Irish Independent

Chlo? McPolin has vowed to get back on the hobby horse in a series that will follow her search for a new pastime, from coffee brewing to bog snorkelling. There’s no question I dread more than “what do you do for fun?”. Am I expected to do something outside my usual schedule of working, doing laundry, yapping at friends and sleeping? I usually just lie and say “sea swimming”. It’s an impressive hobby and they can’t prove I don’t do it. I wear it like a badge of honour. The truth is I don’t have any hobbies. This hit home during a catch-up with a friend, who pointed out that getting my nails done and having a vanilla latte is not a hobby. To me it is. But it doesn’t have the same ring to it. Since secondary school, time for myself has fallen by the wayside in favour of working and socialising. That wasn’t something I wanted to change, until now. It feels like everyone my age is doing Hyrox, a marathon or jumping into some sort of cold plunge. I do wonder where I went wrong. As a child I was perpetually booked and busy with a plethora of hobbies. I tried my hand at hockey, horse riding, singing, dancing, swimming, art classes, Gaelic football; you name it – a young Chlo? McPolin did it. Most notably, I took guitar lessons for 10 years, but as soon as I realised gel nail extensions were an option, the six-string went on DoneDeal. More: https://buff.ly/41kH6bP

Specialist medical property investor PHP wants to double Irish portfolio, according to CEO Mark Davies. He was speaking after the UK stock market listed firm announced a €22m acquisition of the Laya Health & Wellbeing Clinic in Cork, where Laya is the tenant in situ. "The Irish primary care market is a great place to invest. We would like to double in size in the next three to five years, its not growth for growths sake, we know what we doing." Read more on the Irish Independent: https://buff.ly/4kldF28

Irish Independent and regional titles hiring 17 journalists under new scheme to boost local news. Mediahuis Ireland has launched a new recruitment drive to expand our local news coverage in the Irish Independent and across our regional publications. We are offering journalists the chance to join an award-winning local news team and report on courts and local democracy matters in their own area. A total of 17 roles are being made available, with the 12-month contracts funded by a journalism scheme from independent media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán. Read more here: https://buff.ly/3Xkicru

Patrick Hickey is shivering as he patiently fulfils every request for a picture on a bitterly cold Galway evening, with local kids happily circling around the six-foot-six native of Chicago who has become a towering figure in his home away from home. The unlikely presence at the top of the League of Ireland scoring charts has become a popular figure in a dressing room that is a mix of locals and overseas-born players trying to make their way in a business that can take you anywhere. John Caulfield’s group includes two Americans, an Australian, a New Zealander and a Cameroonian, none of whom set out on their football careers with relocation to the west of Ireland in mind. But Hickey’s story stands apart because he so very nearly abandoned the idea of trying to go anywhere in the game. He was in sunnier climes five years ago, laughing as he recalls how he was on spring break in Florida with his friends when Covid shut down society and curtailed his final days in Illinois Wesleyan University, where he was in the process of finishing a degree centred around business and Spanish. On June 1, 2020, a month before his 22nd birthday, Hickey entered the real world, accepting a job in the city as a dietary supplement salesman, working from 8 to 5 every day with an hour commute either side, his brief involving wearing a suit and tie and trying to sell his company’s products to experienced healthcare practitioners. “It was fine,” he shrugs. “I just didn’t love it.” There was an itch to scratch. Hickey had given up football, even though he reckoned he could play a bit. He just wasn’t sure of his ceiling. Read the full story on the Irish Independent: https://buff.ly/4gXmJHn

Alarming staff turnover rates in creches ‘jeopardising quality of childcare services’. The quality of childcare is being compromised as staff turnover rates have hit “frightening” levels of over 50pc in some creches, an expert has warned. Marlene McCormack, assistant professor in early childhood at Dublin City University, said the high number of early-years educators leaving childcare facilities is having a drastic effect on children’s education and development. Read more: https://buff.ly/41BwoiD

A new update to Apple's Air Pods Pro 2 means they can be used as clinical hearing aids in Ireland. How well does it work? Our Technology Editor Adrian Weckler gives them a go

After queuing outside all morning, they burst through the doors, whooping and cheering, their wallets and their confidence in the Irish economy both full to overflowing. It was March 3, 2005, and the official opening of Dundrum Town Centre (DTC), the south Dublin cathedral to consumerism, where the candles are soy and scented and the pews are in Nando’s and JD Sports. RTé archive footage of the day features interviews with carefree, pre-crash shoppers, including a woman in a Burberry scarf, of course, and another whose hair is cut in the amazingly haphazard layers of the day. As it prepares to celebrate its 20th birthday, it’s time to remember that DTC doesn’t just hold up traffic, particularly around Christmas or on any rainy Sunday. It also holds up a mirror to Irish society and over the past two decades has been an extraordinary barometer of our popular culture. As Ireland’s largest shopping centre celebrates a milestone birthday, here are some of its most memorable moments. More: https://buff.ly/3D7FmL5

Web Summit co-founders agree ‘in principle’ to mediation over legal disputes, High Court hears https://buff.ly/41zSRfJ

The front page of the Irish Independent on Friday

The regulator says Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland's conduct in failing to report suspicious transactions on six sample occasions was 'reckless'