Notebook I was fortunate to spend a few days in France in September, thanks be to God. My nerves were fairly frazzled by then, after nearly 18 months of semi- or perma-lockdown. Last year saw me take a staycation in the eastern counties of Ulster, but this year something else was needed — so France…
I think it’s a lovely idea to introduce a new public holiday in Ireland – to especially thank and commemorate all those health workers who gave of their best in the Covid-19 pandemic. But just copying the American ‘Thanksgiving Day’ (on Monday November 29) is pathetic. It has no relevance to the context of Irish life.…
The View A friend, who has long been involved with the ecumenical outreach of Clonard Monastery in Belfast, wrote to me recently about the concerns that many of his Indian friends had about the direction of their country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his attempts to establish for it a dominant Hindu ethos and…
If a woman plays the next Bond, Daniel Craig should be the next Miss Marple, writes David Quinn The latest James Bond movie, No Time to Die is out at last, after a long delay thanks to the pandemic. It was due to be launched just as Covid-19 sent us all into lockdown last spring,…
Letter from Rome Of the many momentous or menial tasks women religious perform, one of the better-kept secrets has been the role of four Sisters of the Holy Child Mary who were part of a global effort to make a complete map and catalogue of the starry skies. Nameless nuns Until a few years ago,…
As a child, I was taught that I had a guardian angel, a real angel given me by God to accompany me everywhere and protect me from danger. I remember a pious holy card given to me by my mother, showing a young boy playing dangerously close to the edge of a cliff and an…
Notebook The recent revelations about the disposal of organs of babies who died at Cork University hospital were deeply troubling for many reasons. The organs of eighteen babies born at the hospital and who were still-born or subsequently died were sent to be incinerated at a facility in Belgium. The story came to light as…
Members of the British royal family are not supposed to get involved in anything political or controversial: but Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, has pointedly supported current campaigns protesting about violence against women. She sent flowers, and tweeted about the horrific murder of the primary schoolteacher, Sabina Nessa, and attended a huge protest about the killing…
The View Quite suddenly it seems to me that we are moving very rapidly towards Christmas – it is just 12 weeks away and the shops are already beginning to offer Christmas decorations and presents! I was pondering on how rapidly time has passed in this strange coronavirus half-world which we have been inhabiting –…
The pandemic has allowed people to reflect on what really matters to them in life, writes David Quinn The pandemic has impacted different groups in different ways. I am not referring to the direct effect of the disease itself, but of lockdown and other restrictions imposed to ensure Covid-19 did not go out of control.…
Mary Kenny
David Quinn
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Nuala O’Loan