Michael Kelly is an award-winning writer and broadcaster specialising in religious and social affairs. Born and raised in Northern Ireland, he attended the Pontifical University St Patrick’s College, Maynooth where he obtained degrees in philosophy and theology and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome where he studied social institutional communications. From 2002-2005 he was an Editor in the Central Information Service of Vatican Radio. In this role, he travelled with Pope St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI on overseas trips. In 2005, he returned to Dublin to take up the position of Deputy Editor with The Irish Catholic newspaper, succeeding as Editor in 2012. He is a regular contributor to programmes on RTÉ, BBC, UTV, CNN and Al Jazeera. He also have extensive experience offering media training and coaching in the voluntary sector. Mr Kelly is a weekly columnist with Ireland’s largest-selling secular newspaper the Irish Independent and has been published in The Irish Times, the Irish Examiner, The Irish News, The Guardian, Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic World Report, the National Catholic Reporter and the National Catholic Register. He writes from Ireland for Catholic News Service of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Micheal finished his stint as Editor of The Irish Catholic in January 2024 and has taken up the position of Director of Public Affairs for Aid to the Church in Need Ireland.
Ecclesiastical structures are only useful if they allow our parishes to be vibrant places where people encounter God, writes Michael Kelly While all eyes were on the cabinet reshuffle of Taoiseach Simon Harris, officials in Rome were preparing to announce details of the Pope’s reshuffle of sorts of the Irish ecclesiastical landscape. While Ireland has…
Young people confused about their identity should not be weaponised in an ideological war, writes Michael Kelly When ideas that people who think of themselves as socially progressive are challenged or questioned, those with a more moderate view are often accused of engaging in so-called ‘culture wars’. Even asking a question can now lead…
Simply expressing what the Church teaches could be a crime, writes Michael Kelly A shocking new report from Britain published on Monday shows that three quarters of respondents, including teachers, councillors and academics, feel cowed into silence because they are frightened of being attacked for their views. The government report found that there is…
It’s amusing that Govt representatives campaigned for a ‘yes’ and voted ‘no’, but it is corrosive of politics, writes Michael Kelly You don’t hear much from former Labour leader Pat Rabbitte these days. He left active political life in 2016, with a pension pot of some €2 million. Mr Rabbitte – now aged…
Taxpayer-funded lobbyists have had far too much influence for too long, writes Michael Kelly One of the standout moments for me in the national count centre in Dublin Castle on Saturday afternoon was a brief exchange between Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín. The referendum result hadn’t been called yet, but the mood…
Many universities are fast becoming cold houses for people who want genuine debate, writes Michael Kelly I had the pleasure recently of speaking in a debate organised by the Literary and Scientific Society at Queen’s University, Belfast. It was a civilised and convivial occasion, and we were debating the motion ‘this house believes that society…
Two neighbouring parishes that I am aware of recently carried out a survey of younger parishioners.Organised through the local secondary schools, the research sought to gauge the general interest and engagement of young people aged 13-15 in the life of the parishes. Perhaps encouragingly for this age group, 73% in the anonymous described themselves as…
Instead of trying to ‘fix’ young men, maybe it’s time we gave them a break and listened to them, writes Michael Kelly Back in the innocent days of the 1990s, when there were only two sexes, US-based relationship counsellor John Gray wrote a best-selling book to try to help couples understand one another better and…
Ireland is not full, but public services are creaking and the political elite will fuel community strife if it doesn’t listen, writes Michael Kelly There’s a now iconic scene in the 1990s hit sitcom Father Ted where, after a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, the eponymous Fr Ted Crilly finds himself accused of being hostile towards newcomers…
Despite enormous challenges there are many green shoots, and the process of reform and renewal is already underway, writes Michael Kelly It’s unlikely that mandarins in the Vatican pay a great deal of attention to political news coming out of Belfast, but there was a certain symmetry that Down and Connor’s new bishop was appointed…