Ireland is famously a friendly country, and most visitors still seem to find a welcoming and sociable attitude to life here. So it seems a puzzle as to why there are so many studies and reports about the ‘epidemic’ of loneliness in this country. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre claims that 20% of Irish…
The last few years have seen members of An Garda Síochána participate in Pride events with garda cars in Pride livery, but how appropriate is this? Many other causes and businesses take part also from AIB to Dublin City Council, but a police force is surely in a different category. Last year, it was found…
Memories of being stopped at loyalist blockades haunted my mind as I watched scenes of fuel protests across Ireland. I remember quite well being stopped at Belfast’s Ormeau Bridge, which was blocked off by loyalist women and wee children, standing defiantly. I beckoned the police officer who was standing on the bridge, redirecting traffic. I…
Last year, I wondered on social media whether Donald Trump was the most pagan president the United States has ever had. I can’t remember exactly what had prompted this, but I remember having the same thought when he said at a remembrance service for the murdered conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk, that, unlike Kirk’s wife, he…
Dear Liam, Some letters are easier to write than others. This one is not. Not because there is too little to say, but because there is so much. How do you begin to write about someone who has been a priest, composer, companion and dear friend for so many years? How do you find words…
As I have sometimes mentioned, I grew up in Sandymount, a serene seaside suburb of Dublin 4, where Catholic and Protestant neighbours were generally on good terms, even though they kept separate spheres in education and recreation. Our immediate neighbours were Methodist and Presbyterian, whose services of worship were Bible-based and austere. But we also…
As someone born in the 1960s, I grew up during the Cold War. One of my earliest, clearest current affairs memories was the fall of Saigon to North Vietnam in 1975 and the helicopters taking off from the roof of the American embassy. The whole country then became united under a communist government. In those…
Before Easter, Notre Dame, Indiana, posted on Facebook requesting that people not line up before 9 am for the Holy Saturday liturgy, which was set to begin at 9 pm. All attendees needed to be physically present by 6:30 pm. Why would people have to queue for 12 hours for a Holy Saturday liturgy? Room…
Detransitioners are people who once believed in the promise of medical transition and later came to regret those interventions and attempt to reverse course. For most of us, the idea of medical transition is strange, even unsettling. But for someone who is deeply unhappy in their body, or in their life, it can become a…
With the rise of artificial intelligence, society finds itself in a landscape that is both bursting with possibility and a bit overwhelming at the same time. For those of us tasked with forming the young in the faith – Catholic parents, educators and ministers – the challenge is no longer just about monitoring screen time or even…
Mary Kenny
Martina Purdy
David Quinn
Breda O'Brien