Catholic schools have welcomed news that new guidelines to streamline the process for vetting people who work in schools are expected shortly. “We’re absolutely delighted to hear that it’s imminent,” Seamus Mulconry, General Secretary of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA), told The Irish Catholic. “It will be very welcome by schools and voluntary…

School children taking part in the Laudate Festival last week in Our Lady of Victories Church, Dublin.The Laudate Project aims to encourage children and their families across the generations to learn, recall and sing hymns together in schools and parishes. Photo: John McElroy

The actor Denzel Washington has described himself as “a God-fearing man” during an awards ceremony speech. Already a two-time Academy award winner – for his roles in Training Day and Glory – Washington added to his accolades in recent weeks with a Screen Actors Guild award for his performance in Fences, signalling a potential third…

Irish opposition to US President Donald Trump’s clampdown on refugees is hypocritical as long as a blind eye is turned to our own system, priests who have campaigned on the issue have said. “We can all get up in arms and rightly so about the outrageous actions of the President of the United States,” Msgr…

The Government has been urged to streamline the process for vetting people to work in schools amidst a huge backlog in the safeguarding system. Changes in the vetting process, to ensure that people are safe to work with children, led to a “very large upsurge” in applications for such clearance, according to Seamus Mulconry General…

The wedding ceremony of a Donegal couple has become an internet sensation after singer Daniel O’Donnell led other singing stars in a musical ‘flashmob’ from the altar in honour of the newly-weds. In a move unexpected by either Patricia Swan or new husband Neil, after celebrant Fr Pat Ward had sung the opening line of…

A Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Dublin has questioned the awarding of the freedom of Dublin to former US President Barrack Obama. In a message on social media reacting to news that Lord Mayor Brendan Carr had proposed the honour during a City Council meeting, Fr Pádraig Ó Cochláin of St Canice’s in Finglas…

An Irish author whose exposé on the crimes of infamous US abortionist Kermit Gosnell has become a nationwide bestseller in America has attacked the New York Times for failing to feature the book on its respected Bestseller List. Documentary maker Phelim McAleer, who is co-author of Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial…

Staff Reporter The Irish Times newspaper has been forced to apologise to respected columnist John Waters for an article over two years ago that was “open to the interpretation” that he was homophobic. A note in the February 6 edition of the Irish Times, referred to “an opinion column in the edition of January 20,…

A leading homelessness campaigner has expressed reservations about the proposal for the State to set up a so-called ‘friendly vulture fund’ to aid people experiencing mortgage distress. Such a charitable organisation that would buy distressed loans from hard-pressed homeowners and allow them to stay in their homes would be a key step in tackling Ireland’s…