IT Sunday: What happens on Twitter isn’t necessarily what happens in the ballot box

Welcome to this week’s IT Sunday, a selection of the best Irish Times journalism for our subscribers.

If you ask Irish people how they’re doing – they’ll say that their life is going well. Ask them how the country is faring, however, and they’ll tell you it’s going to the dogs. David McWilliams introduces that basic dichotomy at the outset of his latest column, which explores how people can be objectively pessimistic, yet subjectively positive – and what this reality might mean for the next election. “Negative perceptions of the state of the nation should mean that Opposition parties will sail in to power in the next election – at least on paper. In reality, maybe not,” writes McWilliams. “People may say one thing to pollsters or on social media but we know that when they go into the privacy of the ballot box, strange things happen.”

As the Belfast Agreement turns 25, Fintan O’Toole revisits its formation, recalling in particular how political theatre, the contribution of key individuals and a measure of luck all played a part. “The main ingredients were already familiar. The sharing of power in Belfast between unionists and nationalists. Cross-Border bodies on the island that would deal with relatively noncontentious issues of co-operation but nonetheless establish an ‘Irish dimension’ to appease nationalist aspirations to unity. Britain would acknowledge that Northern Ireland would stay in the United Kingdom only so long as a majority of its citizens wished it to do so; the Republic of Ireland would accept that a United Ireland could come about only with the consent of that same majority.

“Part of the conjuring act was to wipe out the memory that all of this had indeed been agreed long before and to allow Sinn Féin and the loyalists to present it to their own constituents as new – and thus claim great breakthroughs that justified doing the deal now.”

In his Smart Money column this week, Cliff Taylor dug into inflation figures and examined whether things are quite as bad as we’re hearing. “We are all used to relying on the annual rate of inflation as a measure of price pressures. It fits in with our perceptions – prices are way in advance of what they were a year ago in many areas... However, what is the rate of inflation running at right now? And the answer to that is that – in Ireland and many other countries – it is significantly lower than the annual figures suggest.”

When a marriage falls apart, sharing the family assets is a necessary but sometimes emotional and complicated task. Often, the family home or savings and investments will take centre stage; however, the couple’s pensions may be the biggest asset in the marital pot, and due care needs to be taken when considering their division, writes Fiona Reddan, who explains all you need to know about pensions when it comes to divorce.

Elsewhere, as Britain gears up for the coronation of its new monarch next month, the portrait of King Charles was this week unveiled in the grand Hall of India and Pakistan in the Royal Over-Seas League clubhouse, not far from Buckingham Palace. Our London correspondent went along to the event, and writes that the lesson in humility that followed was rather less expected.

In Sierra Leone, doctors emphasise, there are no epidurals for women in labour. Without anything to dull the pain, wards are full of praying, screaming and – eventually – the sound of crying babies. That noise is a good thing, reports Sally Hayden from Freetown. It’s the sound of survival. Sierra Leone remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world in which to give birth. Read the full report here.

In our Sport section, a new marathon running column aimed at getting readers ready to tackle the Dublin Marathon and compiled by our resident running expert Ian O’Riordan, began this week. In one of his first articles, O’Riordan looks at the dos, the don’ts and early targets of your training programme. The piece also explains why you should get into the habit of an early morning run.

Finally, in her latest column, Roe McDermott advises a reader whose boyfriend has a much higher libido, and wants sex much more regularly than she does. “To be honest, sometimes I resent it, and I’m worried that when we get married and eventually have children, this gap is going to widen and either he is going to resent me for not having enough sex, or I’ll resent him for constantly wanting sex.” Read the full query and Roe’s response here.

As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest in sport. There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.