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 My dad was buying a car recently and at every dealership we visited there was a big emphasis to sell these so-called 'PCP' finance plans. They're ultimately a more flexible wave of hire purchase agreements. Firstly an initial deposit is paid, or a car is traded in. Then the owner makes his repayments while keeping the car serviced at the main dealer and keeping the mileage of the vehicle below a specific level per annum.  Usually after 3 years - when most of the payments have been made - the purchaser has a range of choices to make: He can hand back the car with no obligation for him to make any further repayments. He can make a balloon payment or continue to make payments until he owns the car. Or he can trade in the car and enter into a new PCP agreement on another car. Hyundai: The best-selling car brand in Ireland last year. Also one of the many brands offering PCP deals.  The media are forever using car sales as a barometer of economic activity in Ireland. I...

T enacious,  R esolute,  U nder-estimated, M essianic, P ersuader It has been a surprise. Yes, I was shocked when I woke up on Wednesday morning. My dad who had been following the polls quite closely - mostly through Nate Silver's podcast - had been under the impression that Clinton would win. He was wrong. Likewise, I was sceptical about Trump's prevalence in the media and believed that all the hype and attention wouldn't necessarily correlate with the share of votes he would receive. I was wrong. In the year of Brexit, little is beyond the bounds of possibility. The anti-establishment mentality that I touched on in a previous post following the British referendum has become ever more widespread. A lot of the things Trump had said were music to the ears of those living in the so-called 'rust belt'. He'd bring life back into their towns, which have been economic vacuums for many years. There aren't just economic and social chasms between the citie...

I don't mean to sound pessimistic (a sentence that usually precedes something very very pessimistic)... Have a look at this graph: Thanks to the guys at http://ilevel.ie I've made it nice and big so you can see the trend clearly. Above is the percentage of Dubliners over the age of 15 who listen to radio each week. The different coloured lines represent different demographs, as indicated on the right. The x-axis represents this period in 2010, in 2013 and in 2016 (the current period). Noticeably, they're all descending, and some quite significantly. In the case of 15-19 y/o's, listenership was at circa 92% in 2010, while it is at around 69% now. That's one hell of a decrease. Those 15-19 year olds are the streaming generation - what's the point in them listening to a pre-selected playlist on the radio if they can create their own on Spotify? Perhaps with the distractions of social media, gaming being more accessible than ever on our smartphones, and th...

In a book I'm currently reading called 'Flight Behaviour' by American novelist Barbara Kingsolver, the narrator describes one of the characters as being a "911 Christian: In the event of an emergency call the lord." This quote, to me, represents the context of organised religion in modern society. Religious practice in Ireland has decreased in recent times, with vast swathes of people abandoning the Catholic Church following scandals, becoming disenfranchised with certain rules, or others simply finding purpose and meaning in material goods as opposed to spiritual ideals. Juxtaposing this decline in religious action is the ever prominent level of religious belief in our societies. In my humble opinion, religion has, for many people, developed into a coping mechanism. For non-practising Catholics who don't step foot in a church at all, it still seems to be the 'go to' utility in times of need and suffering. When times are tough, religion provides a ...

The scramble for tickets is just insane. Thousands of teenagers and adults battling on TripAdvisor to get good seats. And after a couple of stressful moments, no more tickets! Isn't it so funny. This is the Coldplay that is doing duets with Rihanna and Beyonce, this is the Coldplay that releases EDM records. It's a very different Coldplay to that of 2005. These two are from the album 'X + Y'. My dad used to have this in the car the whole time so I had months of listening to the album nonstop - but that was years ago. I hit shuffle on Spotify and heard Square One - the opening track, one I recognised instantly from the distinctive riff. Square One is a very interesting start to the album - the synth combined with loud guitars gives the band a very unique sound. The track really builds up. The guitars pick up pace and the song is very lively heading from the chorus into the second verse. There's a James Bond-like riff to follow every line. It's one of my favou...

"YOU support murdering children?"   It was a simple exchange. We were talking about faith in the modern world, and I foolishly dropped the 'A Word'. Hinting my feelings in relation to this controversial topic, I was immediately stopped in my tracks. My words had led to a judgement being made about my character and my personality. This headline from Waterford Whispers News summarises what has happened to the debate in Ireland: It's ironic, because since the debate has come into general public consideration in Ireland, it has almost become more of a taboo. A highly emotionally-charged debate, both sides will shoot the other down with provocative statements. People are afraid to open their mouths about it in case they are ridiculed for their views. This is exacerbated by the far-left and far-right musings on social media, suggesting that there is little or no middle-ground in this debate. Whatever side of the tracks you are on, or whether you have made ...

What the frogurt is frogurt, you ask? It's not the latest Game of Thrones character to be murdered, alas it is the latest abbreviation from the world of gastronomy. ' Frogurt ' is a term used to describe frozen yogurt, an ice-cream equivalent that is the latest food phenomenon. What irritates me about frogurt is not the stupid name, but moreso the way the treat has been marketed as a healthy option. Yes I'm sure it is the 'low-fat', healthier alternative to ice cream. I'm not here to argue the science of this trend, but I just feel that people are somehow under the illusion that because what they are eating is 'yogurt', it is magically good for them. Please don't tell me that you think chocolate flavoured frozen yogurt is healthy - it's a desert, plain and simple. On any given weekend in Dundrum shopping centre, swarms of teens are to be seen Instagramming* their mountains of frogurt, scattered with a wide variety of unhealthy confectione...