Recommendations given to Health Minister Simon Harris calling for ‘safe access zones’ which would make it illegal to hold vigils outside places that provide abortion have been dubbed “absurd” by the Life Institute. Director of the institute, Niamh Uí Bhriain said the Irish Council for Civil Liberties position on safe access zones is “nonsensical”. “The…
Mount Trenchard Direct Provision Centre in Co. Limerick will close at the end of February. It was previously highlighted by Doras Director John Lannon that people in the centre had little access to faith and were living in unsuitable living conditions. On Friday, January 10, 14 residents were transferred to Ennis, Co. Clare with the…
Knock Counselling Centre are launching a programme to help prevent and treat anxiety in young people and adolescents. The ‘Cool Kids’ programme, available for the first time in Ireland, is run over eight to ten sessions and teaches children aged 7-17 and their parents how to better manage the child’s anxiety. Peter Devers, Senior Psychotherapist said: “The programme supports participants in learning about their feelings, worries and anxieties…
Pope prays for Ukrainian plane crash victims Pope Francis has offered his prayers for the souls of the 176 passengers of a Ukrainian International Airlines flight, who died when the plane crashed near Tehran, Iran last week. The crash took place on January 8, approximately 10 minutes after the plane took off from Imam Khomeini…
About 1,000 school secretaries have said they will continue their battle for “fairness” and “equality” until their job is taken seriously by the Department of Education as they continue with work-to-rule strike action. The secretaries are at a disadvantage because they work in the voluntary, predominantly Catholic, sector. Secretaries from several Catholic schools told this…
Mexican priest hospitalised after being shot four times A Mexican priest who had been kidnapped is in hospital in serious condition after having been discovered on the side of a highway with four gunshot wounds. Fr Roly Candelario Piña Camacho, a Piarist priest from the Diocese of Tlaxcala, was found wounded on the side of…
Róise McGagh Prominent Irish priests have expressed deep disquiet at a Government plan to commemorate the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) amidst a growing move for a boycott, including three Government minister. Fr Paddy Byrne parish priest of Abbeyleix in Co. Laois told The Irish Catholic he was “horrified” by the plans to commemorate the RIC…
Róise McGagh Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry has stated that current leading parties in Northern Ireland will miss out on votes in the next election if they fail to come to an agreement and restore the government. “People are more concerned about hospitals than politics,” he said, emphasising the fact that the Northern Irish…
Veteran RTÉ broadcaster Larry Gogan has been remembered as a “terrific man” who had a “strong faith” after his death this week. Well-known priest Fr Brian D’Arcy CP said he knew Larry very well, and met him when he went to Mass with his children in Mount Argus, Co. Dublin – where Fr D’Arcy was…
Readers of The Irish Catholic have given an emphatic thumbs down to plans by the Government to commemorate the role of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as part of the decade of centenaries. In a Facebook poll, 77% of readers who voted said they thought that such a commemoration is not appropriate. However, 23% of…
Chai Brady