Person: Terry Prone

Sign in

Person: Terry Prone

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>Ernest Hemingway in June 1961 at the home of a Mayo Clinic doctor with two members of the doctor's family. He hardly exists and — at 61 years of age — looks so fragile and shrunken, he could be two decades older.</p>

columnists

Terry Prone: Hemingway's cocktail of brain chemicals and concussion could have been dementia

In retrospect, it’s possible to be pretty sure that the repeated instances of concussion did cumulative damage to his brain, causing him to self-medicate with alcohol

STerry Prone: Should we burn books after finding out the author is a fraud?

STerry Prone: I am desperately envious, but I am also smart, so I play the odds on where I might compete

Terry Prone: Being mistaken for Mary Street in Rome isn't a bad start to Christmas

STerry Prone: Author book signing events can have a fairy tale ending

STerry Prone: Christmas reveals a fascinating gap between Meghan Markle and reality

dermatologist Inspecting patient skin moles at clinic

S Terry Prone: My moles proved a bit of a snooze fest for the surgeon

'Being told that two moles that just might be cancerous were boring to the man excising them was oddly dispiriting'

Mon, 01 Dec, 2025

Terry Prone: He was a labourer. Now his family reveals the secret life of artist Eric Tucker

S Terry Prone: He was a labourer. Now his family reveals the secret life of artist Eric Tucker

Eric Tucker, who had lived quietly in Warrington, was for decades painting the people and places around the place he called home

Mon, 24 Nov, 2025

Weekly supermarket shopping

S Terry Prone: Digital payments are fine but, like most of us, I still prefer to carry cash

Flexible as my phone payment system is, it won’t talk to supermarket trolleys

Mon, 03 Nov, 2025

Book extract: Jack Lynch's TV broadcast that broke the mould

Book extract: Jack Lynch's TV broadcast that broke the mould

In an extract from ‘I’m Glad You Asked Me That: The Political Years’, Terry Prone recalls her husband Tom Savage helping Jack Lynch pull off a media masterstroke in 1977

Tue, 21 Oct, 2025

Prince Andrew relinquishes titles and honours

S Terry Prone: Seriously, what planet does Britain’s deluded Prince Andrew inhabit?

Andrew's latest public statement shows he should be confined to the Tower of London

Mon, 20 Oct, 2025

Terry Prone: Like others with dementia, Bruce Willis is being robbed of his dignity and privacy

S Terry Prone: Like others with dementia, Bruce Willis is being robbed of his dignity and privacy

Fame does not protect us from the reality that the person with dementia is the loser. Once diagnosed, they lose all of their rights, starting with the right to privacy

Mon, 13 Oct, 2025

Terry Prone: Sorry state of some sculptures a reminder in how not to memorialise people

S Terry Prone: Sorry state of some sculptures a reminder in how not to memorialise people

Sometimes an obelisk is the safest way to remember people and events

Mon, 06 Oct, 2025

Duchess of Kent funeral

S Terry Prone: Charities should never have dealt with that serial dud, Sarah Ferguson

England’s Duchess of York had a dodgy past — long before the closeness of her links to paedophile and child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were revealed

Mon, 29 Sep, 2025

Russian invasion of Ukraine

S Terry Prone: No way back this time for Labour’s self-pitying moral chameleon Peter Mandelson

Power, influence, and position have been taken from Mandelson previously, and he always recovered. This time, however, no recovery is possible. He’s done

Mon, 15 Sep, 2025

Eamon De Valera 50th anniversary

S Terry Prone: Bertie Ahern’s past political bombs come back to blow up in his face

The rationale for Bertie's rejection, and the manner in which it was executed, are resonant of his own past modus operandi

Mon, 08 Sep, 2025

Terry Prone: Man’s desperate dive into rotting rubbish to retrieve his wife’s rings

S Terry Prone: Man’s desperate dive into rotting rubbish to retrieve his wife’s rings

Landfill managers deserve to have award ceremonies

Mon, 01 Sep, 2025

TV Garraway 2

S Terry Prone: There is nothing healthy, physically or emotionally, about fat camp TV

What is it about weight that delivers such a dire permission to people whose opinions have not been elicited?

Mon, 25 Aug, 2025

Terry Prone: Frank Grimes was a forgotten titan of Irish stage and screen

S Terry Prone: Frank Grimes was a forgotten titan of Irish stage and screen

His portrayal of the dignified, hopelessly naïve curate in RTÉ’s 'Strumpet City' won him the Irish equivalent of an Oscar

Mon, 18 Aug, 2025

Terry Prone: So you’re thinking of running for the Áras... Are you out of your mind?

S Terry Prone: So you’re thinking of running for the Áras... Are you out of your mind?

Ahead of every presidential election, deluded outliers consider running. They look you fearlessly in the eye and affirm in a quiet voice that they want to make a difference. Like Mary Robinson

Mon, 11 Aug, 2025

JetBlue Airways

S Terry Prone: Cabin staff no longer exist to help make your flight enjoyable

Cabin staff no longer exist to help make your flight enjoyable. They’re there to sell you stuff and if you don’t want it, you can shiver right off, so you can.

Mon, 04 Aug, 2025

Terry Prone: Storied minutiae of my past will be an asset to researchers of the future

S Terry Prone: Storied minutiae of my past will be an asset to researchers of the future

Here’s a sentence that I never thought I would write: I have donated my papers to the . Imagine. Such notions.

Mon, 28 Jul, 2025

Terry Prone: Corporate communication axe falls on Coldplay kiss-cam couple

S Terry Prone: Corporate communication axe falls on Coldplay kiss-cam couple

It’s difficult to imagine a public mis-step so spectacular in its reach and damage

Mon, 21 Jul, 2025

Terry Prone - Celebrity Home Of The Year 2016. Photography by Ruth Medjber www.ruthlessimagery.com

Terry Prone: When it comes to woodlice, I’m Albert Pierrepoint — fast and efficient

One of the lesser-known consequences of climate change is that I become a killer during the summer months

Mon, 14 Jul, 2025

Terry Prone: Why the benefits of Vitamin C are not as easy as one, two, three

S Terry Prone: Why the benefits of Vitamin C are not as easy as one, two, three

It’s a much stronger mental and attitudinal tattoo, even, than the 'eight glasses of water a day'

Mon, 30 Jun, 2025

Terry Prone: I get Botox not to look younger but to continue looking like myself

S Terry Prone: I get Botox not to look younger but to continue looking like myself

Botox isn't about denying my age — it's a way of avoiding ending up like a balloon you find under the stairs a fortnight after the party

Mon, 23 Jun, 2025

Teenage Boys Drinking Beer

S Terry Prone: Advertisers pushing boundaries to get their message to consumers

The playbook developed by Big Tobacco is now being used by several industries, including, most notably, the alcohol industry

Mon, 16 Jun, 2025

Unrecognizable health visitor and a senior woman during home visit.

S Terry Prone: Abuse of nursing home patients has been going on for decades

Profit is king when it comes to the running of our nursing homes

Mon, 09 Jun, 2025

KKW Beauty Launches At ULTA Beauty

S Terry Prone: Average-looking women must work twice as hard to be successful

The fifties model of the acceptable woman was limited and limiting. But probably not as limited and limiting as the current decade

Mon, 02 Jun, 2025

Terry Prone: We recall Ronald Reagan fondly but he was every bit as bad as Donald Trump

S Terry Prone: We recall Ronald Reagan fondly but he was every bit as bad as Donald Trump

Reagan's reputation as a good guy and a great communicator was down to his acting ability

Mon, 26 May, 2025

Terry Prone: Perils of the potential misuse of the media take centre stage on Broadway

S Terry Prone: Perils of the potential misuse of the media take centre stage on Broadway

George Clooney stars as Joe McCarthy in a production that explores a shape-shifting attack on democracy

Mon, 19 May, 2025

Terry Prone: How a protected species has outwitted me for 20 years and cost me €10k

S Terry Prone: How a protected species has outwitted me for 20 years and cost me €10k

After removing the net from her fish pond, Terry Prone has tried scarecrows, old CDs and a kite-like contraption to keep away predators. None have worked and she is at a loss over how to fix it

Mon, 12 May, 2025

People waiting for job interview

Terry Prone: Promotion-focused women not as valued as their male counterparts

It’s easy to assume that women would prefer to be liked than corporately successful

Mon, 05 May, 2025

AI prompt chat bot. Search website to generate data, text or image. Man using computer with artificial intelligence app. Virtual

Terry Prone: Badger-licking test proves AI is not as smart as it’s cracked up to be

'AI has no oil on its feathers, no capacity to laugh at you or itself'

Mon, 28 Apr, 2025

Tom Lehrer

S Terry Prone: Remembering a 'once off' talent on a spring afternoon

To listen to one of Tom Lehrer's recordings from the 60s is to be enthralled by the uniqueness of writing and performance

Mon, 21 Apr, 2025

Terry Prone: Percy Pig’s prospects of travelling to USA rashered by Trump’s tariffs

S Terry Prone: Percy Pig’s prospects of travelling to USA rashered by Trump’s tariffs

Percy Pig sweets which are hugely popular, selling 18m bags a year, launched in the US last week but could now fall foul of the US president’s tariffs

Mon, 07 Apr, 2025

Terry Prone: Being an Age Friendly ambassador might just be useful — and fun

S Terry Prone: Being an Age Friendly ambassador might just be useful — and fun

The demeaning photographs used to characterise older people during the pandemic drove me nuts

Mon, 31 Mar, 2025

Terry Prone: They’re fine, those book clubs, but there’s a niche for a different kind of endeavour

S Terry Prone: They’re fine, those book clubs, but there’s a niche for a different kind of endeavour

An anti-book club would work the opposite way to the “buy me” clubs. It would warn potential buyers off truly God-awful offerings

Mon, 24 Mar, 2025

Terry Prone: Irish identity was riven with irony as the shame was too real to bear

S Terry Prone: Irish identity was riven with irony as the shame was too real to bear

One of the saddest threads running through Ireland's economic stagnation and abject poverty 80 years ago was the paradoxical self-esteem drawn from concealing it

Mon, 17 Mar, 2025

US-IRELAND-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-TAOISEACH

Terry Prone: Taoiseach exits Oval Office stage left, with a smile. Phew

Micheál Martin's years of experience and a nice mention of Clare County Council's planning prowess gave him a win when it wasn't guaranteed

Wed, 12 Mar, 2025

Terry Prone: Michael Sheen's £1m debt payoff is more than just philanthropy

Terry Prone: Michael Sheen's £1m debt payoff is more than just philanthropy

By exposing a bizarre financial system, the actor — in a small way — is helping to reverse the generational damage debt can deliver

Mon, 10 Mar, 2025

APTOPIX Trump Zelenskyy

S Terry Prone: A shrugging dislike for Donald Trump has turned to 'terror'

It’s a fear added to by the fact that one of the US president’s close supporters — Elon Musk — responded to an event which carries profound life-and-death implications for the people of Ukraine with a laughing/crying emoji

Mon, 03 Mar, 2025

Old fashioned water pump

Terry Prone: Even water pumps were beautiful in Victorian times. What’s wrong with us?

Somewhere along the line, the notion of the public space as worthy of careful design and implicit respect for the passerby has died

Mon, 24 Feb, 2025

Terry Prone: Time for politicians to bin those bréaga phrases from vocabulary

Terry Prone: Time for politicians to bin those bréaga phrases from vocabulary

The communication of our TDs and senators would be greatly improved if they reconsidered, and in some cases removed, certain phrases from their vocabulary

Mon, 17 Feb, 2025

Evictions ban

Terry Prone: Was reverence for Fr Peter McVerry enough to turn blind eye to trust?

Mainstream media has treated him with a pally respect rarely accorded to a member of the clergy, especially one on the board of, and board secretary to, a body with a billion euro budget

Mon, 10 Feb, 2025

Derek Draper funeral

Terry Prone: Peter Mandelson abandons his principles for a magnificent Trump back-pedal

In politics, principles are often temporary. Mandelson, RFK Jr, and others show how back-pedalling is a survival strategy

Mon, 03 Feb, 2025

US JFK

S Terry Prone: While laying a conspiracy theory to rest, let’s bring back media impartiality

RFK Jr, Trump’s pick as health secretary, claims that Lee Harvey Oswald was working for the CIA when he killed his uncle

Mon, 27 Jan, 2025

Hands typing on labtop keyboard.

Terry Prone: People-pleasers are moaners who do you favours you don’t want

In their efforts to be loved, they end up making themselves markedly less lovable

Mon, 20 Jan, 2025

Winter weather Jan 9th 2025

S Terry Prone: Despite battling conditions in a Martello tower, the cold snap won

Being without central heating oil in advance of the recent cold weather proved challenging to our columnist

Mon, 13 Jan, 2025

Terry Prone: Help! I can see where my lost iPad is — but that's not going to get it back

S Terry Prone: Help! I can see where my lost iPad is — but that's not going to get it back

Hello, United Airlines: Yes I see my iPad's location. But without it, I am locked out of my passwords and the manuscripts for two books. Please...

Mon, 06 Jan, 2025