Minority pupils more likely to have negative school experience Pupils from Muslim minority backgrounds are more likely to have a negative relationship with their teacher, new research from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) shows. The study, lasting three years and involving more than 3,000 students, showed that 94.5% of majority students experienced positive or moderately positive…
Medical Matters Every year in Ireland, there are approximately 2,500 out of hospital cardiac arrests, with a rising proportion of cases that occur outside the home having CPR performed by bystanders. The cardiac arrest of the Danish footballer Christian Eriksen on live television has highlighted the importance and success of rapid CPR and defibrillation. Indeed,…
Laudato Si’ The Season of Creation continues through September up until October 4 (the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology). This year many parishes are engaging in prayer, reflection and action, growing in deeper awareness of what it means to protect our common home. I was delighted to read Archbishop…
Can the tooth fairy get Covid? That was the perplexing question I had to ask myself, when my 7-year-old Covid patient lost a tooth. She and I recently spent 10 days isolating in the apartment at the side of our house, to protect the rest of the family. It was strange to spend all day…
Outcry as 1,400 dolphins killed in Faroe Islands hunt The government of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous Danish territory, is facing an outcry over the culling of more than 1,400 white-sided dolphins in a day, in what was said to be the single biggest hunt in the northern archipelago. “There is no doubt that the…
Mindful Living Thinking hinders the coming into awareness of the unconscious, including our awareness that the spirit of God dwells in us. It is through contemplative prayer that we are able to experience, albeit to a very different degree, the kind of experience Jesus had in prayer with his father. Christian dogma and doctrine, important…
Gerard Gallagher One of the daily rituals and traditions we have as a family is saying grace before meals when we gather at the table. This has continued over the years from when my children were young. It took place regardless of who was at the table, friends, grandparents, visitors and now girlfriends! There is…
Sweet Treats September is here, and for me that can only mean one thing – blackberry season has begun! They are excellent in anything from a brandy to a crumble, and here I suggest another way to use the humble berry. If you are feeling up to the challenge, source the blackberries from hedges or…
Amateur archaeologist unearths pre-Viking treasure in Denmark An amateur archaeologist has found 22 gold objects with sixth century symbols that could yield new details about pre-Viking peoples in Denmark, the museum that will house the treasure has said. Some of the objects have runic motifs and inscriptions which may refer to the rulers of the…
A Parent’s Perspective I’m definitely not the only mother who feels a bit sad and weepy at the prospect of a return to some semblance of pre-Covid normality. It’s not that I don’t relish a return to normal life but I’m really going to miss having my two eldest daughters at home all the time.…
Dr Kevin McCarroll
Rory Fitzgerald
Maria Byrne