How can that elusive balance be achieved with a sort of random selection? Yet how can it not be done that way either? ask Alison O’Connor

FORMER British prime minister David Cameron is being criticised for rewarding the “old boys network” in the honours list he submitted with his resignation. But one of the names on the list that has gotten most mentions, universally snide ones actually, is a woman, writes Alison O’Connor.

Unions are male dominated but Leinster House sure gives them a run for their money, writes Alison O’Connor

Death and dying have become far too medicalised — pretending it is not happening, doesn’t make it go away, writes Alison O’Connor.

Isabel’s treatment lacked even the most basic level of human decency and was shocking in its lack of compassion, writes Alison O’Connor

Appeasement politics (as any parents will tell you) results in more tears and higher expectation, writes Alison O’Connor

There are many difficult things about being a parent but one I struggle often with is how to explain the horrible things that can occur in the world, and why they might happen, writes Alison O’Connor.