Disengagement and discomfort: what national surveys on education really illuminate Dear Editor, Much has been made of the headline claim that a majority wish to retain the current school ethos. Yet a closer reading of the national survey tells a rather different—and more uncomfortable—story. Within denominational schools themselves, around 40% of parents expressed a preference…
Month: May 2026
A soul friend
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
One of the saints who speaks to me is Thérèse of Lisieux, commonly known as the ‘Little Flower’. This wasn’t love at first sight. For years I was put off and left cold and uninterested by how her person and her image have become encrusted in an overly saccharine piety. She was too sweet, too…
A faithful perspective on AI’s ethical formation
Fr Brendan McGuire considers the intersection between ethics and industry Located in sunny Silicon Valley amongst the world’s biggest tech giants and startups looking to make a name for themselves, parish priest and former tech executive Fr Brendan McGuire contemplates the future of AI through a lens of faith. For the Irish native, who graduated…
A summer of upsets: the end of certainty
For much of the past decade, Limerick’s dominance has cast a long shadow over Munster hurling. Six consecutive provincial titles under John Kiely’s reign established a level of dominance rarely seen in the modern game, with the round-robin series producing blockbuster encounters that remarkably more often than not still ended with the same outcome for…
Old lines, new thoughts: writing out a Gospel by hand
I am currently immersed in a project I undertook in order to get my spiritual groove back: writing out the Gospel of Mark, in longhand. It has been a very interesting, instructive and spiritual enlivening experience and I recommend the practice to anyone – in fact, I may spend the next three Lenten seasons writing…
Am I obligated to do my penance right away for my confession to be valid?
Q: Recently I went to confession on Saturday afternoon before my parish’s vigil Mass. The priest told me to say a rosary for my penance. But since I was the last one in line, Mass was starting right away and I didn’t have time to say my penance. Then I’m embarrassed to admit I wound…
Hearers of the word
Acts 8:5-8,14-17; Psalm 66 (65); 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21 You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you The Gospel John 14:15 Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to…
Vatican prepares Pope Leo XIV summit on marriage crisis
Pope Leo XIV is aware that among the vocations to which men and women are called by God, marriage is one of the “noblest and highest.” He said as much last October, on the 10th anniversary of the canonisation of Sts Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Now,…
Education for meaning and purpose requires more than warm words
When Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton stepped up to address the 39th Annual Conference of the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) this week, she did so against a striking backdrop. The Europe Hotel, overlooking Killarney’s Lough Léin and framed by the McGillycuddy Reeks, offered a majestic setting. But lurking beneath the depth of the still waters…
Historic Portlaoise convent lands reopen with new social housing
The former Presentation Convent lands in Portlaoise have been officially reopened following a two-year redevelopment, delivering 52 social housing apartments for people on the long-term homeless waiting list in Co. Laois. The site, originally established by the Presentation Sisters more than 200 years ago, had fallen into dereliction by the late 20th century. After the…