I am a fan of a BBC TV series called “Silent Witness”. It’s somewhat macabre in that it focuses on a forensic pathologist (played by Emilia Fox) who is seen gruesomely cutting up dead bodies – those murdered in unknown circumstances. The “silent witness” is the corpse. In essence, it’s a murder-mystery – “whodunnit” –…
Anger seems to drive our world. People were understandably and rightly angry when they were left without power or water for weeks after recent storms. However, much more toxic anger is weaponised to generate profit for cynical operators. It has been known for a long time that engagement with online content and therefore online advertising…
At some point in the next 20 or so years, there will be more deaths than births in Ireland, and from there, things are only going to get much worse. There is one big reason for this; we are no longer having enough babies. We have transformed in very little time from a country famous…
Sometimes I wonder about Rome. Not Rome as a tourist destination, which is a venue unsurpassed. With apologies to Samuel Johnson, when a person is tired of Rome, that man or woman is tired of life. I don’t deny Rome’s importance as a goal for pilgrims either, though no doubt in this Holy Year some…
Notes in haste – January 2025 We have a new school principal in our Catholic school, which rejoices in having our bishop as its patron. The chair of the board of management almost crowed at the Catholic attributes of the new principal; he would be a squeaky-clean leader of our school, in addition to already…
Just four years from now, these islands will mark the bicentenary of Catholic emancipation. We’re used to seeing it almost exclusively as an Irish celebration, but we shouldn’t forget that the act as well as a huge breakthrough for Catholics in Britain, was the first great measure of Westminster reform of the 19th Century. The…
It is that time of year again. Or rather, it is one of those times of year again, where I rail against the appropriation of Ireland’s Christian heritage by elements who co-opt religious Feast Days for secular enjoyment. We are becoming accustomed – inured almost – to the annual attempts to re-cast Christmas as a…
The band played The Battle Hymn of the Republic, as the culture wars exploded at Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington last week. “We will forge a society that is colour blind and merit-based,” the American President declared, as he announced an end to government policies which try to socially engineer race and gender into every…
The events marked at Auschwitz last Monday (for Holocaust Memorial Day) were a sombre international reminder of the terrible death camps maintained by the Nazi regime. We will be seeing more of such anniversaries this year, notably in April, recalling the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, whose revelations really shocked the world. There is now a large…
Denigrating the contribution of religious congregations is fashionable nowadays, but a nun’s wise intervention helped me secure a scholarship, writes Liam Lally My first contact with ‘the nuns’ occurred on a Saturday in June 1964 when, along with a crowd of 6th class boys and girls, I sat an entrance exam to gain a place…
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
Michael Kelly
Martina Purdy