According to a new study carried out by the National Women’s Council of Ireland, an astonishing 41% of Irish women are unhappy with their appearance compared to just 21% of men.
The presence of social media has also heightened our desire to change how we see ourselves.
The City explores the streets of Dublin to see what the public makes of the impact of social media on body image.
By Niamh O’Donoghue, Nicola Kirwan and Marie Cogan
Just hours after parliament in London approved Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to strike at Islamic State militants in Syria, British Tornado bombers conducted their first air strikes.
The Tornados from the Royal Air Force targeted the IS-controlled Omar oil fields in eastern Syria. The oil fields are used to fund the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
As the fight moves closer to home, we asked the people of Dublin how they felt about it.
Follow us on twitter at @NiamhHaskins, @MichelleDardis_ and @StephenFLarkin.
By Michelle Dardis, Niamh Haskins and Stephen Larkin
Businessman Gerry Horgan opened his doors more than thirty years ago on Camden Street.
In the three decades that he has been serving coffee on the street, he has witnessed Camden Street undergoing a dramatic change.
Once a quiet market street, it is now a bustling extension of Dublin’s bar and restaurant scene.
He is one of the few businesses to have survived throughout the changes and Gerry spoke to The City about the benefits that these developments have brought to the street.
By Ben Finnegan and Laura Larkin
A new website has recently been launched … and for any Irish person living abroad, it can be the closest thing to doing your food shop at home.
A Slice of Home sends Irish treats to people all over the world so you can either surprise a friend with their favourite Cadbury bar abroad, or stock up on some Barry’s Tea for yourself if you can’t stand the tea where you’re living.
The website has a wide selection of Cadbury chocolate, Tayto and King Crisps, as well as Lyons and Barry’s Tea. And of course, they’re all big sized versions to last the typical Irish person a while.
All the delivery prices are set by the An Post postal service and the website guarantee that they do not gain profit from the delivery end of things as they believe it can be expensive enough.
So if you’re looking to buy some Irish treats for that homesick friend of yours, check out the website here.
We here at The City took to the corridors of Dublin Institute of Technology to see what food some of the students missed most when they were living abroad.
Also, check out The City’s interview with A Slice of Home founder here.
You can follow Rachael on Twitter @rachieobrien.
By Rachael O’Brien and Ronan Smyth
As Christmas preparation is in full swing across the city, retailers are expecting the biggest Christmas splurge since 2008.
We hit Dublin’s busiest streets to find out what the city thinks on the countdown to Christmas.
Follow us on twitter at @NiamhHaskins, @MichelleDardis_ and @StephenFLarkin
By Niamh Haskins, Stephen Larkin and Michelle Dardis
American Football has been growing in popularity in Ireland for the last few years, with around thirty teams taking part in competition around the country.
The main competition, the Irish American Football League (IAFL) sees the top teams during the year competing against each other to land a spot in March’s culmination – the Shamrock Bowl.
We caught up with one of the teams in the IAFL at the moment, University College Dublin (UCD), as they outline why the sport has grown so much and whether it will continue to do so.
Photo: Eierschneider/ Flickr
Almost one in three women’s Halloween costumes use explicit descriptive language in their title. Research carried out by The City on the most popular Halloween costume catalog in Dublin and two online websites show that nearly one third of all women’s Halloween costumes use language which clearly sexualises the costume.
Words like ‘hot’, ‘naughty’, ‘raunchy’, ‘tease’, and ‘saucy’ are just some of the descriptions used in the titles of women’s fancy dress. None of these terms are used to describe male costumes with the majority of those aimed at men using words like ‘whacky’, ‘funny’, or ‘crazy’ … with a very occasional ‘handsome’.
The research also shows that for costumes that portray a figure of authority, there are no female sizes or equivalents. Examples of this include ‘High Court Judge’, ‘New York Cop’, ‘Army Guy’ or ‘ER Surgeon’, all of which have male models and no women’s sizes.
In comparison, women interested in those kinds of costumes will have to settle for ‘Officer Pat-Me-Down’, ‘Corporal Cutie’, or ‘Naughty Nurse’. With names like that, it is no surprise that female Halloween costumes tend to be physically very revealing. So are women and girls under increasing pressure to take the ‘sexy’ option out of fear of seeming ‘lame’?
We spoke to Chairperson of DIT’s gender equality society, Constance Keane, and members of the public to get their views on this issue.
By Rosemary Haughey and Niamh Geoghegan
Halloween is a time for the ghosts, ghouls and all things scary. It is also a famous time for movies. The City’s Aaron Doyle went out to find out what Halloween movies people are most excited about.
By Aaron Doyle and Ronan Smyth
The people of Dublin are anxiously waiting on November 13 to find out if they will be announced as the European Capital City of Culture for 2020.
Running for the past 30 years, the European Capital City of Culture is an annual competition between two host countries within the European Union – with the host cities for 2020 being in Ireland and Croatia.
The winning city within each country will be given the coveted title for a period of one calendar year, and the potential to generate large amounts of revenue in tourism and business.
Limerick, Galway, the South-East and Dublin are all competing for the title.
The initiative aims to promote and highlight the diversity of culture across the EU, as well as promoting healthy competition between its members.
The programme also offers an excellent opportunity to tackle issues within the chosen city, such as homelessness and other social issues.
Ireland is no stranger to the Capital City of Culture; with Dublin having won the prestigious title in 1991 and Cork following suit in 2005.
So what exactly is the bid?
The Dublin 2020 bid is about social change through involvement – so get involved! A team of hardworking journalists, event managers, videographers, photographers, singers, dancers, teachers and everyone in between, have spent months preparing to put the bid forward to the EU.
The bid is essentially a book filled with thousands of reasons why Dublin is unique, special, and most importantly why we as a county should be chosen.
Niamh O’Donoghue and Marie Cogan spoke to Dublin’s youngest 2020 campaigner, Jamie Harrington, about the importance of the competition.
Want to join #TeamDublin? Start spreading the message of the bid and simply inform others. If you think you have a great idea to help boost our chances of winning then get in touch and #TeamDublin will support you as much as they can.
By Marie Cogan and Niamh O’Donoghue
This weekend saw food festival Taste City Fusion arrive in Dublin.
The four day event, which was sponsored by CityJet, celebrated the Irish food scene with cookery workshops, masterclasses and a selection of culinary treats on offer throughout the weekend.
The City headed along to the event and brought you behind the scenes, showing what exactly the event had to offer, and what the vendors made of the experience.
By Niamh Haskins, Laura Somers and Michelle Dardis
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