Latest news with #Terenure
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor. June 16th: On Israel's war with Iran, benefits of cycling and recycling
Sir, – Israel aspires to being a parliamentary democracy, yet the Knesset was not consulted or informed in advance of the attack on Iran, effectively a declaration of war. This at a time when Israeli troops are already engaged in the destruction of Gaza. Israeli citizens are now trying to cope with the inevitable military response from Iran without their public representatives having the opportunity to give their opinion. It appears that only the US has been afforded that facility. Indeed, the Israeli prime minister has said that he is seeking regime change in Iran, something even the US refrained from pursuing in the first Gulf war. It is no coincidence that the day before the attack on Iran, the Israeli government just managed to reject an opposition Bill to dissolve parliament. This legislation would have enabled Israeli voters to finally have their say on the war in Gaza and to participate in an election which opinion polls indicate Mr Netanyahu would lose. READ MORE It is now clear that the Israeli government has abandoned all pretence of democratic accountability or adherence to international law. The title of rogue state is hardly misplaced. – Yours, etc, MARTIN MCDONALD, Terenure, Dublin 12. Sir, – Brendan Butler (Letters, June 14th) thinks Israel needs to be brought to justice for flouting international law. International law is regularly invoked to be used against Israel but for some reason such calls are absent when it comes to Israel's enemies. When Hamas and Hizbullah were attacking Israel it was greeted by the international community with a collective shrug until Israel hit back. When the regime in Tehran stated again and again its goal of eradicating Israel, outside of a handful of countries, there was barely a peep. Our government decided this was no big deal and opened a new embassy there. If people invoke international law when Israel acts but are silent when its enemies are acting against Israel they really aren't serious about international law and just see it as a stick with which to beat Israel. – Yours, etc, PAUL WILLIAMS, Kilkee, Co Clare. Sir, – In its statement criticising Israel, Russia said that: 'Unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, peaceful cities, and nuclear energy infrastructure are categorically unacceptable.' Who said irony is dead? – Yours, etc, PAUL KEAN, Conyngham Rd, Dublin 8. Sir, – I noted that at United Nations it was stated that (yet again) that Israel has the right to defend itself against attack. The implication seems to be that other countries have no right to defend themselves from Israeli aggression. – Yours, etc, GILL MCCARTHY, Shillelagh, Co Wicklow. Sir, – With the escalation of the Israel and Iran war and the possibility of a nuclear war US president Donald Trump is to be congratulated on his supplying bombs and missiles to Israel which will certainly make his birthday one to remember if anyone survives. – Yours, etc, DAVID MURNANE, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. The price of oil Sir, – The average price of 500 litres of home heating oil on June 10th was €447. Israel struck Iran on the 12th. The price today, the 13th, is €459 and climbing rapidly. The oil in the storage tanks already in Ireland, or the oil currently on the high seas in tankers cannot possibly have become more expensive. This is a scam. Needless to say the decline in prices (if it comes), will be agonisingly slow. What government agency is supposedly in charge of this rip off? – Yours, etc, LIAM MCMULLIN, Co Roscommon. In defence of Greta Thunberg Sir, – Regarding Finn McRedmond's column of June 12th ('Greta Thunberg is hard to like, but don't dismiss her '). There is a great deal to like about Greta Thunberg: her truthful, fearless climate doomerism, the omni-cause activism, the annoyance she inspires in the worst corners of the conservative media, the enviable assurance that without urgent attention the planet is doomed. Through a carefully managed coalition of an exploitative establishment she is undermined at every turn but Thunberg holds a status based on the consistency, simplicity and directness of her rhetorical approach. And we are fortunate to have among us a messianic young person who is unafraid to speak truths such as 'the world is getting more grim by the day' and that it is facing 'a sixth mass extinction' event. – Yours, etc, FINTAN DRURY, Sandymount, Dublin 4. Bloomsday and holidays Sir, – I note with interest the proposal in Frank McNally's An Irishman's Diary (June 11th), Bloomsday should be declared a national holiday. Might I have the temerity to suggest that it should be almost declared one as virtually everyone with whom I discuss the book has almost read it, myself included. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL GLEESON. Killarney, Co Kerry. Sir, – Joe Dunne proudly trumpets his personal and crucial modus vivendi approach to tackling Ulysses, googling galore as he goes. ( 'A novel way of reading Ulysses', Letters, June 13th). Preserving his literary sanity by sitting in front of a computer he engages the labyrinthine trajectory that is Joyce's masterpiece by inviting Mr Google along the enchanted way – a 'not-for-the faint-hearted' cognitive camino of multitudinous creative caverns. I would suggest he could better take it all in with his eyes closed, reclining at ease and spare his laptop the hassle, by tuning in to RTÉ's archival radio version from 1982 which captures all nuances in a compelling enacted reading of same 'wonder-book'. Letting it all seep in via the professionally modulated airwave version is 'yer only man'. – Yours, etc, JIM COSGROVE, Co Waterford. Regional development Sir, – Debate has for many years been focusing on pressures within Dublin as the capital city regarding housing supply and public transport. More recently, there has been much discussion on the Dublin Airport passenger cap which is expected to be exceeded. While all of the four Dublin local authorities, as well as Oireachtas members for the region, will of course be expected to continue to strive to tackle these challenges, another somewhat more minimised dimension in mainstream discourse on these matters concerns balanced regional development. Most strikingly for a national standpoint, there ought to be much more of a focus within Government as regards why a mainstream city such as Galway city, which has all the necessary infrastructure to grow more economically including a well-established university, train station and surrounding roads network does not appear to figure more in region-by-region population forecasting. At present, the population of Galway city is about 85,000 where in comparison the population under the remit of the Dundrum Area Committee alone of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is by itself about a population of 100,000, which will sharply expand in the decade ahead. Galway city is also a gateway city to the wider west of Ireland region as a whole. While I was born and raised in south Dublin, I did spend three years living as a child for a time in Ennis in Co Clare and in such an urban location there are an abundance of shops, school places, playing fields and municipal services provisions as well as housing units with generally a greater typical amount of square footage. There are many other similar towns around Ireland offering such resources and amenities yet the mainstream focus in debate remains most persistently on Dublin. One of the impacts with more housing construction in Dublin for instance is that at many more stops in the future the already overcrowded Luas will become almost impossible for passengers for board, necessitating a doubling of bus frequency for many bus routes to be overseen by the National Transport Authority. If there were to be better meaningful balance in population growth strategy nationwide, such pressures may not become as acute. – Yours, etc, CLLR JOHN KENNEDY (FG), Dún Laoghaire. Co Dublin. Happy Birthday Sir, – Would it be curmudgeonly of us not to wish dear leader Kim Don Un a Happy Birthday! – Yours, etc, CATHY TRACEY, Dublin. Cycling and transport Sir,– The Government has conceded that it won't reach its target of one million electric cars on Irish roads by 2030. Good. Not only was this target wildly ambitious, it was also deeply irresponsible. Yes, we should electrify all cars, but we should not pursue a target that seeks to add more, and larger, cars to our roads. Electric or not, planning for more cars means more congestion, more inactivity, and yes, even with electric vehicles, continued problems with local air pollution, to name a few negatives. It should be clear by now that cars cannot be the future of transport. So what about a different target? I propose a million people cycling daily by 2030. Wildly ambitious? Yes, but the health benefits, the reduction in emissions, and the improvements in air quality would be enormous. Would this require a massive investment in active transport infrastructure? Yes, but remember, the benefits of cycling are almost endless. It is worth it. – Yours, etc, DR OLA LØKKEN NORDRUM, Irish Doctors for the Environment, Dublin 4. Recycling problems Sir, - With all the publicity given to recycling nowadays, not much is given to the problem of two or more types of material in the same item. I have just used some cooked turkey which came in a pack consisting of one side paper and the other plastic and the price sticker (paper) stuck on the plastic. Trying to disentangle this is almost impossible. What happens when these items arrive in the recycling centre? Are they painstakingly separated by the workers there? My guess is that they go into the discard pile. However, this is more than likely a non-issue. The recent news that about 90 per cent of the plastic recovered in our Deposit Return Scheme is exported is a serious indictment of our commitment to recycling. We need to take responsibility for our own waste. It is costly and environmentally unfriendly to rely on exports and we have no control over the final treatment (or plain dumping) of our rubbish. – Yours etc, EITHNE O'CALLAGHAN, Dublin 4.
Irish Times
30-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, May 30th: On Gaza and Israel, sharing the footpaths, pay and PHD students
Sir, – I hope the profoundly moving and politically inspiring opinion piece by Oliver Sears is taken up by news media outlets around the word and goes viral on social media, including in Israel. ( 'Seeing Israel use hunger as a weapon of war is monstrous to me as someone with a Holocaust legacy,' May 28th). Argued incisively by Sears, isn't this what all decent people should want?: food and medicines in sufficient quantities to be be brought into Gaza immediately; Israelis to depose their own government; Hamas to release the remaining hostages, disarm, and leave Gaza; Iran and Qatar to stop funding terrorist proxies; and, finally, the liberation of Palestinians and Israelis (Iranians too) from the grip of 'malignant regimes.' Sears also shows us how this can be done: mass protests, a general strike, galvanisation of the opposition in Israel; pressure piled on Israel by its allies; international pressure on Iran and Qatar. As well as doing what we can in Ireland to end the carnage in Gaza and to support a just, political settlement between Palestinians and Israelis, we must also repair 'the wreckage' that has been done to Jewish community relations in this country – and have a zero-tolerance to all forms of anti-semitism. READ MORE As a 'son of a Holocaust survivor,' and the founder of Holocaust Awareness Ireland, Sears has a moral authority to speak; he deserves to be listened to – widely. – Yours, etc, CHRIS FITZPATRICK, Terenure, Dublin 6. Sir, – It is good to see Oliver Sears acknowledge that Israel's actions against the Palestinian people are horrifying, inhumane and depressingly reminiscent of the horrors inflicted by the Nazis upon the Jewish people. It is however hard to fathom how only starvation seems to cross his red line – not the forced expulsion of a population, the shooting dead of civilians (including children) at close range, the massacres of ambulance workers , journalists, doctors and the carpet bombing of heavily populated areas. – Yours, etc, MURA TIERNEY, Dublin 8. Sir, – Oliver Sears expresses the horror of Jews around the world at the continuing slaughter in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing on the West Bank. Anyone who reads the quality liberal and truth-telling Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, will recognise his analysis of Israel's current regime as wholly accurate. Netanyahu, in his frenzied efforts to avoid an election and almost certain imprisonment on multiple corruption charges, is maintaining his coalition by appeasing its racist-fanatical wing, thus continuing a war that long ago lost any military significance. Indifferent to the lives not only of Gazan civilians, Israeli hostages and Israeli soldiers, I fear he is also putting at risk his country's very survival as a legitimate state. What a disaster for all concerned! - Yours, etc, LOUIS MARCUS, Dublin 16. Foxed Sir, – Yesterday in the Dáil, the Bill to ban fox hunting (proposed by Ruth Coppinger People Before Profit) passed through to the next stage by 113 votes to 49. It is somewhat ironic that Sinn Féin, the party for 'Irish Unity' voted overwhelmingly with Independent Ireland and Aontú to oppose a ban on fox hunting. The practice of chasing a fox with packs of dogs was the realm of the aristocracy and rural gentry in the UK since the 16th century. It is a relic of our colonial past and one which is opposed by the majority of Irish people. Instead of 'tiocfaidh ar lá' perhaps 'tally ho' might be a more fitting call to action for Sinn Féin going forward? JOAN BURGESS, Friars Walk, Cork. What's in a (married) name? Sir, – Áine Kenny reports that 84 per cent of women changed their names on marriage with 14 per cent retaining their own names. For the married men the numbers were 92 per cent retaining and 5 per cent changing. ( 'Yet another good name lost to the Mrs Machine,' May 28th ). I can only conclude that 3 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women don't know themselves after getting married... – Yours, etc, PAUL NOLAN, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Parallel planets Sir, – The Environmental Protection Agency reports that Ireland has regressed rather than progressed in achieving its mandated climate change targets. ( 'Ireland falls further behind on emissions targets,' May 28th) . Am I alone in neither being surprised or shocked by this? We are a tiny jurisdiction in global terms. We have large infrastructural deficits, as recently outlined bluntly by Uisce Éireann. And of course, we need to construct at least 300,000 new dwellings across the next five years. Which is linked to the infrastructural deficit. Construction of reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants and new dwellings unavoidably means using materials which we need to quarry/harvest from the ground; there simply is no other way. The manufacture of vehicle electric batteries is of itself a dubious environmental process. And, in any case, the rest of the vehicle is made of materials which have been used for 125 years. What parallel planet does the environmental lobby inhabit? Doubtless, if we reverted to all fours, dwelt in caves and fished from the rivers, our carbon footprint would be invisible to even Sherlock Holmes. But, the lifestyle we actually live has evolved from millennia of adapting our environment to ensure survival and continuance as a species. Agriculture, shelter, employment, invention, fuel, medicine; all came from the human capacity to harness what was around us. And all involved inevitable emissions. And the recently enacted – yet to be commenced – Planning and Development Act 2024 restates the existing legislative ban on nuclear power. Yet, here we find ourselves again: being preached at by an environmental lobby whose only rationale when really pushed on compliance with emission targets is to respond that we will be financially penalised if we fail. The same rationale used in the television payment campaign; it's the law! Time to get real. – Yours, etc, LARRY DUNNE, Rosslare, Co Wexford. Moved to tears Sir, – Whereas I am usually rolling in the aisles laughing at Miriam Lord's 'Dáil Sketch', I was crying to-day with sorrow ( A mother who refused to take no for an answer – for 13 years, 9 months and 20 days ) at what Lucia O'Farrell has come through in her fight for justice for her son Shane. Well, Lucia, it's a bit late, but you got justice yesterday in Dáil Éireann. – Yours, etc, URSULA HOUGH-GORMLEY, Dublin 4. Defence Forces and the pay issue Sir, – Every commission into our Defence Forces has recommended that money is an issue for service and retention. Apart from getting the national pay increases on the tailcoat of unions there has been no independent pay increase for our soldiers, sailors or naval personnel. May I suggest two quick fixes, while other Defence Forces issues are addressed. One is to quadruple the Military Service allowance (MSA) that is paid to all personnel in lieu of overtime and the second is to also increase the Military Overseas allowance. Neither of these will have a knock-on effect on other unionised groups. Military personnel enjoy overseas service and we must not have to resort to ordering personnel to leave their families for long periods with inadequate recompense for families. It helped years ago but for a long time the amount has needed adjustment upwards. A simple ¤50 per diem extra, a lot less than overtime payments should be sufficient. Government take action now and pay these two adjustments from January this year and end this continuous national embarrassment. – Yours,etc, JOHN MURRAY. Carrigaline, Co Cork Pay and PHD students Sir, – As an ex-PhD student currently touring the west coast of Ireland (Tulane university, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA), I find the woes of the Postgraduate Workers' Organisation painfully familiar ( 'As PHD researchers this is our advice: avoid Ireland ,' May 29th). I graduated in 2019 and was involved in similar discussions back then. The root cause seemed to be the legal loophole of deeming us 'students' and paying us a figure below the federal minimum wage. The reality of a PhD is that most of the time you are actively working. Only a minuscule portion of the time are you learning in a classroom. We were bona fide employees, not students. Enter the employment model, correctly identified by your contributors. If Ireland wants the best PhD 'students,' they should offer state-of-the- art work packages. If universities are 'increasingly run like businesses,' they should pay their 'students' (aka employees) accordingly. – Yours, etc, DANNY OSEID, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Policing cyclists and motorists Sir – I am a regular cyclist as well as a regular car driver. I have a split personality: as a car driver I dislike cyclists; as a cyclist I dislike car drivers even more. Regarding cyclists, Laura O'Mara's letter (May 28th) is spot on. Some cyclists rarely stop for red lights, they ride on pavements, they travel with earphones, they don't hand signal, they don't wear helmets and they cycle too quickly. Stand on Baggot Street Bridge in Dublin any day if you need proof. As a cyclist it really annoys me that these irresponsible individuals give the cyclists who do follow the rules a bad reputation as well as creating understandable frustration among car drivers ( and pedestrians ). Regarding motorists: often times they don't pass cyclists at a safe distance. On enquiry I was told by the authorities that a law governing safe distances might not be legally enforceable – why not , when this is standard practice throughout the EU? In any event who is going to challenge such a law ? No excuse. Some motorists ( including delivery trucks ) like to park in cycle lanes. Also they find them handy at traffic lights for extra road space. Plus they hug the kerb in traffic so cyclists can't pass on the inside. It takes two to tango. Both cyclists and motorists have justifiable grievances. But we need to seriously address the issue of bike/car road safety. One effective solution is more intensive education for both cyclists and motorists. It should start in the classroom from junior school onwards and should also form part of continuous public service messaging in the media. Another solution is more rigorous enforcement of existing traffic laws, starting perhaps with a Garda presence for a day on Baggot Street Bridge. – Yours, etc, TOM ROCHE, Lower Baggot Street Dublin 2 Sir, – Whether we're talking about walkers, runners, people on bikes, people in cars, we really need to have some empathy and manners. As I see it, if you're running or travelling on a bike, you have a duty of care towards walkers and anyone moving more slowly than you are. When passing, you need to do so slowly and give lots of space. It's up to you to expect the unexpected. The same goes for drivers. Drivers are operating potentially lethal vehicles. They have an urgent duty of care towards walkers and people on bikes. Everyone makes mistakes but the mistakes of drivers have far greater consequences when it comes to the safety of others. Why can't we just have some empathy and understanding instead of this constant blame and finger pointing? The feeling a walker gets when a person on a bike whizzes past more or less identical to the feeling a person on a bike gets if a car comes too close or too fast. It's frightening and upsetting. It can ruin your day. The driver or the cyclist probably thinks they're just nipping past, oblivious to the distress caused. I suppose maybe people just don't understand how dangerous it feels if they don't cycle or if they don't feel vulnerable on a footpath? Maybe it's time to think about that. Some empathy and care on our roads and footpaths from all parties would go a lot further than anger and finger pointing if we're serious about improving safety. – Yours, etc, GRÁINNE FALLER, Salthill, Co Galway. Sir, – A letter writer castigates people out running on our pavements. As a regular (and I would like to think respectful) pavement runner I would like to rail against those perambulating pedestrians who stick their heads in their phones and march on, oblivious to any other path-users – running or otherwise. And then there are the cars, delivery vans, and other assorted vehicles that park on footpaths and cycle lanes with an attitude that parking anywhere is sound as long as you're not blocking the road. And don't get me started on the state of our city pavements. City running is fast becoming an extreme sport. – Yours,etc, HUGH Mc DONNELL, Dublin 9. Education or indoctrination? Sir, – I would like to disagree respectfully with Alan Haynes regarding his article: ( 'Catholic education is not about indoctrination – it is about preparing pupils to contribute to the common good ,' May 27th). I believe Catholic Education is indoctrination. According to The World Book dictionary, 'indoctrinate: to teach a doctrine, belief or principle to.' And according to Google 'indoctrinate – to teach a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically'. – Yours, etc, ANNA B McCABE, Co Longford.
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Irish Times
Arsonist not to blame for death of man who went back into apartment building, Court of Appeal told
An arsonist jailed for the unlawful killing of a man whose apartment he set ablaze after a break-in has appealed his conviction, arguing that the deceased's decision to re-enter the burning building after getting safe broke the 'chain of causation'. Dean Boland (37) broke into a downstairs apartment of a Dublin residential property where Ohari Viera was living. He stole a rucksack and set fire to the property. Mr Viera had been living in an upstairs apartment with two other men, and all three managed to evacuate the building safely as soon as they became aware of the fire downstairs. The men were waiting outside when Mr Viera went back into the house for an unknown reason. He never returned and others who tried to go into the property after him were prevented from doing so as the building became engulfed in smoke and flames. READ MORE The sentencing court heard that Mr Viera, who was originally from Angola, had 'a complicated journey' in life which 'ended sadly with his death'. Boland of Northwood, Santry was convicted in December 2022 by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury of the unlawful killing of Ohari Viera, damaging property by arson and burglary at Oaklands Terrace, Terenure, on August 21st, 2018. He had pleaded not guilty to the offences and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Counsel for Boland, Garret Baker SC, told the Court of Appeal on Monday that although the fire caused Mr Viera to flee the house, he then made a 'free voluntary decision, tragically, to go back in', leading to his death. Mr Baker said that if Mr Viera had initially perished in the house fire, there would be no question of Boland's culpability, but his decision to re-enter the blaze changes everything. He said Mr Viera's decision to go back into the burning building 'breaks the chain of causation' that would make Boland responsible for his death. In the original trial, counsel for Boland applied for the case to be withdrawn from the jury on the grounds that it was an exceptional case where there was no evidence of causation. This was refused by trial judge Elma Sheahan. Mr Baker appealed Boland's conviction on the grounds that Judge Sheahan was incorrect in her interpretation of causation and that she ought to have taken the decision out of the hands of the jury. Séamus Clarke SC, for the State, said the issue of causation 'is by its very nature a jury matter'. He said the question of whether the immediate re-entry into the building by the deceased after escaping the blaze was sufficient to break the chain of causation was for the jury to decide based on the evidence. Mr Clarke said that if the trial judge had taken the case out of the jury's hands, it would have been an 'unwarranted encroachment on the fact-finding role of the jury'. He said that fire was the substantial cause of death and there was very little time between Mr Viera fleeing the building and re-entering. He said Mr Viera's death is still linked with the original actions of the defendant in starting the fire. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, presiding at the three-judge court, said judgement in the case would be reserved.
Irish Independent
15-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Templeogue apartments on half an acre have €2m guide price
Located at 2-16 Springfield Avenue, Dublin 6W, and just 200 metres from Templeogue village, the site extends to 0.58 acres with two apartment blocks. These blocks accommodate a total of eight two-bedroom apartments which are fully occupied and generating €106,000 in gross annual rental income. A feasibility study by Shay Cleary Architects demonstrates the potential for a development of between 16 and 20 dwellings under a choice of two designs. Each option would rise to three storeys and could be either three-storey townhouses or a combination of duplexes and apartments. The site is zoned residential under South County Council Development Plan 2022-2028. Springfield Avenue is well connected by public transport with a number of bus routes within walking distance. Nearby Templeogue offers a range of amenities including cafes, pubs and shops while Terenure is located just 1.8 kilometres from the property. A number of schools are also within walking distance including Terenure College, Templeogue College and Our Lady's School. Cliona Lenihan, of the development and land consultancy team at CBRE, said that the Springfield Avenue property is located in a prime residential area. "While there is no planning in place, the current passing income from the properties will be appealing to a wide range of investors and developers seeking redevelopment opportunities. We expect to see strong interest from a wide range of parties based on its location and its proximity to Templeogue village and Dublin city centre."
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
My post-cancer treatment hair reminds me of boxing promoter Don King. It makes me laugh
I Feel Bad About My Neck is a collection of essays by Nora Ephron that I read or listen to every now and again. It's a great title, extremely relatable for many women of a certain age when hairs start to sprout in unexpected places and brown spots appear on our hands. It's all down to this phenomenon called ageing. A beautiful thing. But it's also a transition and like any transition, it can take time to adjust. I don't feel bad about my neck. I've always had a couple of extra chins, more visible from certain angles than others. They would surprise me sometimes in the photos other people took of me - who is that person with generous neck undercarriage? I take a lot of selfies, because I know the angles that work best for my chin area. I don't feel bad about my neck (chintastic) or my belly (generous) or my hands (they look older than I feel) but lately I feel funny about my hair. It's been on quite a trip. I was lucky enough to avail of life-saving chemotherapy treatment in the Mater hospital last year after I was diagnosed with cancer . Before starting the treatment, I knew my long, thick, highlighted hair, the kind of hair people rave about when you've had it professionally blow dried, was not long for this world. [ Róisín Ingle: I did a good bit of 'maevesdropping' in the shop. It's what Binchy would have wanted Opens in new window ] In preparation, I got my enviable mane cut into a bob in a hairdressers in Terenure . I found the place after I went to a Maria Doyle Kennedy concert in my local Protestant church in North Strand. I was on crutches at the time, having broken my ankle in a fall because cancer wasn't enough to be dealing with. From my pew, I spied a woman a few rows behind with such a beautiful short haircut that I made my soon to be husband , an introverted person who doesn't routinely have the chats with strangers, get up and ask her where she'd got her hair done. She was delighted and told my soon to be husband about Jacqui in L'OmBré in Terenure. The short-haired woman told him Jacqui was so good that she followed her around from salon to salon for years. The next day I made an appointment. READ MORE I brought my mother along, for moral support. It was a strange, emotionally turbulent time now I look back. Anyway, Jacqui turned out to be the perfect person to give me a new 'do'. She had helped a lot of women with pre- and post- cancer hair conundrums and had a close friend with a similar diagnosis to mine, breast cancer that had spread to the bones, who she told me was doing well years after she first got her own shocking news. My mother got her hair done too, promising our new friend a copy of her memoir ( Openhearted , she'd obviously kill me if I didn't plug it) and a jar of her homemade marmalade. So, thanks to Jacqui I went into my chemotherapy adventure with a bob and then a few weeks later on Valentine's Day, when my bob started to fall out from the expected side-effects, I got my brother-in-law Killian to come into hospital (I was in there again for an operation on my other leg, cancer still not being enough drama for me) and he shaved it all off with his clippers. I felt only relief. Sometimes, I went around the place with my shaved head, even though it meant I'd get strange, sympathetic looks from people who took one look at me and thought: cancer. Sinéad O'Connor modelled this hairstyle so well, but all these years later people still don't believe a woman would shave her hair off unless there's a tragic reason - see Britney Spears . Sometimes, the sympathy was useful. One night, rushing for a train that was leaving the platform in Galway , I'm convinced the Irish Rail worker stopped the train and let me on because he felt sorry for the woman with the cancer head. Other times, I'd wear a wig. With the wig on I'd feel inconspicuous and normal and a bit like my old self even though my old self was dead. [ Róisín Ingle: We will have two 16-year-olds in this house soon which is blowing my mind a bit Opens in new window ] I wore a wig when I got married last July. Stephanie came to my hotel room to style it. We both cried when she was finished. After the wedding, I hardly ever wore the wig again and when I got my byline photo done, to illustrate an article in which I came out about my cancer, I felt cool about my hair in an Olivia Colman or Judi Dench kind of way. We transition. We adjust. And now I feel funny about my hair. It's been growing. Vertically. It's a grey skyscraper rising from my scalp, defying gravity. It had been bugging me, who my hair was reminding me of, and then the other day I put an image of boxing promoter Don King alongside a picture of me in the family WhatsApp with the caption 'separated at birth'. My children could not get over the hair likeness. I don't feel bad about my neck, I feel funny about my hair, by which I mean that when I look in the mirror these days my hair makes me laugh. And, oh, it feels good. Down with that 'skort' of thing / Celebrating Tina Turner Listen | 45:28
