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Letter From America

Marion McKeone: Forget the Empire State building, tourists now make a beeline for NY rat tours

The population of the pests has exploded and enterprising locals are now giving tourists the latest Big Apple ‘experience’ while a $170,000 rat tzar has been hired to deal with the issue

Anton Savage: Irish bin bags are a load of rubbish – it’s time we went down the American route

They have it right stateside when it comes to super-sturdy refuse sacks and tin foil, while we struggle on with our paper-thin alternatives

Jarlath Regan: How can I lecture my kids on school behaviour when I was a half-assed smart-alec?

My style of educational application won’t cut it in today’s system of continual assessment, monitoring and always-on WhatsApp groups

Eithne Shortall: Bikes help kids learn to navigate the twists in the long road to independence

Your offspring gaining the ability to cycle is a big moment for both parent and child – the start of the bumpy journey towards adulthood

Eithne Shortall: Time to change the story on kids’ bestsellers being dominated by non-Irish authors

Irish authors are high up the list of bestsellers for adults in Ireland, but the top ten children’s books mostly feature non-homegrown writers despite there being plenty of quality choices available here

Letter From America

Marion McKeone: Disaster vultures quick to swoop on Hawaiians’ misery

Predatory speculators made rich by lowballing the vulnerable with pitiful cash offers for distressed or destroyed properties already have their sights on those who lost their homes in Lahaina’s deadly wildfires

Jarlath Regan: Regrets, I’ve had a few, but none like the buyer’s remorse of my seven-year-old self

Before the days of returning unwanted purchases, what presented as an opportunity of a lifetime could cost far more than the initial price

Anton Savage: Watch out for the wok wave that’s about to wash over us

Resistance is futile; when wok mania hits, you’ll be snapping up incresingly expensive ones

Letter From America

Marion McKeone: Black bear Henrietta’s extraordinary life on the lam has a much-needed happy ending

The story of the enormous bear’s phenomenal crime spree, capture, escape, recapture and death row reprieve gave the US some good, old-fashioned bipartisan news

Eithne Shortall: The HSE needs to get serious about helping mothers to breastfeed

It’s time to put some proper resources into breastfeeding support

Jarlath Regan: ‘I’ve been mugged – and so have you, and everyone else in this country’

Opportunism is the buzzword of our times, when everything seems to cost way more than it should and prices are on a one-way trajectory

Jarlath Regan: It’s human to err, but it shows humanity to fess up

Our lives are a comedy of errors – but it’s an essential life skill to own up to our imperfections, embrace our mistakes and reveal the real person behind them

Anton Savage: RTÉ pays its stars the big bucks because they’re worth it

Had he lived and stayed working till today, Gerry Ryan would have earned the station another €58.5 million. How much do you pay a presenter like that?

Eithne Shortall: sometimes all it takes is a look to violate your peace of mind

Being stared at is low on the scale of indignities to suffer at the hands of men, but some random creep on the Dart managed to ruin my day all the same

Jarlath Regan: What not to say to your other half when the kids are on holiday

There’s only one thing worse than facing the two-month kids’ Glastonbury parents are expected to conjure from thin air every summer, and that’s trying to do it alone with an oblivious spouse

Anton Savage: Slow and steady wins the race when the stakes are high

Inherited from the tech sector, disruptor philosophy has crept into areas of our lives where it is least appropriate – and most risky

Eithne Shortall: Why I’ve joined the running battle to keep ageing at bay

If you want to keep fit and healthy as you get older, you’ve got to move with the times – literally

Eithne Shortall: Let’s make a call on young kids and the dangers of devices

With potential harm to our youngsters just a text away, primary schools having a no-smartphone agreement in place sounds like an idea worth exploring

Jarlath Regan: Thirty years spent honing entirely useless life skills is quite the accomplishment

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but some of us have been naturally gifted with the most redundant and worthless talents

Anton Savage: EVs didn’t kill the joy of the car nut, safety did

Cars are not cool any more. And why? Because they’re no longer death traps that wipe you out if you put a foot wrong. With the absence of risk comes the absence of desirability