Anthony Redmond How We Killed God . . .and Other Tales of Modern Ireland by David Quinn (Currach Press, €16.99) Two guests who took part on the Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ radio back in October 2006 were the well-known atheist Richard Dawkins and the journalist David Quinn. Dawkins was there to discuss his book,…
Rohingya refugees heartened after Papal visit to Bangladesh
Expectations are high among refugees in makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazar days after Pope Francis met with 16 Rohingya refugees in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. On his way back to the Vatican, the Pontiff admitted he wept during his encounter with the Muslim refugees who have fled from religious persecution in Myanmar›s neighbouring Rakhine State. “I…
Child refugees from France need UK support
UK Catholic leaders urged the British government to accept more child refugees from northern France after reports that hundreds of young people are being forced to sleep outdoors in low temperatures. An English and Scottish bishop said the situation of migrants waiting in the French port of Calais for the opportunity to cross the English…
Families are biggest influence in children’s lives – Bishop Buckley
Bishop John Buckley from the Diocese of Cork and Ross said that schools and teachers can never have the same influence as family in children’s lives, and described a new book as being a useful resource for priests and lay people in preparing for the World Meeting of Families next year. Karen Kent’s ’55 Way…
Thinking outside the box in Galway – Out & About
Family News and Events
If it’s Christmas, it must be Funderland! Funderland is an inseparable part of Christmas for plenty of Dubliners, and this year things will be the no different with the RDS extravaganza open from December 14 to January 17. The Funderland Indoor Pavilion, housing Europe’s largest indoor theme park, opens from 2-9pm on weekdays and from…
Christian group welcome US embassy Jerusalem move
The Irish Christian Friends of Israel have “wholeheartedly” welcomed the US president’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by moving the US embassy there. The ICFI say that Donald Trump is being portrayed as making the decision executively, and note that the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act is a public law that was…
Bringing mercy to the people – who’ve asked for it
Demand from ordinary people is behind a third attempt to bring the Pope’s message of mercy to shoppers in the Midwest in the lead-up to Christmas. The original ‘Mercy on the Mall’ in Shannon’s Skycourt Shopping Centre took place in 2015 at the beginning of the Year of Mercy, Shannon parish priest Fr Tom Ryan…
Men of God who were much maligned
by J. Anthony Gaughan Sometimes, especially at this time of the year, it is good to look back over the recent past, and perhaps to add a corrective note to what had been written and perhaps widely accepted. I have been reading lately a book that was given to me as present, but which was…










