Kildare and Leighlin pastoral letter on the new reality of priesthood in Irish dioceses Dear friends, I am writing this Pastoral Letter in response to the new reality that now faces us in Kildare and Leighlin Diocese. The decline in the number of priests, as some are recalled by their own orders or returned…
Women are finding their voices about how appallingly they have been failed under the current abortion regime. Their stories are far too serious for the Government to gloss over, writes Eilís Mulroy When the Dáil returns after the summer recess, one of the most consequential political battles of recent times will resume. The attempt…
I was sitting in my Police Ombudsman office after lunch on September 11, 2001, expecting visitors – the American and Canadian Police Chiefs who formed the Patten Oversight Commission were coming to consult me about the progress of the RUC in implementing the recommendations for police reform. As usual, I had the television on, silent,…
I grew up in a household where my mother, a teacher and my father, a civil servant, read The Irish Times cover to cover every single day except Sunday. When I got engaged, it was announced on the pages. My parents are now in their early seventies and part of the dwindling demographic still imbibing…
On most weekday mornings, in cities, towns and rural parishes alike, a familiar scene unfolds at the school gate. Parents gather in small groups, exchanging brief greetings before the day pulls them in different directions. Children weave between conversations, balancing schoolbags and last-minute reminders. In those few unremarkable minutes, people who might otherwise rarely cross…
In twelve months’ time, the once quiet village of Adare on the outskirts of Limerick City will become the centre of the golfing universe. For one week, the world’s eyes will be fixed on Adare Manor as it hosts the 46th Ryder Cup and the tournament’s centenary edition, bringing tens of thousands of visitors and…
These past weeks, I have been struck by the photos of the five teenage boys who died while taking part in a TikTok dare to drive the wrong way up a motorway. While their actions were appalling and wrong, I feel sorry for their families, and, as an uncle of a teenager, for the boys…
In times gone by, most politicians were savvy enough not to attack motherhood. There was even a jokey phrase to allude to the sweetest things in life: “motherhood and apple pie”. Everything else had a dubious side, but mom and apple pie occupied a specially valued zone. Politicians of old grasped the point that everyone…
The sad story of Jason Arday has at this point been recast over and over to denounce either racism or DEI. The story has, however, a wider, less contentious angle. It centres on the question of how outlier cultures, whether based on religion or race, can thrive within a society that finds at least some…
At the prayer service held in Carlow for those seriously injured by young teenagers who lost their own lives driving the wrong way on the M9 motorway, Bishop Denis Nulty said something challenging. He described the sense of shock felt right around the country, which was almost akin to that felt after September 11, 2001.…
Eilis Mulroy
Nuala O’Loan
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien