A “perfect storm” of problems awaits families as the pandemic supports and protections are wound down, the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) has warned. A lack of “joined up thinking” on the removal of the moratorium on energy disconnections and evictions, and the ending of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) in the coming months will…
Category: Irish News
St Agatha’s parish remembers North Strand bombings 80 years on
Every day is “remembrance day” in St Agatha’s parish, of the 28 people killed and over 90 injured after four bombs were dropped on Dublin’s North Strand 80 years ago. “The loss of 28 people, it’s just extraordinary,” Fr Brendan Kealy of St Agatha’s told The Irish Catholic. “Every day here is a remembrance day…
Call for bishops to trust parishes on Confirmation and Communion
Bishops in the Republic have been urged to trust priests in parishes with decisions around holding First Holy Communion and Confirmation ceremonies. It comes after the Department of the Taoiseach sent a circular to the Church hierarchy advising they postpone the ceremonies of First Holy Communion and Confirmation for May and June, to be resumed…
Poots refuses to say if he’d accept Mass invitation
EXCLUSIVE The incoming DUP leader Edwin Poots has refused to say whether or not he would be willing to attend Mass if invited. A spokesman for Mr Poots told The Irish Catholic that the party has worked with the Catholic Church on a number of issues. However, when asked whether or not Mr Poots would…
Vocations boom follows in NET Ministries’ wake
NET Ministries Ireland has continued to place God in the hearts of young people around the island, with a large number of missionaries finding their vocations to religious life and marriage in recent years. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Executive Director Tony Foy said that over the past 18 months, six young men have entered…
Dublin archdiocese alone in Baptism ban
The Sacrament of Baptism is continuing in every diocese in the Republic except for the Archdiocese of Dublin, The Irish Catholic has found. Baptisms are continuing on a smaller scale in every diocese around the Republic, and in the North, while they remain prohibited alongside First Communion and Confirmation in Dublin archdiocese. However, a baptism…
St Patrick honoured in Belarus with first Orthodox church
The church – the first dedicated to “St Patriky, the Enlightener of Ireland” by an Eastern Orthodox Church – was blessed and officially opened on the grounds of an Irish-funded orphanage in Belarus. The Church of St Patrick at Vesnova, in southern Belarus, was funded by the Belarusian Orthodox Church, and was dedicated to the…
Places of worship key to post-pandemic recovery
A new report has revealed that Churches will be “vital” in helping to restore “individual and community wellbeing” and building resilience. The research, carried out by the University of York in England, saw over 5,500 people surveyed from across a range of backgrounds, and the results disclosed the impact closing churches had on social contact…
We can’t be indifferent to unborn’s cries, says bishop on abortion referendum anniversary
We cannot be indifferent to “the cries of… the unborn who may be denied life”, said Bishop Brendan Leahy, adding that an Ireland “worth working for” is one where all life matters. The bishop’s statement came on the third anniversary of the referendum that removed protections for the unborn in Ireland, May 25. Bishop Leahy…
Barney Curley: A man with an intense personal faith
Legendary gambler, trainer and man of faith Barney Curley who died on Sunday aged 81, has been honoured for his “unusual talents” and the “amazing” things he did for the poor. Charity Born and brought up in Irvinestown in Co. Fermanagh, Mr Curley’s dramatic battles with bookies are the stuff of legend, particularly the Yellow…




Chai Brady


Ruadhán Jones


