It has been a bad few weeks for those of us who value life from conception to natural death. First, there was a huge backlash against the National Maternity Hospital being situated in the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital. The perceived problem was that there might be any Catholic influence whatsoever in the place, particularly…
It takes courage to stand up, but we need courageous witness now more than ever
Congratulations to Katie Ascough on becoming president of UCD’s student union. It is a great victory, not least because she made no secret of her pro-life views or that she is a person of faith. It gives great hope to other students and young people in general, that Ireland does not always have to be…
‘Reproductive health’ is one of those odious Orwellian euphemisms
“It would be more accurate to speak of promotion of the right to cause death”, writes Breda O’Brien The idea that you can gather 100 people together over a number of weekends and that they will come to independent conclusions that are better than those arrived at by elected representatives is an interesting one. It…
Let’s hope mainstream media step outside their bubble in 2017
“Now that being a Christian is neither popular nor profitable, our cultural leaders veer just as markedly in the other direction”, writes Breda O’Brien
Safe public water has to be paid for in some way
“Making enough plastic to satisfy the US water market takes 17 million barrels of oil”, writes Breda O’Brien
Amnesty International’s other terrible propositions
“It is no coincidence that the move to normalise buying and selling sex came from those who work as pimps”, writes Breda O’Brien
We need a strong alternative to the dominant virtual culture
“I would love if someone were to do some serious research on what being Irish means in this virtual world”, writes Breda O’Brien While the country has spent weeks discussing every aspect of 1916 and the implications for today, much more recent anniversaries, such as the 11-year anniversary of YouTube, or the nine-year anniversary of…
American politics has a big impact on Ireland
“The clumsy nature of the campaign opened the way to more and more anti-establishment politicians”, writes Breda O’Brien I was talking to a shop owner the other day, who told me that when he despairs at the state of Irish politics, he looks at American politics and feels much better. Without wishing to plunge him…
We need to build communities that reject dominant culture
“We want to build a sense of identity and mission that allows us to serve others, to bring God’s mercy”, writes Breda O’Brien At the weekend conference focusing on Pope Francis and the family, there was very little emphasis on ‘hot-button’ issues like same-sex marriage. Instead, there was a focus on building a strong sense…
Many people feel there is no one to vote for in the general election
‘More Independents and smaller parties than ever before’ leads voters to ‘feel disenfranchised’, writes Breda O’Brien Journalists love elections. They are an endless source of stories, and even in particularly dull elections, opinion polls can be used to drum up interest. The next election promises to be anything but dull. In a recent article Geraldine…