Person: Alison O'Connor

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>The idea of keeping your children away from a school setting points towards an obsessive need to keep control of your child’s/children’s environment. Picture: iStock</p>

S columnists

Alison O’Connor: Micheál Martin was right to speak up on homeschooling

Depriving your children of the opportunity to play, to socialise, to make lifelong friends, to prepare them for real life, has never sat easy with me

SAlison O'Connor: Let’s discuss trans issues without any more input from the Burkes

Alison O'Connor: Aren't we lucky to have someone like Graham Norton?

Alison O'Connor: If you want to unite with the North, you can at least visit there

Alison O'Connor: A storm in a poster teacup? Maybe — but it still leaves a bad taste

Alison O'Connor: What are we going to do about increased threats to public figures?

Alison O'Connor: How sick is our health system that people are afraid to go to hospital?

The latest crisis has done psychological harm to the public and health service staff alike — and hope is in short supply

Fri, 13 Jan, 2023

S Alison O'Connor: Who is pushing far-right buttons of Irish political representatives?

TD Brid Smith said she was ‘sickened’ by how vulnerable people are being ‘manipulated by the far right’

Fri, 23 Dec, 2022

Alison O'Connor: How will Fianna Fáil treat Martin now that he is no longer in the top job?

The Fianna Fáil cadre was also unhappy the new Taoiseach was taking a while to find his feet. Commanding was not a word that came to mind

Fri, 09 Dec, 2022

Alison O’Connor: Cut out the smirking and listen without prejudice to the Greens

It was a joyful occasion. A crowd gathered for the turning on of the Christmas lights in our local park last Saturday evening. There was entertainment, the requisite speech from a local politician and, of course, Santa.

Fri, 02 Dec, 2022

Alison O'Connor: We must not let fear of litigation halt future screening programmes

These programmes are not infallible, but they are still hugely valuable

Fri, 25 Nov, 2022

Alison O'Connor: We may be appalled at the sermon, but Fr Sheehy spouted company policy

It’s the same old teaching and unbendable rules that lie at the heart of the Catholic Church

Fri, 04 Nov, 2022

S Alison O'Connor: Promises of céad míle fáilte no substitute for warm, safe homes

Our response to host Ukrainians was not entirely grounded in reality in a country already experiencing an acute accommodation crisis

Fri, 28 Oct, 2022

the notice of eviction of tenants hangs on the door of the house

S Alison O'Connor: Time is running out for this Government on housing crisis

Temporary eviction ban is only moving the deck chairs around — we need long-term solutions

Fri, 21 Oct, 2022

Alison O’Connor: Anger and bitterness but we don’t have a bottomless pit of money

In the run up to Tuesday, as the billions kept rising, people in Government were resigned to the fact that the general response would still be a bit 'meh'

Fri, 30 Sep, 2022

Gas Prices Remain Historically High As War In Ukraine Rages On

Alison O'Connor: Inflation in US hits harder than gun violence, Ukraine, or climate

Different accent but the same language to US talk of cost-of-living crisis

Fri, 16 Sep, 2022

Alison O'Connor: We can be trans-inclusive without undermining women’s rights

"We must respect people's identity. A trans woman is a woman. A trans man is a man," says Labour Party leader and chair of the gender committee Ivana Bacik

Fri, 02 Sep, 2022

Alison O'Connor: Jack Chambers is laying the groundwork, but doesn’t want Martin to go yet

Avidly pursuing a healthy version of the old chicken-and-chips circuit, the 31-year-old Fianna Fáil junior minister has also been growing politically and is now widely tipped for promotion

Fri, 26 Aug, 2022

FILE PHOTO President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina have tested positive for Covid-19, according to a spokesperson for Ár

Alison O'Connor: Presidential couple can’t keep testing outer limits of the office

Both President Higgins and his wife are fully aware of the constraints that apply to speaking out on such issues

Fri, 05 Aug, 2022

Alison O'Connor: Coming winter will see issues on food security and fuel availability

Only a few years ago the very idea of food security was far from everyone's mind at EU level, writes Alison O'Connor

Fri, 24 Jun, 2022

Alison O'Connor: We can have a rational discussion — and still protect trans people

'This bullying and utterly totalitarian attachment to a particular ideology was always going to end badly'

Fri, 17 Jun, 2022

Alison O'Connor: Maxi helped heal my broken heart but now we have to say goodbye

'No more of the familiar tap tap of small terrier paws around the house' — sixteen years on, our much-loved dog is gone

Fri, 08 Apr, 2022

Alison O'Connor: Ukraine is in agony — and the true horror is that this is all deliberate

As we continue to deal with the pandemic, here's another once-in-a-lifetime shock. One big difference being that the chaos, suffering, and death unleashed on Ukraine is entirely by design

Fri, 11 Mar, 2022

Alison O'Connor: Restrictions? Let's begin by lifting one that has solely targeted women

Article 42.1 does not confine women to their homes, but it has certainly contributed to denying our agency and autonomy

Fri, 23 Apr, 2021

Alison O'Connor: Availability of abortion to Irish citizens is a sign of a mature society

So many of us knew women who'd had to travel for abortions and understood the pain that involved, writes Alison O'Connor

Fri, 03 Jul, 2020

Alison O'Connor: The portrait of Michael Collins will be back in the Taoiseach's office... but will Leo?

Micheál Martin had hardly received his seal of office from President Michael D Higgins but his Twitter bio was changed to reflect his new status: “Taoiseach and Uachtarán Fhianna Fáil. TD for Cork South Central.”

Mon, 29 Jun, 2020

Alison O'Connor: No masking the fact we haven’t escaped virus threat completely

We have a major win on our hands against Covid-19. We don’t want to lose that now by being stupid or careless, writes Alison O'Connor

Fri, 26 Jun, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Government deal not yet in the bag, for many reasons

In the Dublin suburb of Phibsboro there is a cafe, which, on the basis of its website, looks to be really charming. Bang Bang is a greengrocer and deli with “top coffee”.

Fri, 19 Jun, 2020

Alison O’Connor: Putting aside petty differences and taking what’s put on the table

The perception is that Fianna Fáil ministers would be more flexible and creative in trying to find a solution, writes Alison O'Connor .

Fri, 05 Jun, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Dysfunctional health service has shown that it can be transformed

The future running of our health service, from the Covid-19 perspective, but also simply it’s long standing dysfunctionality, is a nettle that simply has to be grasped writes Alison O'Connor.

Fri, 22 May, 2020

Alison O’Connor: Trump’s downplaying of Covid-19 is a betrayal of the American people

In a few weeks’ time, I was due to be on a much anticipated trip to the US. It was to be a highlight of the 2020 calendar, writes Alison O'Connor

Fri, 08 May, 2020

Alison O’Connor: A health emergency is no time for conspiracy theories or for agendas

What is so difficult to understand are the cranks... casting their suspicious gazes around, writes Alison O'Connor

Fri, 01 May, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Why the virus is good news and bad news for the media industry

Trusted newspaper websites have had record traffic... but advertising has fallen off a cliff, writes Alison O'Connor

Fri, 24 Apr, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Did your party go running during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Are these not the questions we, in our tens of thousands, would have been asking before the general election if we had the benefit of coronavirus hindsight, the awfulness of which is now in our possession?

Fri, 17 Apr, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Government formation talks - Parties mull over seismic societal changes due to Covid-19

If ever a glittering trophy turned into a booby prize it is that of getting into Government. The prospect of running Ireland Inc for the foreseeable future must make even the strongest political stomach turn.

Thu, 02 Apr, 2020

Alison O’Connor: No-one should die alone from this virus. We must all stand together

Alison O'Connor asks, what are the death experiences that we collectively face into over the coming few months?

Thu, 26 Mar, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Priority hoarding aside we are doing our best in a bad situation

I watch my children walking or scooting ahead, and wonder what psychological scars will remain, writes Alison O'Connor

Thu, 19 Mar, 2020

Alison O'Connor: We all have a hand in minimising the spread of the coronavirus

We live in a fearful world. At our most fanciful, we might, in the past, have imagined a cure for cancer or life found on Mars being our global “where were you when” moment, writes Alison O'Connor.

Thu, 12 Mar, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Mistrust of official guidelines on the flu outbreak can be contagious

Nations and health officials are working to protect everyone, but too many people see conspiracy.

Thu, 05 Mar, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Shortage of HRT is causing huge stress ... so why the silence?

I brokered a drug transaction this week. It involved two school mums.

Thu, 27 Feb, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Politicians must resolve election result impasse

More people than would normally after an election are wondering what the politicians will do with the challenge they have been set by the voters, with no party having anything like a majority.

Thu, 20 Feb, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Same old territory for the election of women

It's been a “change” election in so many ways, but one certainty we cling to is that we’re stuck in the same old territory when it comes to the election of women to the Dáil.

Mon, 10 Feb, 2020

Alison O'Connor on the Canvass: Is Sinn Fein right to compare itself to the Dublin footballers?

Alison O'Connor joins the canvass.

Sun, 02 Feb, 2020

Alison O'Connor on Election 2020: Green Party keeping it in the family

TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Turlough Duffy raised an eyebrow ever so slightly at his teacher’s suggestion that he be on the debating team opposing the motion: “We need a change of government.”

Mon, 20 Jan, 2020

Alison O'Connor: The health service is sick, and Dr Varadkar has failed to cure it

There is strong evidence that the overcrowding that currently exists in our hospitals and emergency rooms results in people dying, writes Alison O'Connor

Thu, 09 Jan, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Why Leo’s round of Christmas publicity didn’t make a splash

Here’s a new year wish: May our politicians remain clothed while there are cameras around.

Thu, 02 Jan, 2020

Alison O'Connor: Chilled Robinson offers an urgent message on climate change crisis

Mary Robinson spoke of the movement to divest from fossil fuels and how the wealthy fossil fuel industry had learnt ‘a lot of bad tricks’, writes Alison O'Connor.

Fri, 27 Dec, 2019

Alison O'Connor: Each decade brings stark choices that impact our nation’s children

We still live with the scars of that time and those traumatic memories [of the horrendous austerity] will live on, writes Alison O'Connor.

Thu, 19 Dec, 2019

Alison O'Connor: The price of being female is that we are undervalued in workplace

A male acquaintance who is self-employed says women don’t value their own time in business.

Thu, 12 Dec, 2019

Alison O'Connor: Is Fine Gael standing by its candidate or just standing by?

The Taoiseach canvassing alongside a woman who has made the remarks Verona Murphy has gives a certain imprimatur to her, writes Alison O'Connor

Thu, 28 Nov, 2019