In Ireland, the figures on education – usually an accurate social leading indicator – reveal our near future. Here, women are more likely to have a third-level education than men. File photograph: Getty 6:22 David McWilliams: A female-led economy is coming – and it will be better

Those with money shape society. An economy with women on top will be different

Author Philip Roth. Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters Philip Roth: Astute appraisals of a larger-than-life writer
Cairn Homes chief executive Michael Stanley cited what he described as a “mind-blowing statistic” that the home ownership rates among 25-39-year-olds is now down to about 12 per cent. Photography/Avalon/Getty Images) Fintan O’Toole: I got a mortgage at 24 – unthinkable for today’s young adults
Illustration: Alan Clarke Ross O’Carroll Kelly: ‘The old man has promised to stop acting the dick’
Justin Rose celebrates with his caddie David Clark after his opening round of 65 in the US Masters. Photograph: Kevin C Cox/Getty Justin Rose steals the show at Augusta; Man United find right frequency in Granada
Former drummer with The Go-Betweens Lindy Morrison: journalists fixated upon everything about her other than her musical talent. NME reported she “drinks, swears and threatens too much.” Photograph: Chris Hyde/Getty My Rock ’n’ Roll Friend: Tracey Thorn’s laser-sharp account of a 37-year friendship
In practice, many of us use our microwaves for little more than heating ready meals or making porridge and popcorn. Photograph: Getty Microwave ovens: How chefs use the unsung hero of the kitchen
A passenger is escorted to a bus to be taken to the Crowne Plaza hotel: The public was tricked into believing quarantine would lead to a loosening of our current exhausting lockdown. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Getty Mandatory hotel quarantine is controversial for good reason
‘If history is any precedent all talk of a united Ireland by politicians in the Republic should be taken with a large dose of salt.’ Photograph: Presseye Stephen Collins: Border poll talk fails to take account of loyalist anger
‘Are We There Yet?’ street art in the Grand Canal Basin area of Dublin: a phased reopening of the economy is expected to begin in May, but no dates have been set. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw for The Irish Times Vaccine passports to new variants: the big reopening questions
A view of the 12th green ahead of the start of the 2021 US Masters. Photograph: Jared C Tilton/Getty Wide-open US Masters gets underway; Chelsea gain Porto advantage
The MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, last month. Photograph: ©Maxar Technologies via AP How the Suez Canal facilitated an unexpected revolution
Rachel Kushner: her daring exploits like someone’s cool older sister The Hard Crowd: Everything is turning to gold
Live in your living room: Kathleen Turner and Maggie Smith. Photographs: Mark Veltman/NYT and Tom Jamieson/NYT An evening with Kathleen Turner and Maggie Smith: This week’s unmissable online events
Clinical psychologist and author Frank Tallis believes there are some practical therapy tools people could learn from a young age Telling men to open up is not enough – teach them how
Philip Roth: It is not enough to dislike him as a private individual. On account of his personal failings we are asked to dismiss his cultural output too. Photograph: Eric Thayer Cancel culture ignores fact that bad people can create good things
Zinedine Zidane celebrates with Vinicius Junior after Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Liverpool. Photograph: Kiko Huesca/EPA Real Madrid beat Liverpool; Gordon D’Arcy on size of Leinster’s Exeter challenge
‘I never dreamed that an opportunity would arise where I could return home.’ Photograph: iStock ‘I want to move home, but it could be dangerous for us as a gay couple to live there’
Jonny Gray of Exeter has his shirt pulled by Mickael Guillard of Lyon during the Champions Cup Round of 16 clash at Sandy Park. The way Exeter play demands an enormous work rate by players off the ball and all the fundamental skills on it. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images Gordon D’Arcy: Tempo of Exeter’s heads-up game plan likely to expose Leinster
The Joyce family, 1924. Left to right: James Joyce and Nora Barnacle and their children, Lucia and Giorgio Joyce. Photograph: Archive Photos/Getty Nora: Fresh retelling of life of James Joyce’s wife proves she’s no adjunct
A man walks past a burning car hijacked by loyalists at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim. Photograph: Peter Morrison/PA Wire Michael McDowell: Violence in North highlights failure at political level
Viktor Hovland on the 12th during a practice round ahead of the 2021 MAsters. Photo: Erik S Lesser/EPA Anticipation building at Augusta; Gerry Thornley on more Munster disappointment
‘I am trying to be as supportive as I can and keep the channels of communication open.’ Photograph: iStock ‘I’m worried my 15-year-old daughter is cutting herself’
Robert Maxwell with daughter Ghislaine and wife Elisabeth: His narcissism and self-aggrandisement prompt comparisons with Trump, but the events of Maxwell’s life are graver and more shocking. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty Images Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell – Lively account of a press baron
John le Carré: the writer took out Irish citizenship, which he was able to claim through his maternal grandmother, at the end of his life. File photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images) 6:33 Fintan O’Toole: Why we should welcome the new tribe of Anglo-Irish people
The tensions within politics in Northern Ireland have felt increasingly taut, but politics and people don’t always correlate. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Emma de Souza: People in Northern Ireland have moved on, even if the politics have not
Real Madrid seem an obvious choice, and Erling Haaland’s style resonates with the power-worshipping aesthetic of a club that has been nicknamed the Vikings. Photograph: Ina Fassbender/pool/ AFP via Getty Images 6:28 Ken Early: Haaland’s date with City pits the system against the individual
The Inca ruler Atahualpa in supplication before Francisco Pizarro: Laurent Binet imagines a world where Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor, conquers the New World of Europe and is coronated as Holy Roman Emperor. A round-up of the best new books in translation
Social media platforms – especially Facebook – and entities such as YouTube create a radicalisation pipeline that works quickly and often privately. 5:49 Una Mullally: Conspiracy theories threaten public health
Pope Francis at the Festival of Families at Croke Park on August 25th, 2018: “Grappling Catholic” Derek Scally has written a book rich with history, interrogation and emotional intelligence. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship
Wes Hoolahan has been a key part of Cambridge’s good form this season. Photo: Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images 6:43 Evergreen Wes Hoolahan playing central part in Cambridge adventure
‘Dad, you can speak Irish. I hear you shouting at TG4 when the rugby is on.’ Ross O’Carroll-Kelly: My opening line in the Irish oral was ‘Bonjour’. I never recovered
What White People Can Do Next should be in the pocket of every political party member needing guidance on multiculturalism and community building. What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship To Coalition
Our death rates are similar to those of Denmark, yet we closed down five times longer. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times 5:12 David McWilliams: Are Ireland’s relatively low Covid deaths due to emigration?
The Isle of Man has three times as many deaths from Covid-19 as Taiwan – in absolute numbers. Photograph: iStock Fintan O’Toole: Why does the West not have the humility to learn from Asia's Covid success?
Travellers board a bus at Dublin airport as part of the mandatory quarantine regime: Category 2 selection does not distinguish between Covid-19 hotspots in the EU and the rest of the world. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins 6:18 Harry McGee: Hotel quarantine exposed as complete charade
The European Parliament in Strasbourg. John le Carré said the decision to learn a foreign language was an act of friendship, an awakening, a holding out a hand. Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images 5:29 The EU needs a single market for news
Peter Goff, who reported from China for The Irish Times: “Watching China develop and thrive in so many respects has been a privilege.” Life as a foreign journalist in China: Harassment and intimidation are part of the job
Shopping in Woodies Bray, 2020. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw, The Irish Times The essential/non-essential retail debate has become farcical
Miles To Go Before I Sleep is Claire Gilbert’s searingly honest memoir. Miles To Go Before I Sleep: Intense, evocative and moving
sdfsd 17:33 The 35 best products in Irish supermarkets: Our food writers share their favourites
Last year was littered with social media-inspired political controversies. Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley found himself making a Dáil statement arising out of his tweets regarding the IRA and Leo Varadkar. Photograph: PA 5:12 Irish politicians should lay off social media
A hopeful-sounding message on Chatham Street in Dublin: there are reasons for economic optimism. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times Reasons to be cheerful:five reasons the Irish economy can rebound
Aaron Connolly is one of Ireland’s main hopes for the future up front. Photo: Novak Djurovic/PA Wire Ireland sorely lack a goalscorer; JJ Hanrahan speaks about his move to France
JJ Hanrahan believes his experience of going away to Northampton at 23 will stand to him at Clermont Auvergne. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho No regrets as JJ Hanrahan swaps Red Army for Clermont’s Yellow Army
Lamb recipes for every occasion, including Easter Sunday lunch or dinner. Photograph: iStock. Easter lunch: 10 luscious Irish lamb dishes to cook at home
Erin Kelly’s Watch Her Fall is set in the hypercompetitive world of ballet. Photograph: iStock Crime fiction: Bloody ballet and a tender intergenerational bond
Prices in Dublin, which had been declining, rose by 1.1% year-on-year, according to CSO figures, but prices outside of Dublin have risen by 4% Which way are house prices heading? Depends on the data
Many countries, unlike Ireland, have heeded the UN and other global organisations’ calls for prioritisation of teacher vaccinations. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images Covid-19: Not prioritising the vaccination of teachers will have far-reaching impact
Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu is unable to stop Qatar’s Mohamed Muntari from scoring their equaliser. Photo: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Ireland’s wait for a win goes on; Gordon D’Arcy on not hating this Munster team
This is not an easy process, yet it will focus you on making your own life better, and that of your children, rather than on waiting for recognition to sink in with your ex ‘Will my ex-husband ever regret leaving me and my two kids for his younger co-worker?’
Chris Power: atmospheric writing A Lonely Man: How far should you go to write a great novel?
Munster head coach Johann van Graan and senior coach Stephen Larkham. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho 9:45 Gordon D’Arcy: I do not hate this Munster team - and that should worry their supporters