The only thing new I learned from Last Orders with Gay Byrne, RTÉ 1, Tuesday night of last week was that Gay Byrne played the organ in church in Rialto. Everything else in this review of the decline of the Church in Ireland has been rehashed ad nauseam. I can understand increasing the programme’s audience…

Oh well, that didn’t last long. Last week Catholic euphoria over World Youth Day gave way to Catholic agony over the Maynooth controversy. Predictably, the few Irish clerics and seminarians involved in that kerfuffle garnered a lot more media attention than the thousands of enthusiastic young Irish Catholics that attended World Youth Day. I suppose…

I was having a relaxing Tuesday morning last week when news of the killing of a priest near Rouen came through as breaking news early on The Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk), with an up to date report soon after from journalist Lara Marlowe. It had been a terrible few weeks for atrocities and this one…

A documentary on seminary life leaves Brendan O’Regan reflecting on the state of religious faith

I don’t often watch garden makeover programmes, but when I do I’m usually impressed. On Tuesday of last week I enjoyed Love Your Garden (ITV/UTV). In this series presenter Alan Titchmarch does makeovers for people with special needs in the broadest sense. Last week it was the turn of Hari Budha Maga, a former Gurkha…

A spooky BBC drama has Brendan O’Regan is engrossed in “a hot bed of dubious spiritual activity”

I picked a good week to dip in to iWitness, RTÉ 1’s nightly reflection programme, described as ‘the spirit of Ireland, one voice and one minute at a time’. Bro. Anthony from Glenstal Abbey started the week with a poetic reflection on God’s work in Nature.  Working in the forest he found that God speaks…

Brendan O’Regan is left ‘as shocked as anyone’ in the wake of the surprise victory of the Leave Campaign

Last week’s viewing had Brendan O’Regan gripped by “an excellent series of reflections” that was “inspiring and encouraging” followed by a “fair and balanced” debate on assisted suicide

Abortion reigns as the main topic of media controversy with Ray D’Arcy playing a central figure in last week’s viewing, writes Brendan O’Regan