There are many sources of meaning and purpose, but without doubt religion is the pre-eminent one, writes David Quinn A new report from the United Nations (UN) reckons that people living in Ireland are the 14th happiest on the planet. The Finns are ranked at number one. The results are to be found in the…
It seems to be a big stretch to claim that the treatment of Joanne Hayes was the result of the social power of the Church writes David Quinn The so-called ‘Kerry babies’ case has been very much back in the news again thanks of the arrest and subsequent release of two people by gardaí investigating…
Proposals seem designed to weaken the rights of parents in favour of the State, writes David Quinn We look set to have three more referendums later this year, probably in November. We have a Government that can’t get enough of them and is determined to completely recast Ireland in its image. The three come under…
One way or another, we are going to be living in a future that is increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence, writes David Quinn Over the past couple of decades we have already seen how machines such as smartphones and tablets have become so all-pervasive. These are very different from the earlier sorts of machines that…
Is there a deeper existential crisis which social media is making worse, asks David Quinn Ireland is supposed to be the most liberated it has ever been, and yet at the same time we seem to witnessing a surge in mental health problems among young people, especially adolescent girls, and not just in Ireland, but…
Synod can’t cast Christian teachings on marriage into doubt, writes David Quinn Some readers of this newspaper will have taken part in the parish gatherings that are part of a worldwide ‘synodal process’ that is underway at the instruction of Pope Francis. Parish gatherings fed into diocese-level reports, which then fed into a national report.…
Using gendered language for God goes back to Jesus himself, writes David Quinn It was inevitable that one day a concerted effort would be made to introduce gender-neutral language to describe God. It has already been the case in more radical religious circles that the names given to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity,…
Pope Francis warns that an addiction to the occult still plagues Africa, writes David Quinn Pope Francis was in Africa last week visiting two very troubled countries, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, the newest nation on the continent. Congo has the biggest Catholic population in Africa, numbering 45 million in all.…
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…
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…