The National Youth Orchestra of Ireland (NYOI) was founded in 1971 by the redoubtable Olive Smith, a woman of unusual vision when it came to getting young people involved in music. In her quest she was ably assisted by a number of similarly minded individuals not least Dublin-born violinist Hugh Maguire who at various times…
Fr John Harris OP Over the summer many of us will visit Knock. Visiting Knock is unlike visiting any other Marian shrine. For example, during the apparitions of Fatima and Lourdes, nobody saw or heard anything except Bernadette at Lourdes, and the children at Fatima. Whereas the story of Knock is completely different. The…
Going to Sunday Mass these days you can be demoralised by the lack of young people present. It’s great then to see young people enthused by their faith, and so it was on World Youth Day in Lisbon last weekend. So many of the events were impressive and I managed to follow many of them.…
Church attendance has dropped off since the pandemic for Generation X more sharply than for other age groups, according to a new survey. The survey of 2,000 adults conducted by the Cultural Research Centre at Arizona Christian University in the US found that the percentage of people ages 39 to 57 who attended a worship service during…
Cork guide map highlights Christian heritage A guide map offering insight into 101 archaeological sites around north and east Cork has been launched by County Mayor, Cllr Frank O’Flynn. The map promotes significant rural monuments and sights, including many from the early Christian period of Ireland. Mayor O’Flynn welcomed Cork County Council’s latest heritage publication…
Jem Sullivan August 13 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a Ps 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 Rom 9:1-5 Mt 14:22-33 Utter disbelief was the sentiment deeply felt in the hearts and minds of many as the rapid spread of Covid-19 brought normal life to a shuddering halt in March 2020. We might remember…
An Irish-born priest who risked his life to defy white supremacists in the United States and set-up a community where vulnerable children were educated together regardless of skin colour, could soon take a step closer to sainthood. Ballymoe-born Fr Edward J. Flanagan, who died in 1948, established the renowned Boys Town educational facility as an…
The “exorbitant” cost of rents and the lack of accommodation in the housing market have created a “breeding ground to allow predators to take advantage of people in extreme circumstances,” according to a spokesperson for Ruhama. This comes in the wake of RTÉ’s Prime Time investigation into how some landlords are seeking sex in exchange…
About 1,000 people gathered in Dublin to hear concerns about the Government’s proposed new sex education programme for secondary school students last week. One of the speakers at the National Stadium, Aontú’s Peadar Tóibín TD, said there was a broad mix of different faiths, communities and groups who attended. “There is significant concern over the…
A case challenging “illiberal and non-democratic” blanket bans on public worship during the Covid-19 pandemic is to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Former Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion in the EU Dr Ján Figel has filed a challenge at the ECtHR, questioning whether “blanket bans on public worship” are…
Brendan O’Regan
Michael Kelly
Chai Brady
Ruadhán Jones