Are we really having less sex?
Are we really having less sex?

Kate Demolder

Real Weddings: Iseult and Michael tie the knot in Smock Alley Theatre
Real Weddings: Iseult and Michael tie the knot in Smock Alley Theatre

Shayna Sappington

How to quit social media comparison for good
How to quit social media comparison for good

Niamh Ennis

Weekend Guide: 12 of the best events happening around Ireland
Weekend Guide: 12 of the best events happening around Ireland

Sarah Gill

How to handle the co-worker who brings everyone down
How to handle the co-worker who brings everyone down

Victoria Stokes

Majken Bech Bailey on her life in food
Majken Bech Bailey on her life in food

Holly O'Neill

A new Netflix series about the Guinness family is in the works
A new Netflix series about the Guinness family is in the works

Sarah Finnan

Why the music of Sinéad O’Connor will stay with us forever
Why the music of Sinéad O’Connor will stay with us forever

Jan Brierton

My Life in Culture: Artist Jess Kelly
My Life in Culture: Artist Jess Kelly

Sarah Finnan

This enchanting home on Lough Derg is on the market for €950,000
This enchanting home on Lough Derg is on the market for €950,000

Sarah Finnan

Image / Relationships
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RELATIONSHIPS

The joy of besties showing up when you need them most


by Amanda Cassidy
16th Apr 2023

Friendships are unique relationships. Unlike family relationships, we choose to enter into them. And unlike other voluntary bonds, such as marriages and romantic relationships, they lack a formal structure. Yet research shows how important friendships are to our well-being. Amanda Cassidy hears five stories about how these essential buddy bonds saved us.

C.S. Lewis famously wrote in The Four Loves; “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” And for many, we can relate. Friendships are the bedrock of our earliest social interactions. Clap handies groups, soft play centres are about movement but they are also the first foundations for communication and relationship development. These early socialisations with peers – even...

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