But she wasn’t consumed by us either. I knew that she was her own person, that she had autonomy outside of her role as our mother. She would sign my birthday cards with “Mike and Marie”, a tiny rebellion, a reminder that she wasn’t just a ‘Mammy’. She had an identity that she wouldn’t relinquish.

A friend of mine, J, lives in LA and although we text and phone regularly, we realised recently that we hadn’t seen each other in the flesh since the summer of 2016. It was a situation that must be remedied, we decided, and as soon as possible.

Ahead of International Women's Day, and as we settle into a new decade, our columnists reflect on life as a woman in Ireland as we settle into a new decade.

I’m at the Tyrone Guthrie centre in Annaghmakerrig again, starting work on a new ‘New Novel’.

Of course, as 2020 is a Leap Year and today is February 29 which means… drum roll please… that women are ‘allowed’ to get down on one knee today and pop the question.

There are certain things I remember about when my parents would go out for the night together. A pair of silk trousers my mother had, the floral scent of her Anais Anais perfume.

It was my grandmother’s anniversary this week. I keep looking at the calendar, remembering the same date last year.

As a child, I had certain ideas about what life would be like as an adult and most of those were derived from movies.

It’s the story everyone is talking about.

Louise O'Neill on giving up alcohol.

I was at FemFest recently, a conference organised by the National Women’s Council of Ireland for young women between the ages of 16 and 25.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is a strange one.

If you have any concerns or issues you would like Louise to answer you can confidentially do so by submitting your question.

In December 2018, I spoke at an event in Tralee which celebrated young women in modern Ireland.

In November, I took my partner to New Orleans to celebrate his 30th birthday – yes, you’re right, I am a great girlfriend! Thank you for saying so, writes Louise O'Neill.

I’d be ecstatic if I was ever asked to contribute to What I Can’t Live Without but since it hasn’t happened thus far, I’m going to take advantage of my column and do my own version right here.

The day my Leaving Cert results were issued, I was in Spain, writes Louise O'Neill.

The most important thing to be in your social media is ‘authentic’ but what does that even mean?

Asking for It shines an unflinching light on the experience of a young woman whose life is changed forever by a horrific act of violence.

I am writing this from the Metropole Hotel in Cork, where I was invited to be their writer-in-residence for January, writes Louise O'Neill.

Have you heard of gratitude journals? It’s a diary where you write down everything that you’re grateful for in an attempt to focus your attention on the good things in your life, writes Louise O'Neill.

Have you heard of the term “Cuffing Season”? Coined by Urban Dictionary in 2011, it’s defined as the period between autumn and winter when “people who would normally be single or promiscuous find themselves, along with the rest of the world, desiring to be ‘cuffed’ or tied down by a serious relationship”, writes Louise O'Neill.

When I was at university, I had two friends who were teetotal, writes Louise O'Neill.

The news that a documentary on Back to Black, Amy Winehouse’s seminal album, is due out next month was so exciting that I immediately started listening to her music on repeat.

Keep fighting. The human instinct to survive is stronger than you could ever imagine, writes Louise O'Neill

It's a funny thing, being the younger of two daughters. I often wonder how much of my personality is innate or how much of it I constructed in direct contrast with my older sister.

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