winter Solstice • 17 Dec 20

Protesters outside Mountjoy Jail in 1920. Photo: RTÉ Archive

How 1920 was one of the bloodiest years in Irish history

Brainstorm • 17 Dec 20

It will be a very different Christmas in Irish churches in 2020

How Irish churches are celebrating Christmas during a pandemic

Christmas • 16 Dec 20

"Rather than being something good, charity might more accurately be said to be a necessary evil or at least something that allows an evil to persist"

How our generosity for charities exposes the failure of state

Charity • 15 Dec 20

The aftermath of the Provisional IRA ambush at Warrenpoint in 1979 which killed 18 British soldiers

A short history of the many groups who've claimed to be the IRA

History • 16 Dec 20

Holyhead dockers move cargo from railway vans to the hold of a waiting ferry bound for Ireland in 1938. Photo: SSPL/Getty Images

How Ireland and Britain ended up in an Economic War in the 1930s

History • 11 Dec 20

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