As I write these few lines, I am preparing to go to Ballaghaderreen for the wedding rehearsal of my nephew, Aaron and, his bride-to-be, Emma. It is something of a coincidence, since this same evening 37 years ago, I was at another rehearsal for an upcoming liturgical celebration. I was in Gurteen Church with some…
Readers familiar with the Irish actor and comedian Jimmy O’Dea might recall his monologue: “Thank heavens, we are living in Rathgar.” When I was a diplomat in Portugal some years ago, I used to say to myself, “Thank heavens that I live in Estoril”. It’s a very beautiful place about 25km from Lisbon. Driving home…
We often hear rallying calls to get more women into politics – and I’m all for supporting such encouragement. Indeed, plenty of impressive women emerged in last week’s local elections. In the context of the EU, it’s now predicted that three women are seen as the ‘queens of Europe’ – and likely to dominate the…
Pope Francis addressed engaged couples on St Valentine’s Day ten years ago. He gave his now-famous advice regarding the need to say, please, thank you and I’m sorry. He went on to say, “We all know that there is no such thing as a perfect family, nor even the perfect husband or the perfect wife. We…
Recently, well-known and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins publicly declared himself to be a ‘cultural Christian’, as he defined England as ‘culturally Christian country.’ This perhaps unexpected admission from the hardened atheist who famously wrote The God Delusion was made during an interview regarding the city of London’s decision to celebrate the Muslim feast of Ramadan…
It is my experience that most people are fair-minded when they reflect on things. But the clerical child abuse scandal has for many years been such an emotional subject that a discussion about safeguarding priests from the lingering cloud of suspicion would have been challenging and even considered inappropriate. Despite the ongoing trauma and hurt…
We are not at all as European as we think. For all the talk of ‘being Europeans’ (which we clearly are), almost everyone identifies with and relates to their own country first. It is the same across the rest of Europe and next door in Britain as well. This is why we know much more…
If you hate the thought of more hate legislation, brace yourself. There’s a fresh push to deal with ‘hate crimes’ north of the border, despite controversies in the Dail and elsewhere, over this kind of law. It’s a noble aim to stamp out hatred and prejudice. But how far can the law go to achieve…
The controversy surrounding Eurovision 2024 led me to recall Fr Michael Paul Gallagher SJ’s commentary on St Paul’s visit to Athens. On arrival, St Paul “was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). Yet despite this, he searched for something in the Athenians’ worship of pagan deities that he…
Letter from Jerusalem Justin Robinson OSB I’m writing from Nablus, in the West Bank, where the Christian community has just celebrated the feast of St Justin Martyr who was born here in the year 100 AD. Nestled between the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim – some fifty kilometres north of Jerusalem – today’s Nablus is…
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
David Quinn
Martina Purdy