Alanna MacNamee

May Kelly vividly remembers the day she and her students got locked into their classroom during a fire alarm.

Kelly, an engineering teacher from Limerick, had put off ringing the maintenance team about a broken latch in the classroom door, until one day, a student slammed the door, locking the entire class in.

Everyone was fine – it was only a drill, and the teacher across the hall rescued them – but Kelly points to this as an example of the lengths she will go to in order to avoid lifting th...

The star of the new crime drama Blackshore on growing by Lough Ree, working around the world, and how lockdown changed her life story
Lisa Dwan is a determined person. Fiercely, sometimes passionately, so. And so, when the opportunity arose for the Athlone-born actress to take on the leading role in the upcoming RTÉ dark thriller series Blackshore, she was dead set on making it happen, no matter what.
“My agent rang me, and said, ‘you do drive, don’t you, Lisa?,” she explains. “And I said, ‘L...

The inaugural Dublin Gallery Weekend, which will take place from November 10-12, features talks, tours and performances at ten of the city’s leading commercial galleries
“Come and look, and be surprised or be taken off guard, or even dismiss it . . . but come and look!” is the invitation from Jerome O Drisceoil, director of Green On Red contemporary art gallery in Spencer Dock, Dublin. After all, he says, exploring contemporary art is “totally an adventure”.
As it happens, those who wish to h...

Almost a quarter of a century after they blazed on to the music scene, the band’s singular fire has been replaced by a deeper, more complex exploration of life, creativity and the human spirit
Bringing a new album into the world, says Bell X1 front man Paul Noonan with a laugh, is like childbirth. “You go through it and then you think, I’ll never do that again. But then you do, because you kind of forget the bad bits and you want the good bits,” he says.
The trio’s latest album Merciful Hour,...

An army of volunteers from the Irish Heritage Trust helps maintain the majesty of estates like Johnstown Castle in Co Wexford, which is thriving and adapting under the care of the trust
With its sweeping lawns and imposing buildings, Johnstown Castle Estate in Co Wexford wouldn’t be out of place in a period drama or a Hollywood blockbuster. As it happens, the property does have a colourful and impressive history.
“Johnstown,” its general manager Brenda Comerford reckons, “is what made our cou...

Advances in solar and wind technology and mobile internet have changed the game for the increasing number of people who choose to go off-grid, keen to live a more sustainable and cost-effective life
Steve Byrne remembers a time when he did “the usual thing”. He would get up early, commute to his job as a newspaper production manager, slog all day and return home late in the evening. And the next day he would get up and do it all over again. It’s a routine that is familiar to many of us. But a...

Celebrities speaking gigs are nothing new – many Victorian-era writers embarked on these events. But you don’t necessarily need to be famous to become part of the speaking circuit. The Business Post asked some experts for tips on the techniques and skills needed to be an effective public speaker
These days, it’s become virtually the norm for celebrities and public figures to try their hand at sideline gigs.
George Clooney makes tequila. Gwyneth brought us Goop. Brad Pitt is exhibiting sculptu...

For those who have been through a trauma or a life-changing event, accumulating possessions can seem like a comfort at first, but hoarding can often lead to isolation and greater problems
Sit on the armchair in Jane’s living room and there are over 20 boxes crammed with stuff clearly within view. The room’s available surfaces are chock-a-block with keepsakes, knick-knacks and trinkets. The sideboard of Jane’s kitchen is piled high with files and any number of plastic boxes. There are not one,...

This winter, many of us are looking at higher mortgage repayments, rising food costs and increased energy charges, but careful planning and shopping around can achieve significant savings
Price hikes, the cost of living crisis, inflation: it’s fair to say, even with the hope that the upcoming budget will offer some relief, this autumn/winter is likely to be a tight one. But what can cash-strapped households do to save money over the coming months?
The number one piece of advice, Paul Merriman...

For those seeking to find love online, the landscape of contemporary dating is fraught with potentially ruinous scams that seek to fleece the unwary – and the psychological damage can be considerable
Dave (not his real name) is 29 years of age. He has his “own business of import and export” and invests in shares and real estate. He splits his time between Dubai, Europe and Ireland, and is in Dublin expanding his business. According to his Tinder profile, he doesn’t have any expectations, “bec...

Overweight people have long been criticised for their appearance, but a more enlightened awareness is now emerging
Maura Murphy remembers it clearly: the moment that everything she had thought and felt about her weight since the age of 12 changed for ever. It was 2019, and she was listening to Dr Arya Sharma, an expert in obesity from Canada, give a talk in Dublin.
As Dr Sharma spoke about his work, something shifted within Murphy. That “lightbulb moment”, she recalls, finally “took all the s...

Traditional burials have long been known to be harmful to the environment. But a new wave of eco-friendly ‘end of life’ technologies promises to change all that
Pasta straws. Electric bikes. Vegan meat. With the looming threat of climate collapse, we’re all changing how we live. But what about how we die?
It may not be our first thought when we contemplate saving the planet, but traditional end-of-life options can be environmentally destructive. In the United States, traditional burials use u...

Once seen as the recreational drug of the wealthy, cocaine has become a ubiquitous presence among every social and economic group in Ireland – including teenagers – and is ordered via text or social media. What is behind the popularity of the Class A drug?
I ask Sinéad*, who’s in her early 20s, what it’s like to take cocaine.
“You get kind of jittery and you’ve got so much energy,” she says. “You feel like dancing – I always want to dance. Or else talk the ear off of someone. It’s like you ac...

The government has identified afforestation as a key element in the fight against climate change and Hometree, a charity in west Clare, is helping that effort through tree planting and education
The sun has just begun to break through the morning fog as I cross the bridge over the Ennistymon Falls, take a left turn and make my way down the narrow road that leads to the Hometree headquarters in west Clare. I’m on the way to one of the charity’s fortnightly volunteer tree planting days, and it’...

In recent years, demand for camper vans has gone through the roof. Those familiar with the industry say it’s mostly women who are buying them, as more and more discover the simple but empowering pleasure of buying an RV. A tight-knit community is growing across Ireland – and they say ‘van life’ is far more than an Instagram fad
Ruth Medjber will never forget the day a doctor looked at her CT scan and told her she “would have died without a helmet”. It was January, and she’d just had a really ...