Bernard O'Shea: What is a 'third space' and how can you use them to hide from your family

Tired of being needed at home and expected to perform at work? Enter the magical world of third spaces

Bernard O'Shea: "The truth is, in Ireland, we’ve always had third spaces — we just didn’t call them that. We called them pubs."

I’ve developed a strange compulsion lately. I leave my perfectly decent house and drive to cafés to sit beside strangers, drink overly ambitious coffee, and stare at my laptop like I’m decoding the Enigma machine. Except I’m not. I’m usually googling “how long should a 45-year-old nap before it turns into a coma?”

And it’s not just me. These cafés are full of people like me — hunched over screens, headphones in, pretending they’re in the middle of a cultural revolution, when really they’re on their fifth quiz about which potato-based side dish matches their personality. (I got gratin, in case you're wondering.)