Kathleen MacMahon | Business Post

Kathleen MacMahon

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Kathleen McMahon: The unsubtle art of giving a f*ck

Have expletives lost their currency, or it it time to double down on dirty language? A columnist’s view

Kathleen MacMahon: Why I’m turning down the next dinner invite for a ‘chiropodist’s appointment’

Forget making excuses, I’m following the example of my mother-in-law, whose response to an unwelcome invite is ‘Thank you, but I’d absolutely hate to. I can’t think of anything I’d like worse’

Kathleen MacMahon: Power and glory now reside in corporate cathedrals of the capital

Taking a walking tour to get a measure of our capital city, it’s evident by the buildings that the corporate world has supplanted religion as the dominant power, but who gave them that power?

Kathleen MacMahon: Men for all seasons who are brave, steadfast and willing to help with the kids

We hear a lot about women and all the things they can do, but let’s not forget the admirable and heartwarming qualities of our male folk

Kathleen MacMahon: I was no fan of Celine Dion, now I’m singing her praises

We all have our dislikes or pet hates that we think are life-long and permanent, so it can be alarming when what was once your poison is now your passion

Kathleen MacMahon: Saved by the bookstore, the gift that keeps on giving

If the search for that perfect present is sapping your Christmas spirit, pop into the bookshop – and you’ll have it all wrapped up in no time

Kathleen MacMahon: Dealing with the cold, dead hand of bureaucracy

When a loved ones dies, it is the bureaucracy and automation – state administration, the bank, the utility companies – that causes most distress

Kathleen MacMahon: How to cope with life’s little frustrations when you’re a king

If you’re a frequent fountain pen user, it’s easy to sympathise with Charles’s irritation at the wayward writing implement, but Britain’s new monarch should perhaps take a more regal approach

Kathleen MacMahon: Talk to your elders about their lives while you can

The opportunity we have to properly ask our parents and grandparents about the past is a fleeting one, and many of us fail to act on it until it’s too late

Kathleen MacMahon: Diving for covers in the seventh circle of duvet hell

We can clone animals and fly people to the moon, but we still haven’t worked out how to get a duvet into its cover without hassle

Kathleen MacMahon: It’s a mystery how writers ever find the time to put pen to paper

Is it any wonder the scraps of brilliant, unrealised ideas are piling up on my desk, with life knocking on the door every five minutes?

Kathleen MacMahon: In the great Irish tradition of social mapping the funeral is a festival

Navigating the social tributaries of this densely networked nation means becoming an encyclopaedia in human form

Kathleen MacMahon: We all need a personal copy editor to point out when we’re delusional

Everybody enjoys a pretty display of words, but if the words don’t tell the truth, they can corrupt the page

Kathleen MacMahon: We must confront the darker side of our nature and hope against hope that wisdom will prevail

The human capacity to do horrific things to fellow individuals has always been hard for us to process, now more so than ever

Kathleen MacMahon: When did I become a relic of an unimaginably distant past?

I thought I belonged to the generation that broke the mould but, to my children, I seem as prehistoric as my parents did to me

Kathleen MacMahon: The attack on Ukraine shows that time marches on, but human nature doesn’t change

Some of us thought the arc of the moral universe was only bending in one direction. But we were wrong

Kathleen MacMahon: Calling your mother from abroad has never been easier, but the ritual remains the same

There’s nothing like the breathless report of a complete stranger’s death to make you feel like you’re not just abroad, but perhaps even on another planet

Kathleen MacMahon: Everyone’s new year has room for old gems

Don’t let the cries of ‘out with the old, in with the new’ entice you to wipe the slate clean this year. You might be losing more than you gain

Kathleen MacMahon: The tools of one’s trade are precious things indeed

In an age where most of us have desk jobs, it’s important to remain in touch with the smells and sounds that spark a passion for what you do

Kathleen MacMahon: Anything seems to be the hardest word

We are a nation terrified of giving the slightest criticism or putting anyone’s nose out of joint, even if that rebounds badly on us later on