School concert is set to rock you

Transition Year students of Le Chéile Secondary School, Dublin have been performing a tribute to the famous rock band Queen this week with a show entitled ‘We Will Rock You’. This is the first ever musical staged at the four-year-old Catholic secondary school set up by the Le Chéile Trust, which includes live performances of…

A panorama of great artists through the centuries

Artists: Their Lives and Works foreword by Ross King (Dorling Kindersley  £25.00) Michael
 Collins   We admire the work of artists and are in awe of their magnificent creations. Their deftness with pencil, charcoal and paintbrush capture a moment and turn it into a timeless masterpiece. In this book the editors have produced an elegant volume which…

Isn’t the need for exorcism obvious?

Dear Editor, With reference to your front page article about exorcists in Ireland (IC 18/01/18) I have to confess to considerable shock that a spokesperson from the Catholic Communications Office at Maynooth would state that 
“…this office has not been made aware of any recent cases of exorcism in Ireland in recent years”.  That is…

Homelessness among the young

Sinéad 
Healy Homelessness in Ireland is at the point of crisis with over 8,500 homeless in the Republic of Ireland. Depaul now helps 915 people that are homeless or at risk of homelessness every single day across Northern and the Republic of Ireland. The organisation has grown significantly in the Republic of Ireland to meet the…

Share tokens of love for St Valentine’s Day

The World Meeting of Families is inviting couples to share special tokens of love with a difference for St Valentine’s Day this year. Following Pope Francis’ calls to celebrate St Valentine’s Day in a more meaningful way, WMOF2018 is inviting couples to think beyond the traditional box of chocolates or bunch of flowers to gifts…

Sadness, pain and pure joy in one soul

The Notebook Martin Delaney   Down
 syndrome My face may be different But my feelings the same I laugh and I cry And I take pride in my gains I was sent here among you To teach you to love As God in heavens Looks down from above To him I’m no different His love knows…

Ireland under Home Rule: what if?

Imagining Alternative Irelands in 1912: Cultural Discourse in the Periodical Press Brian Ward (Four Courts Press, €50) Felix
 M.
 Larkin   Historians should always be conscious of the importance of contingency in shaping events. As the distinguished American historian David McCullough, biographer of John Adams and Harry Truman, says: “Nothing ever had to happen the way it happened.…

NCH hosts the anniversaries of unrelated centenaries

Pat O’Kelly   Among a number of anniversaries, this year commemorates two distinct and unrelated centenaries – Estonian Independence and the birth of the US composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein. Both events are being highlighted at the National Concert Hall next week through the return of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) on January 31 and the…

Belgians say new euthanasia laws are being abused

Catholics in Belgium are concerned the country’s euthanasia law is being abused to kill patients without legal checks and safeguards. Auxiliary Bishop Jean Kockerols of Mechelen-Brussels said “not just the Church’s hierarchy, but doctors and medical professionals as well” were concerned. The Belgian Church’s Cathobel news agency published an article saying the Federal Euthanasia Control…