We hear an awful lot these days about ‘misinformation’, ‘disinformation’ and so on. Media and politicians like to turn their guns on social media, and X (previously Twitter) most of all. The average person is now probably conditioned to assume that X, which is owned by Elon Musk, is a total hellscape where anyone foolish…

Speaking on the Education Nation podcast, this week, the Irish Times columnist and longtime catechist doesn’t mince her words; if Catholic schools do not actively invest in their ethos, they risk becoming “Catholic in name only.” “We have fantastic young teachers,” she acknowledges, “but many have grown up in an entirely secular environment.” In words…

For almost 30 years, Bernie Smyth has been at the forefront of the pro-life movement in the north of Ireland – taking the battle against abortion to the streets, television studios – even the courts. But, now that the law in Ireland, north and south, facilitates abortion, there’s been a subtle shift after years of…

In a cold winter evening not long ago, through my work, I found myself sitting in a school staffroom with a group of volunteers gathered around a table. It was one of many such evenings I have shared in schools across Galway and further afield over the years. Some had come straight from work, others…

Blackrock college abuse survivor David Ryan had a private audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican last Monday. Speaking to RTÉ after the meeting Mr Ryan described the Pope’s empathy for his experience as “genuine”, and said “he was so sorry to hear of my pain…and for the other survivors who haven’t come forward…

It was early autumn in 1987, when a Catholic couple, named Mary and Joseph, approached their Parish Priest in Belfast with a request – which, looking back, was clearly an inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The couple had been married on February 11, 1950, the Feast of our Lady of Lourdes, and wished to express…

The mainstream Irish media is notoriously reticent to call a spade a spade when it comes to the conflict between trans ideology and the rights and safety of women and children. In 2020, I founded my non-profit The Countess with a conservative mission statement: “We will empower the people of Ireland to discuss how the…

When I became a mother, I did what most new parents do. Made promises to myself about how I would raise my children. I consulted books on feeding, spoke endlessly to friends and family about coping with behaviour and setting boundaries, and I made plans to ensure they would always read, play music, exercise regularly…

The United States’ intervention in Caracas and the seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro on January 3 deepened divisions that already existed within the Venezuelan Church. While a small group of pro-Chavista priests have called for protests in defence of the country’s sovereignty and for Maduro’s release, members of the Venezuelan clergy living in exile have…

For the past months the UK’s Parliament, like those in Scotland and the Isle of Man has been debating the introduction of assisted suicide.  We are faced with a law which says that if a person has a diagnosis of terminal illness and has been given a prognosis of six months to live, that person can…