Michael Harding

‘I swung back down to gather up the girl in my arms — she had of course fainted — and I carried her to a waiting ambulance’

Michael Harding: He finished his pint in that firm silence men use when they want to hide how frightened they are

In a packed hostelry in Meenaleck, we bore witness to a spectacular, life-affirming moment in which the world felt like a kinder and gentler place

I have felt gratitude every single day since, for the ambulance team which reached me so swiftly and saved me from the abyss, so that I could continue writing columns and enjoying swanky hotels

Michael Harding: At breakfast there was an unusual hush in the restaurant. It didn’t feel like a normal hotel

People who know better have assured me that it’s an artistic masterpiece, but I couldn’t bear to go beyond episode three

‘Driving home the next morning I was still fascinated so much by the storyteller behind the plastic bag mask that I forgot to get petrol before heading up the motorway’

St Brigid’s Day: I let rip with all the fabulous magical realism I could muster and soon I had the General cornered

Old dancers used to be lionised for their steps, because their exuberance contrasted with their seniority, evoking both awe and pity in the tragic ritual

The fiddle invokes in the listener a quiet ecstasy; it turns young hearts to love and makes old folks smile and fall silent

I was on my way back from RTÉ. Our conversation began well but then descended into silence

Callow love sundered but life rumbles on until … letters yellowed by age surface at a funeral

Being alone in Warsaw in December is not everyone’s idea of a good holiday, but for me its streets are haunted by the peace that follows terrible suffering

Michael Harding: The General can’t see why I visit Warsaw, but it’s wonderful, the city razed by Nazi Germany now shining in the dark like a beacon of hope

He didn’t want to hear about my sick cat. But, for me, animals are spiritual beings embodied in flesh

When I see Charlie Chaplin on the internet I see myself

He looked stunning, and I could only despise my own lack of courage. My neck felt naked. I was underdressed. And so devastated that I left early

I suspect I will never leave the hills above Lough Allen, because I could never uproot the trees, or live without them

‘Two shower heads in a single shower area!’ the General exclaimed, as if it was an affront to decency

I’m always nervous when English people talk about ‘over here’ when asking about Coronation Street or Asda

She ran straight back into the scullery, where she sheltered behind a few biscuit tins in the corner and didn’t come out for days

I wish I’d said: ‘Come on, Pat, let’s have a little dhrop of the crathur. Feck tomorrow’

Start-up has developed a secure platform that integrates hospital and insurer systems

The author says starting a podcast helped him relate to people when he felt vulnerable

‘In this country, where most of the population are play-actors ... it’s bound to yield players’

The author on the poetry of religion and the heart attack that gave him a lift

Retired Limerick farmer misses seeing his family but is not obsessing over the virus

‘More players should travel but it can be very hard. It can be a bit of a wild west sometimes’

69 new cases of coronavirus had been detected the previous day. ‘I am one of them,’ she said

Along with the chronic physical illnesses of diabetes and fibromyalgia, Emma Donoghue (26) has had postnatal depression and anorexia to contend with. But life is slowly getting better

RTÉ host gets to the heart of the childcare crisis , as O’Shea welcomes all book-lovers

Late poet and playwright was a storyteller who used his own silence to listen

Field of lepers? Deceitful strand? Town of thieves? Our ancestors clearly didn’t want visitors

Michael Harding returns to this slot next week but, in the meantime, some life lessons

In conversation: James Earley, artist, and Nollaig Healy, festival director

Sometimes the only voice a farmer hears is on the radio in the tractor cab

Broadasting Authority rejects 11 complaints about RTÉ ‘Late Late Show’ item

‘Riot’ drenches modern Ireland in colour in a triumph of wild and uplifting theatre