We are moving towards a society that will no longer be liberal in any true sense, writes David Quinn Enoch Burke must by now be the most famous teacher in Ireland, and possibly in the history of the Irish State. Mr Burke has been in the news for weeks due to his showdown with his…
The undermining of authority is now playing out on our streets
In combating authoritarianism we have dismantled true authority, writes David Quinn Violent attacks on Gardaí are becoming more common. A few weeks ago, a Garda car was rammed in Cherry Orchard in Dublin, while two members of the force were seriously assaulted around the same time in Ballyfermot. In an incident last weekend, a Garda…
Ireland has embraced eugenics…and become a much darker place
We’re no better than the Irish of the past who also preferred to turn away from inconvenient and uncomfortable facts, writes David Quinn Over the Christmas period, the master of the Rotunda Hospital revealed that 95% of parents in Down Syndrome cases choose abortion. The figure is horrific, the revelation stunning, but it caused almost…
Getting over the ‘Baptism barrier’ myth
Catholic schools must be allowed to admit on the basis of religion, writes David Quinn From time to time, articles appear in newspapers using the extremely loaded term ‘Baptism barrier’. It refers to a policy, now outlawed, which allowed Catholic schools to admit Catholic children ahead of other children in the event of over-enrolment. All…
Benedict was a gentle soul who left a great intellectual legacy
Pope Benedict had been well and truly reduced to a caricature, but what we really had was a humble, courteous and holy man, writes David Quinn After Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005, it was eagerly anticipated by some, and feared by others, that he would begin a new crackdown on theological dissent within…
Croatia has made Sunday a day of rest again, so why can’t we?
The freedom to shop affects other people’s freedom to be with their families on a day of rest, writes David Quinn It is like a blast from the past, or if you prefer, something from a more genteel age; the Croatian government has decided to impose heavy restrictions on Sunday trading. Shops will be allowed…
Unjustified harms were inflicted on Catholics by Covid-19 Restrictions
People of faith were subject to the harshest restrictions in Europe, we shouldn’t forget this, writes David Quinn It is now three years since the world got its first hint that something bad was brewing in a place in China almost none of us had heard of before, namely the commercial city of Wuhan on…
Newly independent Ireland needed the Catholic Church
Criticisms of the over-dominance of the Church are valid, but they are also simplistic, writes David Quinn What was to become the Irish Republic marked its 100th birthday on Tuesday, but it has not been marked by big celebrations and perhaps that is partly because it wasn’t at the time either. The nascent Free State…
Let’s keep politics (more or less) out of sport
Politics should not be allowed to invade every sphere, writes David Quinn Perhaps we should be thankful that Ireland did not qualify for the World Cup after all, because if we had, our presence there would have surely unleashed an orgy of hypocritical moralising, virtue-signalling and hand-wringing by all the Irish ‘great and the good’…
Why anti-Catholicism seems to be on the rise
The polarising effect of social media has heightened anti-Catholic sentiment, writes David Quinn Is anti-Catholicism a thing, and does it exist in Ireland? The answer to both questions is an emphatic yes. Just as it is possible to be anti-communist or anti-EU or anti-American, it is also possible to be anti-Catholic. How do you know…