Maybe, in the face of all the negativity about the cost of – and reluctance about – starting a family, shouldn’t we honestly confront the facts of parenthood, and especially motherhood? There are many reasons why younger people say they are not having children – and as a recent Iona paper on rising childlessness pointed…

Christians in Belfast took to the hills last week – after violence and hatred erupted in our city once again. Frankly, I was ready for the hills myself at the thought of returning to the bad old days when Belfast made headlines for all the wrong reasons. But then, on the Feast of the Sacred…

As schools close for the summer, I wonder how many teachers in Catholic schools realise that Pope Leo has high praise for the role of teachers in his encyclical on AI, Magnifica Humanitas? He insists that the dignity of the human person must remain central in this “change of era” brought about by AI. He…

Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in the Spanish capital, Madrid, last week has been seen as a much-welcomed visit. This papal visit was the 9th in 44 years, with previous pontiffs St John Paul II and Benedict XVI having visited the Iberian nation five and three times, respectively.  There was no decline in the aura of…

The results of the Limerick diocese’s 2025 consultation released this week tells it again what its own documents have been saying since 2016 and earlier consultations before that, going back to the 1990’s. The deeper question is whether listening, however sincere, has become a substitute for decision-making. There is a moment near the end of…

Official Ireland has its heroes and villains. The heroes and villains of the first few decades after independence in 1922 are easily categorised. The heroes are the ones who propelled Ireland forward into the modern age. They are people like Noel Browne, Sean Lemass, TK Whitaker and Gay Bryne. The villains are the ones who…

I owe Alistair McConnell a phone call. A few weeks ago, he got in touch with me by email. He wanted to hear my concerns about RTÉ’s broadcast output. Alistair is the Head of Editorial Standards and Compliance at RTÉ. He emailed me after his Director General, Kevin Bakhurst, appeared some days previously before the…

Just five games remain in this year’s intercounty hurling championship as the All-Ireland quarter-finals bring the curtain down on provincial campaigns that, in truth, never really caught fire. The Munster and Leinster finals were far from the classics many had anticipated, with Limerick and Galway emerging victorious to secure direct passage to the All-Ireland semi-finals.…

Nearly eight years ago now, I honeymooned in Mexico for a couple of weeks. One of my abiding memories is sitting in a small-town square enjoying a local festival, watching the world go by, and being amazed by the sheer volume of children that were hanging out of prams, running around, screaming, shouting and laughing.…