I didn’t hear George Hook’s radio comments about rape which have caused such a storm of controversy, so I won’t comment on the specifics of what he said. You have to hear something live, pick up voice tone, register and context, to form a judgement on a sensitive subject. On the general topic, it always…
Why Kate deserves honour
If proof were needed that all the world loves a baby, the announcement that Kate and William are expecting their third provides full evidence. Globally, the third baby for the Cambridges has been front-page news. And significantly, although Kate is only “a few weeks” pregnant, the media is already treating the royal infant as a…
Catholic education is still the gold standard
Considering how important a subject education is, it’s interesting to observe that relatively little national attention was paid to The Sunday Times list of top 100 Irish schools, just published. Could this be because it is glaringly evident that Catholic schools continually emerge as the gold standard in educational attainment? Take the Salerno Jesus and…
Church should spur older parishioners to take in students
It’s crisis-time for students, and it’s especially crisis-time for students seeking accommodation. The situation, particularly in Dublin, is dire. We know it’s dire for homeless families as well, although the needs of students, and of families, are different. The solution for families is for more family homes to be built, pronto. The solution – or…
We need to talk about the strange death of the SDLP
I wish some bright young writer – or some bright older writer, indeed – would produce a book on the theme of ‘The Strange Death of the SDLP’. The collapse of the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland is one of the major electoral events, surely, of 2017. It also seems to be…
Why the Irish are more at ease with continental Europe
A Continental European friend remarked to me that “Ireland is much more European than Britain – I’ve found that the Irish are much more at ease with their Continental neighbours than the British.” If this is true, it is in no small measure due to the deposit of culture built up over the centuries between…
Quizzed for the ‘morning after’ pill… a pharmacist’s job
At the suggestion of a doctor, I occasionally have recourse to an over-the-counter medication called ‘Night Nurse’. It is a helpful aid to sleeping when you’re feeling a bit chesty, but it should be used sensibly, even perhaps sparingly, as it contains the opioids of paracetamol, promethazine and dextromethorphan. Thus, whenever I purchase a bottle…
The parable of the Dublin trams
I’m very fond of my own little parable about the Dublin trams. It’s highly symbolic about social change – and social renewal. In 1949, the last of the Dublin trams were abolished, as all progressive-minded folk affirmed that “the future belongs to the motor car”. A few, lonely protesters tried to save the Dublin trams,…
Vincent Browne: Sic transit gloria mundi
There is an apt Latin phrase in response to the retirement of Vincent Browne from our screens: Sic transit gloria mundi. Thus passes the glory of the world! It would be inflating even the remarkable VB’s reputation to call him a reflection of the world’s glory, but the phrase just underlines the passing of all…
Italy cannot bear the burden of migrant crisis on its own
Freud famously said that “anatomy is destiny” – perhaps challenged, now, in our transgender era – but for nations, geography surely can be destiny. Italy currently feels this acutely, as it bears the brunt of the great numbers of migrants brought to its shores. The number crossing the Med, mainly from Libya, is currently at…