The View Many of the most uplifting international political events since the end of World War II took place in the ten-year period between the late 1980s and the late 1990s, reversing some of the effects of human catastrophes of the first half of the 20th Century. Foremost among them was the fall of the…

When I spoke at the Ennis Book Club Festival earlier this year – an enjoyable and rewarding event – discussion turned to the changes seen in Ireland over the past fifty years or so. An older woman – a retired schoolteacher much esteemed in the community – stood up to say: “I do think we…

Advanced gene-editing would lead to life being seen as just one more product rather than a gift, writes David Quinn Some 20 years ago, Cardinal Desmond Connell, the late archbishop of Dublin, landed himself in very hot water when he gave an address to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of the papal encyclical, Humanae…

Msgr Paddy Delargy On being appointed a Chaplain to His Holiness, Msgr Paddy Delargy wonders whether the clerical honour actually acknowledges human limitations   Is there really a significant choice in everyone’s life that sums up all that has gone before and influences radically the future course of events? If so, in my life it…

Lorraine Clifford-Lee survived because she is a liberal woman in a party that is very short of liberal women, writes John McGuirk There are very few politicians in the Oireachtas with a more conventionally liberal voting record than Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee. If you can think of a hot button issue over the past six or…

Francis talks peace, poverty and prayer during historic visit to Thailand and Japan, writes 
Colm Fitzpatrick This month marked 25 years since a Pope has visited Thailand, with Francis embarking on an Asia tour which saw him venture to the former kingdom of Siam – the same place that St John Paul journeyed to in…

I was in Carrickmacross last week, visiting my uncle, Brian Mac a’ Bhaird. You might have seen him on Prime Time earlier in the month, with his wife Sheila, and Romy, their youngest daughter. Romy has cerebral palsy, and faces severe limitations in living her daily life, limitations her extraordinary parents, siblings, and neighbours have…

Here’s a sad post-adoption story which emerged last week: a 60 year old man was informed by Tusla, the child and family agency, that the mother and father he believed were his birth parents were in truth his adoptive parents. They had never revealed this – they are now dead – and he was stunned…

The View It is remarkable how large a role faith still plays in American politics. There is not a single out-and-proud atheist among the very crowded field of Democratic hopefuls seeking nomination as the presidential candidate. As a non-observant Jew, Bernie Sanders would have been considered perhaps the least religious but even he said somewhat…