Columns - Irish Examiner

Aida Austin

The side of the 'Strictly' craze you'll never see ...

Aida Austin lets us glimpse inside her own ’Strictly’ diary ...

Sat, 26 Nov, 2016

Yeah, spitting on beds was quite a thing when we were kids

MY MOTHER’S eightieth birthday party - and I’m catching up with my cousins; six of them, my mother’s sister’s children, from the Italian side.

Sat, 19 Nov, 2016

My husband has just shouted, “SHIT,” and disappeared round the corner to find Wi-Fi

9am, and I am standing outside Vanessa’s flat in Brixton, checking my phone for messages left on the “Siblings” Whatsapp group that my London sister created in order to organise my mother’s 80th birthday party.

Sat, 12 Nov, 2016

It’s hard enough being a woman at the best of times, without having to worry about your husband selling you

My mother phones me at my sister’s flat. It’s 9am.

Sat, 05 Nov, 2016

Aida Austin: My daughter and husband are determined to be my caregivers

9am. I am in the car, en route to hospital, where I am to have a small lesion removed from my lower calf.

Fri, 04 Nov, 2016

I remember you and me being told to be nice to the nuns from the convent

My five siblings and I are organising a party to celebrate my mother’s 80th birthday. 

Sat, 29 Oct, 2016

I am trying to get into Vanessa’s car but first I have to find the seat

FIVE pm, London, and I’m lying on the sofa in Vanessa’s sitting room, counting tribal Afghan kilims.

Sat, 22 Oct, 2016

There is going to be no blood, sweat or tears because I am going to pace myself this time...

“You swore you’d never renovate anything again as long as you lived. You’ve been swearing that for my entire childhood.”

Sat, 15 Oct, 2016

No one saw my pyjamas falling down, but I still can’t find the Nissan

Midnight, Sunday — and I’m outside the house, looking for my book which I feel certain I left in the car.

Sat, 08 Oct, 2016

My daughter and husband are determined to be my caregivers