I – IF – an individual does something reprehensible at the age of 17, possibly under the influence of alcohol, does that bar that individual from the responsibility of public office for the rest of their life? Second question: if a person is accused of a reprehensible act, does that automatically make them guilty? Such are…
Every now and again, a novel, a movie or a television programme becomes a major conversational theme, enjoying a wave of fashion and acclaim. Such a book is Sally Rooney’s Normal People – a contender for the prestigious Booker Prize, and the novel that is a “must-read” if you want to keep up with the…
There could hardly be a more worthy recipient of an international honour and human rights award than Alice Leahy, who has just received such an award presented by the International Care Ethics Observatory. Alice is usually described as a “homelessness campaigner”, but she is much more than that. She is also a carer for homeless…
The Irish now favour a “more liberal, less dogmatic” Church, according to a new poll carried out by the pollsters Ipsos/MRBI. This turns out to mean, first of all, that many people favour an ending to celibacy in the priesthood and are for the ordination of women. I wasn’t aware that these practices were ‘dogmas’.…
A friendly English Catholic I know whizzed by me on her bike, and then drew up. We exchanged greetings and pleasantries, and then she said: “By the way, one of my sisters is going to Dublin to throw eggs at the Pope at the weekend!” Oh, why? She shrugged. “It’s a bit vague. It’s to do…
A wise old bird – wise in the ways of public communication – once said to me: “You can’t be against everything – or be seen to be against everything. Pick your targets. Prioritise what’s important to you.” I would now, with respect, pass on that advice to Mary McAleese. You can’t be against everything in…
Back in the 1960s, Clive James, novelist, memoirist, poet, TV performer and critic and all-round hilarious Australian lad, memorably said: “Of course I’m in favour of the [contraceptive] pill. It puts more crumpet on the market.” Clive didn’t say “I’m in favour of the contraceptive pill because it could help maternal health”…or “…because it empowers…
The Netflix drama series The Crown, drawing, sometimes semi-fictitiously, on the private lives of the British royal family has been so successful that the BBC now plans to launch its own particular royal drama along similar lines. This new drama will be about the lives and loves of Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth’s sister, who died…
The economic boffins are now saying that a united Ireland is an entirely realistic proposition in the wake of Brexit. Indeed, that it could be the most sensible solution to the problem of the United Kingdom planning to leave the European Union while the island of Ireland, as a whole, wishes to remain within the…
I’ve been invited to participate in an American television programme on Pope Francis’s forthcoming visit, which will focus on “how the evolution of the women’s movement in Ireland changed aspects of society and culture”. To be sure, the development of women’s rights and the women’s movement did contribute to changed aspects of Irish society and…