Among the 66,911 students who received their Leaving Certificate results last week are the first cohort of students to graduate from Mater Dei Academy, Ireland’s only independent Catholic school. Founded by parents in Cork in 2020 with the vision of providing independent Catholic education in the classical tradition without Government support, the school opened with…
Earlier this month the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Fianna Fáil’s Norma Foley, launched a new report called the National Strategy for Women and Girls: Action Plan 2026-2028. This was a follow-up to one launched last year called the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025-2030. What garnered most attention was the part of…
The Irish Times has suddenly discovered that “Woke 1.0” was a bad thing. In an opinion piece published this week, “We reached ‘peak-woke’ in 2020-2023. Today that looks ridiculous”, Finn McRedmond looks back ruefully on the years between 2020-23 when institutions succumbed to groupthink. How very interesting. Because if we are going to conduct a…
There has been quite the furore over the Government’s National Strategy for Women and Girls. To me, ‘tradwife’ is the updated term for the Irish Mammy: a no-nonsense woman with traditional values, self-assured and perfectly content raising her children at home. ‘Irish Mammy’ was never exactly a term of endearment, but it carries affection and…
Many of us, as people striving to follow Christ in a busy and demanding world, find ourselves trapped by invisible barriers of our own making. ‘I’ll serve at church once my schedule clears up.’ ‘I’m not ready to volunteer until I learn more.’ ‘I’ll reach out and mend that relationship when I’m a better person.’…
I have been a religious sister for a long time, and I thought I had a fairly good sense of which conversations would surprise me. Then a young woman in her late twenties recounted in a post her recent return from her first silent retreat, and that it had been ‘the most genuinely restful thing…
A tale of two Marys, amid many faith stories. That was my experience of the National Novena at Knock 2026: joy at the vision of Our Lady, who appears above St Joseph, the layman, and St John, the priest and evangelist, and sorrow that the journalist, Mary Kennedy, during her privileged position as speaker at…
At no other time has the Philippines faced such a moral crisis and challenge to its integrity as a nation. Government officials, civil society and child protectors are challenged to take a stronger moral and social stand against the ever-spreading proliferation of crimes against children, especially over the internet. It is here, Unicef says, where…
There’s to be a new strategy to protect and preserve the cultural heritage of the Travelling community, announced as part of National Heritage Week, just coming to a close. It’s made me reflect on historic attitudes to Travellers, which many of us may have inherited. I grew up with several mixed attitudes to Travellers, who’d…
In March 18, Bishop Michael Router was in Rome, where he met the Pope as part of his work around healthcare and ethics. He described the Pontiff as a serene presence. “Pope Leo was very calm, very quiet, a good listener,” said Bishop Router, “Someone that you would take seriously, a very strong character.” It…
David Quinn
Martina Purdy
Mary Kenny