Preparing for your youngest daughter to flee the nest

September – the time of young ones, their departure and new beginnings, writes Aida Austin. 

My husband and youngest daughter are sitting side by side at the kitchen table, staring at the laptop screen. They have been scrolling through rental listings for the past half hour.

The accommodation situation in Cork has changed. Apparently, what with Brexit, the number of foreign students in Cork has doubled this year. So now, rented accommodation in Cork is just as dire as it ever was but twice as hard to get. Their faces reflect this: they both look so conflicted I wouldn’t be surprised if their faces tore in two.