‘Mr Europe’ and his Catholic faith

Jacques Delors was sometimes called “the Father of the Euro” – he successfully promoted the single currency (which marks its 25th birthday this year.) This week, President Macron will perform a national ceremony in Paris to honour M. Delors, who died recently aged 98. Influential He was a hugely influential personality as President of the…

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How Advent has been eclipsed…

The supermarket sound system is playing ‘Rudolfph the Rednosed Reindeer’, while at the church, we are reminded that this is Advent, the season of quietly preparing for the Nativity – and not yet Christmas itself. The contrast between what the secular culture expects of us, and what Christianity teaches, is obvious. Time was when a…

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It’s showbiz for everyone now!

Whenever, as a youngster, I got involved in some prank, mischief or general boldness, the Loreto nuns would have recourse to the reprimand that I was just “looking for attention”. I was, they would say, just a “notice-box”. Bless them – how little did they realise what the future held, and into what age we…

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It’s a mothers’ pay gap not a ‘gender’ one

The ‘gender pay gap’ – differences in earnings between men and women – must now be monitored by the authorities following the Gender Pay Gap Information Act of 2021. Irish companies with more than 250 employees must report on the differences between male and female average pay. Subsequently, smaller companies, first with 150 employees, and…

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The abolition of work?

According to that global innovator, Elon Musk, the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will mean that in the future no one will need to work. The robots will do everything, while men and women will go on to live the life of Riley, without the need to labour for their daily bread. Would such a…

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Truth is we’re in a complete muddle about drugs

Perhaps the strongest argument for legalising – or at least decriminalising – cannabis (and other recreational drugs) is that this measure takes it out of the hands of criminal drug-dealers. If people are going to smoke weed anyway, let it be through a legal route – just as cigarettes remain legal, even if unhealthy. And…

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