The Church presents an ideal vision of marriage but it must also minister to people in their real struggles, Chai Brady hears. As Ireland faces demographic challenges with fewer people getting married and fewer babies being born, there is an open question as to what the future may hold. A recent study by the Iona…
Over all the European countries – and North America – migration and immigration are among the most persistent topics which concern the public. In the crucial German general election, coming up on February 23, it’s the prime issue. The French are obsessed with the topic. In Britain, Nigel Farage’s ‘Reform’ party – deeply critical of…
Saturday August 15, 1998 was a glorious summer day. Like thousands of others, I will never forget it. At approximately 3.05pm that afternoon a massive terrorist bomb exploded in Omagh. Three telephone calls were made, the first at 2.29pm warning that a bomb was going to detonate in the town. Police were clearing the streets…
A major row has broken out between the Trump administration and the Catholic hierarchy in America over the issue of refugees and economic migrants. It is a row that promises to rumble on in the years to come and equally so in Europe, where immigration and asylum-seeking have become possibly the most controversial issue in…
Dear Editor, Three cheers for historian Fr Conor McDonough OP for exposing the ‘paper thin’ reasoning for deposing St Brigid in favour of some pagan goddess. The latter, he tells us, is only mentioned once in the 10th-century manuscript, ’Sanas Cormaic’. She never enjoyed any importance in Ireland. Where, one might ask, does that leave…
On January 27 last, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was marked on Holocaust Memorial Day. It is a sombre annual commemoration that recalls one of the darkest periods of human history. Almost every year, the calls of ‘Never Again’ are made in speeches by political leaders and survivors. However, mature leadership must also…
I came across a video a few weeks ago from a mediocre Irish band from Dundalk, who were talking rubbish about religion. It was clear that they were not impressed: “We hate Imams as well.” “I shudder to think of what sort of a fella would say ‘I want to be an Imam when I…
Fr Hugh O’Donnell SDB The title must appear an unlikely one given that Matt left school basically illiterate. His time in St Lawrence O’Toole’s Christian Brothers’ school, aged 8/9, is summed up in the phrase, “kept home through necessity”. His next enrolment at age 11 in O’Connell’s is no brighter as there in the margin…
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…
Chai Brady
Mary Kenny
Nuala O’Loan
David Quinn
Breda O'Brien