The Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail is hosting a three-day walking festival in conjunction with Mayo Roscommon Hospice with all proceeds going to the hospice’s new facility in Castlebar. The festival will take place over March 18-20 running from Balla to Ballintubber (20 km), then Ballintubber to Aughagower (21km) and finally Aughagower to Murrisk (21km). Registration is at…

Rescuers search for survivors after a building collapsed during a magnitude-6.4 earthquake in Tainan, Taiwan. Pope Francis sent condolences following the quake that hit as the island prepared to celebrate Chinese New Year. Photo: Paul Yang

EXCLUSIVE New survey shows media figures ‘misleading’ The number of Catholic primary schools that are being forced to turn away pupils is dramatically lower than has been claimed, The Irish Catholic can reveal. Despite claims by politicians and commentators that one in five Catholic schools are over-subscribed and therefore forced to apply a ‘Catholics first’…

Pictured launching the 2016 Trócaire Lenten Campaign are Jessie Rogers (2) from Celbridge, Co. Kildare and Luka Farrell (3) from Longwood, Co. Meath. For the fi rst time the Trócaire box features Trócaire supporters from across Ireland who are fi ghting for justice for the world’s poor by fundraising, campaigning and volunteering. Photo: Mark Stedman/Photocall…

A parish priest leading a campaign to keep community hospitals open in three rural towns in Co. Donegal has criticised Government policy for “failing rural Ireland”. Fr John Joe Duffy, parish priest in Stranorlar described plans to remove long-term beds, or residential nursing beds, from the community hospitals in Lifford, Ramelton and Stranorlar for a…

NFL football star Peyton Manning has thanked God following his team’s surprise win in this year’s Super Bowl. “I’m very grateful,” the Denver Broncos quarterback said following his side’s victory over the Carolina Panthers, adding that he was “definitely going to say a prayer and thank the man upstairs for this opportunity”. The 39-year-old has…

The Pro-Life Campaign has urged voters to quiz general election candidates on where they stand on the constitutional protection of the unborn. The PLC has released a new video on YouTube urging voters only to support candidates who will use their influence to protect the Eighth Amendment. “Your Vote Matters – Use It To Protect…

Marie Collins, the Irish clerical abuse survivor who has been a member of Pope Francis’ child protection advisory panel since its foundation, has said she did not vote for the suspension of her colleague and fellow survivor Peter Saunders. Following a February 6 discussion about the “direction and purpose” of the Pontifical Commission for the…

Priests have described the “shock” felt by local parishioners following the recent gangland violence that saw two men killed in the nation’s capital. Fr John Jones, administrator of Whitehall parish, said locals were “shocked” by the shootings that saw a man killed and two others injured at the nearby Regency Hotel. “It was a very…

An Bord Pleanála have rejected a Dublin hostels’ application to replace well-known The Irish Catholic sign on the facade of the building with the word “Paddywagon”. A conservation officer said the sign was “integral to the artistic, social and cultural significance of the building” on Dublin’s Lower Gardiner Street. The Paddywagon hostel operator and tour…