Homelessness remains one of Ireland’s biggest challenges for asylum seekers and those trying to leave Direction Provision, a new study has revealed. The recently released Irish Refugee Council 2017 ‘Impact Report’ shows that out of 3000 people who were assisted on a wide variety of issues such as education access and policy and legal research,…
Category: Irish News
Minister Harris’ rhetoric is red herring – pro-life group
A prominent pro-life group has accused Health Minister Simon Harris of repeatedly raising the issue of creating exclusion zones outside abortion clinics for no other reason than to depict pro-life people in a poor light and to take the focus off the extreme abortion law that received Government approval yesterday. Commenting on the Minister’s repeated…
Charity ‘pleased’ as first person to be jailed for trying to pay for sex
A Christian charity has welcomed the first conviction of a person attempting to pay for sex since the law changed in Northern Ireland. An Armagh man was sentenced to serve a three-month custodial sentence and ordered to pay £500 compensation directly to the victim today (July 6). According to CARE in Northern Ireland (Christian Action…
Nuns’ departure has been ‘colossal’ loss for parishes
New orders offer way to fill ‘sisters gap’ The disappearance of religious women from Ireland’s religious landscape has been colossal, a Cork priest has said, explaining a decision to invite a new community into his parish. Canon Michael Fitzgerald invited a group of sisters from the Spanish-based Servants of the Home of the Mother…
Lay services set to be ‘increasingly common’
Lay-led services are going to be the future of the Church in Ireland given “declining numbers of clergy” across the island, an Irish priest has said. Speaking in relation to the controversy surrounding the Eucharistic service led by Minister Josepha Madigan at Dublin’s Mount Merrion, Limerick priest Fr Eamonn Fitzgibbon said “it is encouraging that…
Pope’s Irish home being cleared by Jesuits for possible sale
Buildings where Pope Francis lived when studying English in Ireland are being cleared of tenants while the Jesuits consider the possible sale of the site, The Irish Catholic understands. Worldpriest, the Le Chéile Schools Trust and the Irish Homeopathic Institute are just some of the groups who have had to vacate the complex at Milltown…
Listen to what gay people have to say, WMOF speaker urges
Matthew Carlson Listening is the most important thing parishes can do to help bridge gaps between gay people and the Church, a prominent speaker at the upcoming World Meeting of Families has said. “The most important thing that parishes, priests and ordinary parishioners can do for LGBT people is clear: Listen to them,” Fr James…
Parishioners ‘upset and angry’ as campaigners aim to waste papal Mass tickets
Chai Brady and Matthew Carlson Church-goers are “upset and angry” after it was revealed a group of people are ordering tickets for the Pope’s Mass only to destroy them, according to a parish priest. The ‘Say Nope to The Pope’ group has attracted the interest of 5,000 people on Facebook, with many people posting that they are ordering…
Remember the farmers and elderly as hot weather continues
The Bishop of Killaloe has called on water suppliers to make allowances for the farming community as a drought continues in Ireland and water restrictions are placed in hard hit areas. Also keep an “eye out” for elderly neighbours as temperatures look likely to stay around the mid-20s in Ireland, bishops and clergy have warned…
Shooting when attacked is against clerical vocation, says campaigning priest
Davis Clark A prominent Irish Columban missionary has denounced priests who arm themselves, saying clerics should not be “ready to kill”. Almost 200 Catholic priests have applied for gun permits in the Philippines this year against a background of a series of clergymen being murdered. The murders have led the Philippine National Police to categorise…