Who do you believe – Prince Andrew or Virginia Roberts? In the midst of a general election in Britain, as many people were discussing this as the state of the political parties. Virginia Roberts – now using her married name of Guiffre – appeared on a special BBC Panorama programme on Monday night, which made…
When I spoke at the Ennis Book Club Festival earlier this year – an enjoyable and rewarding event – discussion turned to the changes seen in Ireland over the past fifty years or so. An older woman – a retired schoolteacher much esteemed in the community – stood up to say: “I do think we…
Here’s a sad post-adoption story which emerged last week: a 60 year old man was informed by Tusla, the child and family agency, that the mother and father he believed were his birth parents were in truth his adoptive parents. They had never revealed this – they are now dead – and he was stunned…
The clerical church is dying, says Fr Brian D’Arcy, now marking 50 years as an ordained priest, “and it’s not such a tragedy.” The celibate priesthood is over: the male priesthood is over. This is “a gift of the Holy Spirit” and out of such a transformation can come new seeds of life. Well, he’s…
Last week a 23-year-old female teacher from a Dublin school was jailed for having sexual relations with one of her male pupils, an offence which occurred on his 16th birthday. The teacher, who has not been named, pleaded that she thought 16 was the age of consent. It is, in the UK: but in Ireland,…
Liberals celebrated Byrne because he challenged the supremacy of the Catholic Church: but bishops’ misjudgements played into his hands, writes Mary Kenny Everyone agrees that Gay Byrne was a broadcasting genius. He could draw any story out of anyone: knew instinctively how to handle it either sensitively, robustly or jokingly: and always had complete…
A famous popular song, Baby, it’s Cold Outside – written in 1944 – has been banned on several American and Canadian radio networks for some time now because the male-female narrative implies a ‘lack of consent’ on the part of the female. Musically, it’s a great tune, cleverly syncopated between the male and female voice, as…
A third of Irish adults over the age of 50 report feeling lonely some of the time, according to a study carried out by Trinity College Dublin. Among those over 75, loneliness is even more prevalent. Unsurprisingly, loneliness is often accompanied by depression. A certain degree of loneliness is, I think, inevitable in the older years.…
Does the provision of free and accessible contraception – to be introduced in Ireland within the next 18 months – halt the rate of abortion? There is a very useful opportunity for some sociology student to address this question, perhaps as a PhD thesis, over the next five years. Many people have believed that contraception…
It was my good fortune to discover that my Dublin neighbour, in Stillorgan, is Dr Teresa Iglesias, the much admired scholar, academic and specialist on John Henry Newman. She edited with a new preface Newman’s famous text The Idea of a University and has been closely involved in preparations for the canonisation in Rome later…