Columns - Irish Examiner

Louise O’Neill

I knew I would be vilified if I started to talk about other women in crisis pregnancies

It’s time for Ireland to grow up and stop pretending that Irish women don’t have abortions. They do. They always have and they always will. 

Sat, 23 Jul, 2016

Apparently, having sex on the first date means you will be shunned

Having sex on the first date is nature’s way of weeding out assholes with a deeply engrained Madonna/whore complex.

Sat, 16 Jul, 2016

I can attempt to be charming and cute but underneath all of that, my bones are hewn from iron

“Dear Louise, I was raped five years ago and I have been in counselling ever since. After reading your book, for the first time in five years I thought — maybe it was not my fault.”

Sat, 09 Jul, 2016

No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land

There can be no denying the fact that we are living in frightening times. 

Sat, 02 Jul, 2016

People must acknowledge their role in a culture where violence against LGBT people exists

THE difficulty with writing a column with a longer lead time than I’m used to (with this column, it’s ten days) is that I’m often wary of writing about a particular event or incident.

Sat, 25 Jun, 2016

'We are all the same, us addicts, and there are far more of us than people would like to admit'

I am a recovering addict.

Sat, 18 Jun, 2016

Louise O'Neill: My dad raised me to be a warrior, not a princess, and for that, I am forever grateful

From fun-filled days of childhood, to helping her through dark days of anorexia, Louise O’Neill writes how her father has been such an inspirational figure in her life

Tue, 14 Jun, 2016

20 minutes is an awfully long time when you’re the one being raped

I want to talk about rape.

Sat, 11 Jun, 2016

When we sang the rhyme ‘Eeny Meeny Minie Moe’ in playschool, I thought it was ‘knicker’

I see a lot of people shrugging off the idea of White Privilege as ‘PC bullshit’ but it’s very real. 

Sun, 05 Jun, 2016

When I was 21 I would rather have died than get fat

I had a flashback recently. I am 21 and I am in the local Centra near the damp, messy house we rented when I was at university.

Sat, 21 May, 2016