The National Primary School Survey recently launched by the Department of Education & Youth is an opportunity for parents/guardians, for school staff and for members of boards of management to have their say on three issues in Primary education, school patronage/ethos, the language of instruction, and co-education versus singlesex schooling. Whereas the questions around single sex/co-education or the language of instruction…
My aunt celebrated her 102nd birthday a few days ago. She is a remarkable woman who, to this day, has a twinkle in her eye and a firm hold on life. She married my uncle in America in the late 60’s and later they came to live in Ireland, building a new home a short…
Historians, and the world in general, have been in agreement that Adolf Hitler was a bad man who committed heinous deeds. But now that his DNA has been analysed (from a scrap of fabric stained with his blood found in his bunker), there are fresh speculations as to whether his disabilities, rather than his choices,…
Last month the Department of Education and Youth launched a primary school survey to inform future school planning. One of its stated aims is to establish whether there is sufficient demand to transfer Catholic schools to other patron bodies. In such cases, the building and staff remain, but the controlling authority, governing the school’s ethos…
At this point, I think I can call myself a COP veteran – having attended most, if not all, of the climate negotiations over the last decade since the Paris Agreement. This COP in the equator city of Belém at the mouth of the Amazon, however, was special in so many ways. It was special…
It is remarkable how seldom our political leaders contribute fresh ideas about policy or take risks in order to open up new fronts in tackling the nation’s problems. There are many reasons: Lack of imagination. Distrust of the electorate. Fear of one’s political opponents and how they might seize on any ‘gaffe’. Subservience to political…
Not so long ago, I travelled to a Catholic post-primary school – and was rather taken aback. At the entrance, beside the traditional Catholic images, was a Pride emblem which seemed to promote the interests of the LGBT agenda. The school was focused on inclusivity – and there was also a trans-themed poster on the girls’…
There is evidence that Ireland is becoming more cruel and less kind. Hardly a week goes by without some horrific case of domestic abuse, street assaults and attacks on IPAS centres that terrify people and put lives in danger. Hostile exchanges on social media are making matters worse. By way of response, the first thing…
As papal charity Aid to the Church in Need publish their Religious Freedom in the World Report showing that one in ten Christians in the world faces persecution for their faith, the Irishwoman who heads the global charity Regina Lynch takes time out to speak with The Irish Catholic”s Garry O’Sullivan about the work of…
Growing up in an Irish seaside town, faith and music were as constant as the waves on the sand for the young Michael Ferguson. But his faith, unlike his music, was rather quiet. He was a Catholic in the mainly Protestant town of Portstewart – and has childhood memories of an IRA bomb wrecking the…
Mary Kenny
Senator Ronan Mullen
Martina Purdy