Mar 27Get weird, but get writingI don’t have a great memory. Well. That’s not entirely true. I can remember the lyrics of the theme tune to the 1981 Alexandre Dumas rip-off Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds as if I wrote them. …Writing6 min readWriting6 min read
Dec 29, 2021No Good: How John Madden set me up for heartacheA version of this piece was first published in September 2019. It’s lunchtime on a dreary September day and a murder of schoolchildren are crammed into my brother’s bedroom. They’re huddled around a tiny screen watching a great sporting drama unfold. But it’s not an All-Ireland final, Clare having already…NFL6 min readNFL6 min read
Oct 4, 2021Do androids dream of electric grief?Being online in the early 2000s was a lot like standing in line for a rollercoaster. You had a sense of what was to come, but didn’t really know what was in store. The likes of Myspace, Facebook, and even Bebo were all still in their infancy so, if you…Grief5 min readGrief5 min read
May 12, 2021A year in waiting roomsAmy, You won’t remember this given all you’ve been through today, but there was a cinnamon sky this morning when it looked like you and our unborn child could die. How horribly fitting it could end like this after a year in waiting rooms? A grey parade of carpets and…4 min read4 min read
Feb 7, 2021The absence of wonder (reprise)This story was first published in 2019 to mark Tom Brady’s birthday. I’ve tweaked the ending to reflect the third era of his career. IT’S AN ODD experience to think you’re about to die. It’s a lot different than how it’s portrayed in film and literature. So incredibly mundane, my…NFL6 min readNFL6 min read
Sep 24, 2020The was no justice for Breonna Taylor and no NFL week 3 preview65 years ago this week, the trial of Roy Bryant and his half-brother JW Milam for the kidnap, torture, and murder of 14-year old Emmett Till came to an end, with the jury sent for deliberations. An hour later, the all-male, all-white jury allowed the pair to walk free. The…NFL3 min readNFL3 min read
Sep 18, 2020Housing is a human right and your NFL week 2 previewWith all the hype surrounding America’s showpiece sporting event, you’d be forgiven if you missed the news, broken to coincide with the Super Bowl, that Quicken Loans had signed a four-year contract with the NFL to be its exclusive mortgage sponsor. Quicken—founded by Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers—has…NFL4 min readNFL4 min read
Sep 10, 2020End Direct Provision and your NFL Week 1 previewThere’s no way of escaping the fact that our children will ask us how we allowed Direct Provision—the holding of people who arrive in Ireland seeking asylum or international protection in centres around the country—to happen for as long as it has. While in theory the State directly provides essential…NFL4 min readNFL4 min read
Aug 31, 20202020 — The year the NFL matters the least, it matters the mostWITH THE CONTINUED spread of Covid-19, 2020 was already set to be a season unlike any other. …NFL10 min readNFL10 min read
Apr 16, 2020The isolation journals: Day 3—there are no return flights.Today’s prompt via Mari Andrew: Write a travel journal entry from your home, could be your living room, could be your bed. Write as though you’ve just arrived in a new place (because, in many ways, you have) and what you’re observing about the place and how you feel in…3 min read3 min read
