Andrea Mara: Would you still be friends with your friends, if you met them today?

"Where once we agreed on which beer to buy or which club to go to after the pub, we may now disagree on all sorts of topics from private schools to the Irish language to teens and Snapchat to who should replace Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show."

Andrea Mara, author. Photographs: Moya Nolan

‘How To Declutter Your Friend List’, read the headline in a magazine I picked up at a recent hair appointment. 

I skimmed the feature out of curiosity, though it’s not a new concept. We’ve all seen articles on detoxing friendships that drain us; cutting ties with people who bring us down, decluttering our friend lists, Marie Kondo-style, keeping only the people who bring us joy, or stepping away from historic friendships that have fizzled out.