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Jennifer O'Connell

Jennifer O'Connell

Jennifer O’Connell writes a weekly column every Wednesday in the Life pages of the Irish Times. She has a biweekly slot on the Ray D’arcy show on Today FM and regularly contributes to programmes on Newstalk, RTÉ Radio and RTÉ TV. In the past she has worked for other national media titles as an editor, features editor and columnist. She has also had stints as a television news reporter and documentary maker.

Georgia May Jagger launches the Marc Jacobs designed “Fight like a Girl” bag in aid of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer at Brown Thomas. Photograph: Alan Betson
Enough of the fuzzy euphemisms. It’s time for a grown-up conversation about breast cancer

Despite being awash in pink ribbons, we’re no better informed about risk reduction

The original Merida . . .
Turning marriage-sceptic Merida into Celtic Barbie was not a brave move, Disney

Female characters are still sidelined, stereotyped, and sexualised in movies and popular culture. Merida was the exception

Point, click, swoosh, ping: why multitasking is making us all mindless

Researchers gave students 15 minutes to read some coursework. On average, they lasted two minutes before checking Facebook. I kno(...)

Before Facebook: how social networks used to look. Photograph: Jeffrey Coolidge/Iconica/Getty
Facebook and us? It’s complicated

Users seem to be falling out of love with the social networking service, perhaps because it leaves many people feeling as if the p(...)

Amanda Knox was guilty of nothing more than extreme naivety. Photograph: Reuters
Yes, Amanda Knox was guilty. Guilty of being naive and guilty of liking sex

Our obsession with ‘Foxy Knoxy’ says more about us than it does about her

Weekend Review April 2013. Dove Real Beauty Sketches.
You know those tear-jerking Dove ads? They don’t wash with me

An online advertising campaign wants to show that women are too self-critical – but why is beauty seen as so important?

Forcing suicidal pregnant women to prove they are serious is cruel and dangerous

The last thing you do when faced with someone who is suicidal is make them prove they’re serious

People gather with candles during a vigil for eight-year-old Martin Richard, from Dorchester, who was killed by an explosion near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Photograph: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
Watching the Boston bombings on Facebook and Twitter plays tricks on us

Non-stop news and social-media coverage plays into the hands of those behind such attacks

For your children to get a place in school you might be asked to recite Humpty Dumpty in Cyrillic while juggling Rubik's cubes.
I became one of those parents I used to read about and snigger

Getting a school place was a cinch. We just unrolled our sleeping bags and queued outside at dawn

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