Personal Profile Colm Fitzpatrick talks to an Irish band that worships God through music Pope Benedict XVI once remarked that music’s origins lie in the experience of love, sadness, and the encounter with the Divine. Through music, we can, in some way, hear God speaking. One Northern-Irish band has taken on the challenge of…
Families are being helped to grow together despite imprisonment, writes Colm Fitzpatrick Although to many imprisonment might seem like the end of the world, an Irish-based voluntary group are reimagining and reforming how families can cope and grow together in spite of these difficult circumstances. The Bedford Row Family Project is a Franciscan/Mercy initiative…
Children’s Corner By now the Christmas Day festivities of exchanging presents, singing hymns and gorging on mince pies will be over, and family and visiting friends will be enjoying relaxing and being entertained, especially if children are the ones performing. From dancing and singing to acting and playing an instrument, parents, aunties and uncles…
Potatoes have often been regarded as the symbolic food of the Irish, providing taste, nourishment and sustenance. Harnessing onto their usefulness, a Dublin-based charity has started a global initiative to bring needed potatoes to some of the most impoverished countries in Africa. Vita is a successful Irish NGO working with the world’s poorest people in…
With the season of winter now firmly in place, it is important to now take the correct safety precautions to combat against inconveniences, illness and injury. The winter weather boasts enticing imagery from Christmas gatherings to hot chocolate, but alongside these lucrative possibilities lies the threat of coldness and the negative consequences it can have.…
Colm Fitzpatrick explores the stress behind closed doors this Christmas Christmas often evokes nostalgic and warm memories of peace, love and thanksgiving, yet for many families in Ireland, it can be one of the most difficult and painful times of the year. Family tensions, such as violent disputes among siblings, uneasiness with extended family…
Colm Fitzpatrick explores how to cut down on costs this Christmas Christmas often elicits imagery of family gatherings, present-sharing and festive cuisine, but behind this ideal hides many financial costs and burdens. Last year, Retail Ireland projected that the average Irish household spent over €2,500 on Christmas gifts, which may find their root in…
It’s important to reach out to old people living alone this Christmas, writes Colm Fitzpatrick Christmas is often associated with joy, thanksgiving and family. However, for over a third of older people in Ireland, this festive holiday will only elicit fear, sadness and isolation. Loneliness, an often ignored epidemic, is plaguing the cities, towns…
Feature Colm Fitzpatrick reports from a conference dealing with the complexities of ethics in sport Gambling addiction, mental health awareness, the role of comedy and fond memories of our sporting past were among a vast array of talks and discussed at a conference this month exploring the relationship between ethics and sport. “Sport is…
Youth Space Nestled away in a quiet corner of Ballycastle, people of all backgrounds and ages are letting their voices being heard loud and clear, through a unique initiative that promotes discussion of key Irish issues. Conversations That Matter is a dialogue process between young adults from across the island of Ireland with the…