As a student at the University of Toronto decades ago, I used to ride the subway downtown and, occasionally, would find myself sitting next to a man in full make-up, dressed in a mini-skirt and high heels. Raised in the sheltered suburbs, it was a bit of a shock but, having been taught to treat…
Dean Céitinn Following his election as Green Party leader, Roderic O’Gorman has signalled his intention to bring the Hate Speech Bill back into the legislative agenda. This was after months of speculation that the Hate Speech Bill would not proceed and die when this Dáil completed its term. However, renewed calls to proceed with the…
Eduardo Campos Lima An unprecedented wave of violence in Sierra Madre de Chiapas, the mountain region in the southern border of Mexico, has been causing deaths and famine among several communities. Earlier last week, hundreds of people fled to Guatemala. The Diocese of Tapachula, which includes parishes in the mountain communities caught in the middle…
After a strongly negative response from several thousand users, the Vatican quickly took down an online poll last week on the concept of “synodality”, which is at the heart of Pope Francis’s high-profile consultation process set to conclude in October with a Synod of Bishops in Rome. Published the morning of July 25, the poll…
The Notebook I was recently in Lourdes on pilgrimage with a number of my Dominican brethren and 86 fellow pilgrims. As readers of my column, you are well aware that this year we are marking the 800th anniversary of our Dominican presence on this island. Given the year that is in it I have been…
It’s hard to make any certain calls about American politics these days with something new and dramatic seeming to happen every time you turn on the news, but at the moment it looks like the presidential election will be fought between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s Vice-President. In the last few weeks, we have…
The late comedian, Robin Williams, once joked that politicians should be like professional sports stars: “They should wear sponsor jackets like Nascar drivers, then we know who owns them.” It is a good joke, and it’s not hard to imagine politicians with such badges on blazers. Even so, there are still noble men and women in…
It’s not unusual – when a person passes the milestone of 80 years of age – to ask what they celebrate and what they regret over the passage of their lives. Vincent Browne, the legendary publisher, editor, journalist, and inquisitorial broadcaster who, in his time, made politicians quake in their shoes, says that his greatest regret…
The suffering of the victims and survivors of Northern Ireland’s conflict was very much compounded by the passing last year of the NI Legacy (Troubles and Reconciliation) Act, which was forced through parliament despite the united opposition of all the political parties in Northern Ireland, the vast majority of Troubles victims throughout the UK, most UK…
I was sad to have upset Mary Stewart, who wrote a letter recently to this newspaper expressing disappointment that I said that there was not now a single reason to vote for Donald Trump. I admire how for many years, Mary Stewart kept the pro-life flag flying almost single-handedly in the letters column of The…
Martina Purdy
David Quinn
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
Breda O'Brien