The demand for Eucharistic breads has collapsed since the Covid-19 pandemic forced the country into lockdown leading to a precarious financial situation for the nuns who rely on this income. Since March, the country has experienced varying levels of restriction, with Masses being curtailed from late March to late June. While many churches remained open…

Focus Ireland have called for a reintroduction of eviction bans and rent freezes due to recent Covid-19 restrictions as new figures show an increase in homelessness from 8699 in June to 8728 in July. The charity warned of a potential bigger increase in the coming months. Pat Dennigan, Focus Ireland CEO, said: “As children across…

While orders for Eucharistic breads dried up, the nuns of Glencairn found themselves helping parishes in a new way by fielding calls from “lonely and isolated” priests who “miss their flock”. Normally tending to the bread production at St Mary’s Abbey, Sr Fiachra found herself providing much-needed conversation to priests who had been deprived of…

Teachers look forward to meeting pupils’ needs in very difficult times   Following a summer of hope and hard work, management and staff at Catholic schools look forward to welcoming back students after an “extraordinary” effort to reopen schools. Primary and secondary schools are set to reopen at full capacity over the next two weeks…

Work is almost complete on a new maternity ward in Turkwel, Kenya, following a donation of €105,000 by a Ballineaspaig Parish, Cork. Clare McCutcheon of Ballineaspaig’s Faith in Action (FIA) group was involved in organising the “huge fundraising” drive for the ward. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, she said the project “evoked generosity in people I’ve…

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) has called out the teachers’ occupational health service Medmark for advising that teachers with underlying conditions return to schools as they re-open, describing the move as “grossly unfair”. INTO has further called on the Government to intervene so that members can appeal against their Medmark decisions, and have the…

Corkman Jerry Daly has said he would not have been able to continue distributing The Irish Catholic during the Covid-19 crisis if it were not for the help of local people – including local members of the An Post team. Mr Daly (89) has been a promoter of The Irish Catholic in Drinagh for many…

England and Saracens star No.8 Billy Vunipola has attributed his reluctance to kneel as part of the English Premiership’s anti-racism protest to his Christian Faith. Before a recent clash between Saracens and Bristol, Mr Vunipola stood, while the majority of his team-mates took a knee. Explaining his decision on The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby podcast,…

There have been over 600 attacks on places of worship in Northern Ireland in the past five years, prompting calls for action to protect churches and other religious buildings. Following a Freedom of Information request to the police, Christian Action Research and Education (CARE), have discovered that since 2014/15, there have been 601 crimes recorded…

Senator Rónán Mullen has called on Minister for Education, Norma Foley, to reverse what he has described as a “discriminatory move against fee-paying schools”. He further asked that fee-paying secondary schools be allowed to access the Covid-19 re-opening fund on the same basis as schools in the free scheme. Earlier this month, a Department of…