Colin Murphy is unsatisfied with but nonetheless intrigued by Timon of Athens, a play performed by professional actors and members of the homeless community

The presenter and the judges on the RTÉ summer hit Charity You're A Star earned more than many of the charities involved. By Justine McCarthy

Feel like the government is ignoring you, that you're being mistreated and that no one will listen? It's time to talk to Joe. Joe Duffy has created a cult space in Irish media (Liveline, RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays, 1.45pm). Many people too disillusioned to try any other route to justice are voting with their fingers by calling, texting and mailing Joe.

Criticism that The Wind that Shakes the Barley failed to show IRA sectarianism towards Protestants is misplaced, writes Niall Meehan, as records of the time show that they were persecuted not by republicans but by the police

Recently the National Library of Ireland has been seeking ways to lose its image as the sanctuary of some of this country's more otherwordly characters. To give this great institution back to a far broader section of society, the superb idea of Library Late was conceived. This is a series of public interviews in which Ireland's most distinguished authors discuss their work with well-known journalists and literary critics. The fourth season has just kicked off.

Dr John Owens is charged with overhauling Ireland's outdated mental-health system. However, he must first tackle the prejudices of his colleagues and the state. He talks to Justine McCarthy

Twenty years ago, while travelling across the deep south of the US I happened into the town of Waycross, Georgia, close to the Okefenokee swamplands. I was sitting outside a diner, jawing with the local good ol' boys. One of them struck a matchhead off the heels of his boots, lit his cigarette and started mouthing off. He turned out to be an elected sheriff from a nearby town and he was running – or so he said – on a segregationist ticket.

In Search of the Pope's Children may be pastiche television, and you can't believe all that David McWilliams so passionately tells you, but it's certainly better than the tired old Questions and Answers

Before reviewing Scarlet, the official sequel to Peter Pan, I decided to re-read the original book. I soon realised that 're-read' was the wrong word.

On 30 July, Alan Ruddock produced a long opinion piece in the Sunday Independent attacking stamp duty as "the mother of all rip-offs". Over the following weeks, the iniquities of stamp duty and its injurious effects on Irish society were repeatedly denounced by Independent Newspapers' writers. For example, on 13 September, the Independent ran an article, entitled 'Stamp duty is now the most effective contraception', which went so far as to blame the tax for Ireland's declining birth rate.