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#Podcast - Big Listen

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>Deirdre Clune: 'I want to spend the next stage in my political career in Cork, where I'm from, and to live there. Having pulled a pulley bag on a plane or a train for 27 years, I'm looking forward to my base being my home rather than a hotel room from now on.' Picture: Jim Coughlan</p>

politics

EU Election Podcast: Outgoing MEP Deirdre Clune rules out presidency run

Fine Gael politician, whose political career has spanned 27 years, tells European Election Podcast she is looking forward to being home

<p>Luke Ming Flanagan, MEP for the Midlands North West Constituency on the campaign trail for European Elections 2024.</p>

news

EU Election Podcast: Luke Ming Flanagan diagnosed with autism after years of 'utter hell' trying to get help for daughter

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Julie Jay: Kids are like pancakes — the first is always a trial run

Cute little boy at the barber shop getting his hairut

parenting

Julie Jay: My three-year-old has finally been convinced that haircuts are not to be feared

3156119_1_org_Julie_Jay_Circle_headshot

Listen: Julie Jay — The odds of me whipping on a crop top are ‘slim’ to none

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Julie Jay: Road trip trauma means we might stay for good

Girl suffers from insomnia and had difficulty falling asleep.Woman has headaches during sleep time. Sleepy female lying on bed a

Julie Jay: I often fantasise about a spell in the sick wing

When I fell ill I imagined the house was going to fall apart in the absence of my constant cleaning and organising efforts - but turns out I am pretty dispensible

Tue, 16 Apr, 2024

Group of mothers. Smiling people hug child, moms and kids. Happy beautiful women playing and reading with children. Motherhood o

Julie Jay: What if parents don’t have that village to help rear children?

The proverbial saying ‘it takes a village to rear a child’ is one I hear ad-nauseum when discussing childcare arrangements. But what if parents don’t have that village to assist when it comes to rearing children?

Tue, 09 Apr, 2024

Vaccination or drug concept image

Julie Jay: My baby son takes his vaccine shot like a champ but he is also in pain

When it comes to our kids and medical treatment, as somebody with an arts degree, all we can do is trust advice and hope we are doing the right thing

Tue, 02 Apr, 2024

Julie Jay: For all her faults, Peppa does a great job babysitting the kids for an hour

Julie Jay: For all her faults, Peppa does a great job babysitting the kids for an hour

Peppa is a lot less irritating as Ghaeilge, so cartoons on RTÉjr are a strong recommendation — in Peppa Muc we trust

Tue, 26 Mar, 2024

Bright, blue eyed child covered in carrots

Julie Jay: We have started on the solids, and have the Jackson Pollock walls to prove it

Of course, watching our baby thrive is a privilege, but I can’t say I’m not having a heart-attack every time he swallows some baby-rice

Tue, 12 Mar, 2024

Mother and son

Julie Jay: I may be a mother of boys, but I’m most definitely not a boy-mom

TikTok has once again got me thinking about what it means to be a mother of boys, specifically in relation to the somewhat strange phenomenon of the #boymom viral video trend

Tue, 05 Mar, 2024

mother with her son playing in the back of the car

Julie Jay: On the road again with our travelling circus and things are getting crowded in our car

Travelling light is impossible when you have an adorable six-month-old in tow

Tue, 27 Feb, 2024

Hand holding white toilet paper roll over green background

Julie Jay: My refusal to replace the toilet roll at home is a gender equality issue

"Before the men who read this column get in touch to tell me I’ve got this all wrong, let me share what I feel is irrefutable anecdotal evidence to back up my mud-slinging."

Tue, 13 Feb, 2024

Busy mother doing a lot of work at home. Stressed mom with six hands keeping laptop, book, phone, hairdryer and feeding her chil

Julie Jay: Friendships come second when we become mammies

"Motherhood tests friendships because nothing changes a person like bringing a child into the world. Kids are the be-all and end-all, and they come before anyone or anything else."

Tue, 06 Feb, 2024

Mid adult woman in hospital.

Julie Jay: I often fantasise about a 'holiday' in hospital

It is a scientific fact that most mammies only rest when under medical instruction to do so

Tue, 30 Jan, 2024

The boy using a spoon for honey eats it from the jar.

This week it's a case of sticky fingers all round, and I am not just talking about the honey

We are all graduates of the School of Second Chances, and because of that we continue to try to make amends for the mistakes of our past.

Tue, 23 Jan, 2024

Customer Satisfaction Concepts on Chalkboard

Julie Jay: Everyone thinks their baby is the best — but mine really is

'If the Golden Globes gave out awards for best four-month-olds, my four-month-old would win it hands down. And that’s not parental bias'

Tue, 16 Jan, 2024

A rear view of small toddler boy with parents crossing a road outdoors in city.

Julie Jay: Why be honest with your kids when you could be happy?

As parents, we tell our kids to always tell the truth when the reality is we regularly are often guilty of telling a porkie or two to our beloved offspring

Tue, 19 Dec, 2023

Julie Jay: To Elf or Not to Elf, that is the question

Julie Jay: To Elf or Not to Elf, that is the question

As Christmas approaches, many parents are dreading the return of a tiny trespasser and his mischievous antics

Tue, 12 Dec, 2023

baptism

Julie Jay: The christening of our second-born - in the land of Mr Tayto

This week it was a case of Holy Water everywhere and not a drop to drink as we ventured up to Co. Meath for JJ’s christening

Tue, 05 Dec, 2023

Car with baby in safety seat and driving mother, flat vector illustration.

Julie Jay: The Dingle-Killarney commute - and the business of life and death

A trip to the civil registration office reminds me how there is never enough time with people we love

Tue, 21 Nov, 2023

Baby clothes and white clouds on a clothesline, blue background

Julie Jay: There's more chance of the Irish soccer team getting a hat-trick than us having a third baby

When it comes to adding to your family, it isn’t really a question of whether or not you want another baby, but whether or not you could manage one.

Tue, 14 Nov, 2023

Feeling disappointed and angry concept

Julie Jay: Our anger can blindside us when we least expect it - even as parents

Anger is a perfectly normal human emotion, but it’s how we channel it that matters

Tue, 17 Oct, 2023

Julie Jay: Being a mammy is the one job you can’t quit

Julie Jay: Being a mammy is the one job you can’t quit

Whenever I think of allowing myself an extra hour’s lie-in in the morning I ask myself: 'What would Leo Varadkar do?' and drag my bedraggled bottom out of the bed quicker than you can say 'sleep is for the weak'.

Tue, 10 Oct, 2023

Mother Serving Dinner to Her Family

Julie Jay: My brown bin overfloweth with meticulously prepared dinners

Such is the ongoing battle in relation to family food that the only real winner in our home is the compost bin.

Tue, 26 Sep, 2023

Julie Jay: Making the breast of my new arrival's feeding schedule

Julie Jay: Making the breast of my new arrival's feeding schedule

Breast may be best - for a lot of babies, and for some moms too, but God knows there have been moments where I have cursed my mammary glands for doing what all good udders do

Tue, 12 Sep, 2023

Pregnant woman holding blanket, feeling abdominal pain, risk of miscarriage

Julie Jay: The gown is on quicker than you can say ‘I forgot to do my bikini line’

“I really think you’re in labour,” Fred says, but I dismiss him quickly, because if Dr Quinn Medicine Woman taught me anything it is that men have contributed absolutely nothing to the canon of medical knowledge.

Tue, 05 Sep, 2023

Lego Man on Bricks

Julie Jay: Childminders are like Taylor Swift tickets — you can’t put a price on them

"It all sounds a bit too much like effort when you could just switch on the movie Super Mario Bros and be done with it..."

Tue, 29 Aug, 2023

Julie Jay: Nesting has involved me turning our home upside down

Julie Jay: Nesting has involved me turning our home upside down

We will be grand because even if we now live in a house consisting mostly of storage boxes, at least we are currently smelling of Mr Sheen. And to be fair, you could smell worse

Tue, 15 Aug, 2023

Julie Jay: I can’t wait to meet you, baby — a letter to my unborn child

Julie Jay: I can’t wait to meet you, baby — a letter to my unborn child

I want you to know that I am a good mammy. I might not be the best prepared, dressed, or presented, but I will love you so much that your first words will probably be something along the lines of “Mammy, I need personal space, please”

Tue, 08 Aug, 2023

Baby clothes hanging on the clothesline

Julie Jay: A blue babygro if it's a boy... and a blue babygro if it's a girl — because it’s 2023, baby

People are taking guesses as to what we are having based on the shape of my bump

Sun, 06 Aug, 2023

Julie Jay: The pains of hearing men talking about labour

Julie Jay: The pains of hearing men talking about labour

When it comes to the subject of men talking about labour, it’s a case of whatever you say, say nothing

Tue, 25 Jul, 2023

Julie Jay: At the risk of sounding peak notions, mammies can dream too

Julie Jay: At the risk of sounding peak notions, mammies can dream too

In becoming a mammy again, you do lose yourself, a little. It is impossible not to become subsumed by the tsunami force about to hit your life, and that is the fear. It is a fear that wills us not to be forgotten

Tue, 18 Jul, 2023

Maternity bag for hospital and paper diary with checking list at home interior.

Julie Jay: No lacy undies in my hospital bag this time around

"I’m not sure where I thought I was going, but underwear-wise, I was either feeling highly optimistic about what I would be getting up to in hospital or in complete denial as to how in bits I would be after the birth."

Tue, 11 Jul, 2023

Crying toddler sitting on the floor covering his face

Julie Jay: I'm clueless when it comes to dealing with a tantrum

"Throwing himself to the ground, Ted cries out, leaving me feeling like I'm officially the worst mother in the world because I have meandered over to the playground minus snacks."

Tue, 04 Jul, 2023

Young boy walking on open beach

Julie Jay: My only quibble with Ted’s hair is that he is not a redhead

This week Ted is revelling in his crowning glory and rubbing salt into poor Daddy's increasingly receding hairline

Tue, 27 Jun, 2023