Valentine’s Day has lost much meaning over the years, but finding the saint behind the name should reinvigorate it for Catholics, writes Jason Osborne Unfortunately, like with so many holidays these days, St Valentine’s Day has lost much of its reason for being. It’s now understood by many to be a day of token gestures and…

With remote working likely here to stay for many, it’s important to carve out a suitable workspace for ourselves at home, writes Jason Osborne With the Cabinet signing off recently on proposed laws which will allow employees the right to request remote working, it’s likely far more people are going to continue to work from home…

Everyday Philosophy Modern academic philosophy is divided into two broad camps or traditions: ‘analytic philosophy’ and ‘continental philosophy’. They each have their own stereotypes. Continental philosophers, the heirs of Sartre, Nietzche, Heideggar, and Camus, are stereotyped as being interested in big, existential questions – but writing about them in ways that range from ‘poetic’ to…

Personal Profile When Declan Lawlor was coming of age as a young man at college in the 1980s, the Church in Ireland was beginning to ebb and the secular tide was rising. Declan’s own faith was drifting, but Our Lady intervened, drawing him first to Medjugorje and then to the Legion of Mary. After this,…

Pornography is more widely available than ever before, so it’s important to be aware and educated about the threat it poses, writes Jason Osborne While technology certainly has its many advantages, one of the unfortunate aspects of it is that it allows all manner of unsavoury things to infiltrate our homes. Whereas once the television…

Medical Matters There are approximately 500 people living with motor neurone disease (MND) in Ireland with about 140 cases diagnosed every year. Though rare, in recent years, the stories of several well-known people with MND has been highlighted in the media and has increased awareness of the condition. The globally recognised ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ that…

Personal Profile Fr Jim Connolly OFM Cap. first arrived in Zambia in December 1970, one of around 50 Irish Capuchins based in the country. Almost 52 years later and one of the last two Irish Capuchins remaining, Fr Jim continues to keep up their great tradition. Fr Jim, who grew up on a small farm…

Personal Profile Sr Eileen O’Connell OP made her final profession in December last year. Her path to religious life came almost as a surprise to her. She had a general sense that the she was being called to more, and faithfully following it, she came to the Dominican sisters, Cabra. The Faith was important to…