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…
Niall Coll likes to say how, had things been even slightly different he wouldn’t be where he is today. This outrageous statement of the obvious is made only partly tongue in cheek because Niall’s experience has entailed many liminal choices, some of them made by others on his behalf. He comes from the village of…
It’s ironic how the course of events sometimes unfolds, and how change often brings unintended consequences. When the contraceptive Pill was introduced in the 1960s, it prompted a huge debate about the ethics – and side-effects – involved. As everyone knows, this culminated in the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, in which Pope Paul VI, against…
The Catholic Medical Association of Ireland (CMAI) will host its 8th Annual Conference on Saturday, November 22, 2025 in the St Charles Centre, Mount Argus, Harold’s Cross. The speakers include Bishop Kevin Doran, Bishop of Elphin, Éamon Ó Cuív, former TD and Minister, Dr David Albert Jones, of St Mary’s University, and formerly of the…
On November 4 Minister for Education and Youth, Helen McEntee, announced a landmark initiative in the primary education system in Ireland with the launch of an online survey of parents, guardians and primary school communities. The survey is giving voice to parents and guardians of children at pre-school level and currently in primary schools in…
Shortly after the recent presidential election, Tánaiste Simon Harris said something a bit surprising. He told reporters: “Immigration is too high”. His statement was not surprising because he said immigration is high, it is and that’s a fact. What was surprising was that he said it at all. Immediately and predictably he was compared with…
Dear Editor, Aged 14 years, I was given my most memorable insight into the mystery of The Eucharist, based on the following words at The Offertory of the Mass: “By the mingling of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.”…
When the then Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn launched an independent forum on patronage and pluralism in primary schools in 2011, I don’t believe that he or any of those present imagined that 14 years later there would have been little or no change in the status quo. Although there has been widespread agreement between…
On October 28, 2025, the Church marked the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Gravissimum educationis — the declaration that first placed education at the heart of the Church’s mission. In honour of that milestone, Pope Leo XIV has given us a new compass: “Drawing New Maps of Hope.” This text is not simply…
It was hardly unexpected that the Grand Masters of the Orange Order of Ireland, England and Scotland would protest to King Charles about his recent visit to Pope Leo – in their eyes committing the grave transgression of praying with the Pontiff. The Orangemen reprimanded the King for his ecumenical gesture, and rather impertinently directed…
Martina Purdy
Mary Kenny
David Quinn