It is said that time heals all wounds, although the motto doesn’t specify just how much time may be required. Still, it happens. Just look at Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and their plans to govern together during this time of crisis. The plans may not run smoothly, and there may be arguments over the…
Just as the coronavirus (Covid-19) took hold in America – and all over Europe – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, familiarly known as Harry and Meghan, launched their new project. This is a charitable foundation called ‘Archewell’, and it will replace their previous ‘Sussex Royal’ brand, which, having chucked their relationship with British royalty,…
Even the grimmest times – as this Holy Week will be for many – bring revelations. And one of the aspects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) that most puzzles experts and scientists is – why are men much more likely to fall victim to the pandemic than women? Men in their 40s and 50s are more…
What does it mean to be pro-life? To me it means defending human life from conception until the natural end of life; not deliberating taking human life, unless in extreme cases of self-defence. If a mad axeman is coming towards you with homicidal intent, you would be reasonably entitled to defend yourself, and those around…
For most of my lifetime, the material circumstances of our lives have steadily improved. The panic-buying of toilet paper – perhaps worse in Britain than in Ireland – illuminates just how spoiled, even decadent, we have become. In my childhood, back in the 1950s, it wasn’t unusual to enter a loo and find squares cut…
As I left Mass last weekend, one of the parishioners came after me to say – “There will be no more Mass now for four weeks.” Actually, it could be longer. In Kent, where I am presently sequestered (and sequestered is the word), the authorities are talking about compelling all older people to remain in…
So, do many people celebrate St Patrick’s day in Northern Ireland?” I asked the cabbie on the drive into town from Belfast Airport. “It depends,” he answered carefully. “It depends on what sections of the community you’re talking about, so it does.” It’s usually a mistake to get into a conversation with a taxi-driver on…
My inclinations are to regard the hullaballoo about the coronavirus – Covid19 – with a pinch of salt. Yes, it’s upsetting that more than 3,000 people world-wide have died from the epidemic: but (at the time of writing) that’s out of 90,933 who have caught it. To put it in perspective, the World Health Organisation…
The ‘free movement of peoples’ is one of the most strongly-held tenets of the European Union. It would not be too much to say that the EU’s absolute adherence to this principle was one of the triggers of Brexit. David Cameron, as British Prime Minister, begged the EU to allow the UK some leeway on…
I don’t imagine that the elections for the Seanad will deliver as much sound and fury as the General Election for the Dail. Quite rightly too – the Upper House is a secondary chamber which doesn’t govern the country. But it still seems to me to be important, and to bring another dimension to the…