Official Ireland has its heroes and villains. The heroes and villains of the first few decades after independence in 1922 are easily categorised. The heroes are the ones who propelled Ireland forward into the modern age. They are people like Noel Browne, Sean Lemass, TK Whitaker and Gay Bryne. The villains are the ones who…
The results of the Limerick diocese’s 2025 consultation released this week tells it again what its own documents have been saying since 2016 and earlier consultations before that, going back to the 1990’s. The deeper question is whether listening, however sincere, has become a substitute for decision-making. There is a moment near the end of…
Just five games remain in this year’s intercounty hurling championship as the All-Ireland quarter-finals bring the curtain down on provincial campaigns that, in truth, never really caught fire. The Munster and Leinster finals were far from the classics many had anticipated, with Limerick and Galway emerging victorious to secure direct passage to the All-Ireland semi-finals.…
I owe Alistair McConnell a phone call. A few weeks ago, he got in touch with me by email. He wanted to hear my concerns about RTÉ’s broadcast output. Alistair is the Head of Editorial Standards and Compliance at RTÉ. He emailed me after his Director General, Kevin Bakhurst, appeared some days previously before the…
This summer is an inflection point on my personal journey through life – a 40th Anniversary of Ordination this month, a State Pension and a Travel Pass in August, as a 66th birthday looms, but no retirement in sight! The Dublin Diocesan Class of 1986 saw 17 men ordained; three have gone before us to…
Nearly eight years ago now, I honeymooned in Mexico for a couple of weeks. One of my abiding memories is sitting in a small-town square enjoying a local festival, watching the world go by, and being amazed by the sheer volume of children that were hanging out of prams, running around, screaming, shouting and laughing.…
As Haiti plays in the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974, Brazilian missionaries in the Caribbean nation are helping local residents watch the matches – something that can be difficult for most Haitians, given that many have no access to electricity. For both Brazilians and Haitians, football is not only a sport…
Parishes deprived of a resident priest in Ireland survive only with great difficulty. The problem is that Irish parishes are centred on the priest to an unhealthy degree, and to such an extent that when the resident priest is removed, the parish flounders. I have witnessed this myself. Having been ten years in Newcestown &…
Moscow not only continues to systematically kill Ukrainian civilians and wipe out entire families in their homes with missile strikes; it is also deliberately targeting historical and architectural heritage. During the latest massive attack on Kyiv, the aggressor damaged a number of sites such as the Church of the Nativity of Christ, the Postal Station,…
The New York state Legislature passed a bill that replaces the words “mother” and “father” in some state laws with gender-neutral language, a move that New York’s bishops say will further “muddy what is true and good.” The bill, passed by the state Assembly in March and by the state Senate on June 2, now…
David Quinn
Senator Ronan Mullen