Just before Christmas we were delighted to welcome Dr Eilis Humphreys into the offices of The Irish Catholic to record an interview for our new podcast, Education Nation. The first episode, which drops later this month, is a fascinating and personal insight into the career of one of the leading figures in Irish education over the last three decades. In the interview Eilis shares with us some of the foundations of her love of teaching and learning and her passion for all things education. Along the way she…

The United States of America celebrates its 250th anniversary of its foundation this coming July, but I wonder how many people in Ireland – or Europe generally – will join in the celebrations? For much of its history, America was seen as a beacon of light, freedom and goodwill, as well as prosperity and opportunity.…

When Pope Leo XIV sits down with the world’s cardinals this week for a two-day extraordinary consistory, the agenda may sound technical. In reality, it touches the nerve endings of the post-Francis Church. Governance, synodality and what the pope has called “liturgical peace” are not abstract themes. They are fault lines, unresolved tensions and open…

Religious Education occupies a curious place in public life. It is endlessly debated, poorly understood and easily sidelined. Although it asks some of the biggest questions pupils will face at school, it is increasingly treated as though it matters least. That neglect is no longer abstract. It is now playing out in courts and classrooms,…

Steve Bannon was one of the key people who helped get Donald Trump elected in 2016. He is one of the inventors of the ‘Make America Great Again’ (‘MAGA’) agenda, which lasts to this day. Bannon and Trump had a falling out early on in Trump’s first turn as president. Trump is in the habit…

The extraction by the United States of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, provided an early interruption into the dreams of a calmer, predictable 2026. Maduro is widely seen as being an illegitimate president, grimly holding onto power after a fraudulent election in 2024. He is considered corrupt – the US accuses…

When it comes to sport, all I really know is what seeps into my brain against my will – or what I’ve gleaned from entertaining Hollywood films! But a New Year spat over a sports headline caught my eye. It involved a retired Tyrone football star, Conor Meyler, and an Irish News columnist, Kenny Archer. The…

Welcome occasional Massgoers with open arms The world and its mother came to Mass on Christmas Eve. Rarely was such a crowd seen, not only in the local church but in neighbouring parishes too. It seems Christmas Eve is now what ‘a good Sunday’ once was. And, unusually now, the church was full of children…