At the invitation of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, a delegation representing bishops and officials from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference have held a two-hour bilateral meeting with ministers in Government Buildings. This was the first such meeting to take place under the Church-State structured dialogue process with Mr Varadkar as Taoiseach. The agenda for the meeting included:…

Politicians have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable above their own sectoral interests, the Bishop of Derry has said. “It is the task of political leaders to promote the common good and not just sectoral interests or popular causes,” Bishop Donal McKeown said. “We expect our leaders to be wise and not just street wise.…

Donations to Trócaire’s emergency response in East Africa has raised €2.4m so far, with about half that amount coming from a church collection in parishes nationwide. Funds from the parish collection, which was sanctioned by the Irish Bishops’ Conference in late July, are continuing to come into the charity, and the total figure is expected…

Sex trafficking is “modern day slavery” and exists under the radar, according to an Irish bishop who has worked with an international group to combat human trafficking. Bishop Denis Brennan reacted to figures released by Ruhama, a charity that helps women involved in prostitution, which reveal large amounts of women continue to be smuggled into…

The Government has been called to focus on policy that will help elderly people live at home, as the number of people over the age of 65 in Ireland will double to nearly one million by 2031. As Ireland’s population ages Social Justice Ireland (SJI), an independent thinktank, released a report this week stressing that…

Louise Hanlon Faith, friendship and fun were the order of the day at the annual Catholic Young Adults Conference which took place in All Hallows College, Dublin at the weekend. The conference, organised by the Legion of Mary, had as its theme ‘Know Mary, Know Jesus’ and attracted over 200 attendees from various parts of…

The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has issued an appeal to commercial owners on Dublin’s northside for a retail unit to replace a charity shop destroyed by fire. The Vincent’s shop in Coolock Village Centre was engulfed in flames in the early hours of Monday morning, causing structural damage which will result in the…