We live at a time when public scandals appear so ubiquitous that their shock value seems diminished; yet the case of Huw Edwards, the BBC newsreader convicted this week of viewing child pornographic images, has had a huge impact in Britain. It’s the fact that Edwards was such a decent, reassuring, familiar face in every…
How thought-provoking it is now to turn over the pages of the renowned Dictionary of Irish Biography (published by the Royal Irish Academy) and note how frequently Irish religious schools have been mentioned with honour. Almost all of the revolutionary generation men were educated by priests and brothers; and even among noteworthy Irishmen who died…
Perhaps this is the kind of conversation that must often take place in private. Recently, a friend reflectively aired this thought, “with so much contraception now available, one must wonder why Irish abortion figures continued to rise.” There were 10,033 abortions in the Irish Republic in 2023, increased from 8,156 in 2022 and 6,577 in…
Ireland is partitioned politically – but there are also cultural divisions north and south. And one of the significant national achievements of journalist and feminist campaigner, Nell McCafferty, who died recently, aged 80, was that she was equally recognised, and equally relatable, north and south. The Derrywoman’s reputation went across 32 counties. Many accolades have…
When Maud Gonne MacBride – our national icon, and forever muse to Yeats – attended a socialist political meeting in London in her youth, she was dismayed by the outcome. After being addressed by Scots socialist leader Keir Hardie, the crowd of trade unionists and fiery socialists assembled in Trafalgar Square affirmed their commitment to…
What does it mean to be Irish today? In the increasingly multi-ethnic nation that Ireland now is, that’s a question that will be pondered over. Olympic athletes like Rhasidat Adeleke and Daniel Wiffen demonstrated that a person representing Ireland may now have come from backgrounds not traditionally rooted in Ireland. (Wiffen’s family were from Yorkshire,…
Celebrities can often shine a light on a personal, or social, problem, and bring more focus to a troubling issue. And this, it seems, is what Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, intends when she speaks about suicide. She has been publicly reflecting on her own experience of having suicidal thoughts when she was expecting her first…
Sport is one of those activities that I greatly approve of in theory, but, alas, in practice, find mostly rather boring. I applaud the wonderful principles behind that motto so often advanced in times gone by – notably by the religious orders in education – mens sana in corpore sano: a healthy mind in a…
It’s not unusual – when a person passes the milestone of 80 years of age – to ask what they celebrate and what they regret over the passage of their lives. Vincent Browne, the legendary publisher, editor, journalist, and inquisitorial broadcaster who, in his time, made politicians quake in their shoes, says that his greatest regret…
‘Conversion’ is a word known in the sphere of religion for many centuries. Christianity is an evangelical religion, and converts are welcome – even sought. But in recent years ‘conversion’ has taken on a new meaning. Framed within the concept of ‘conversion therapy’ it has come to signify trying to change a person’s sexual orientation…