We have a new Government, but will a new leaf be turned in Church/State relations? That is to say, will relations between Church and State begin to thaw, and will there be any kind of formal, structured dialogue between Government representatives and Church leaders, not just Catholic ones? The question is very relevant, because no…
The inauguration of Donald Trump for a second time as US president takes place on Monday. Polling shows that a big majority of Irish people are opposed to him, which is probably a product of a number of factors, one being that, for historical reasons, we lean heavily towards the Democratic party, and the second…
It has not been receiving much coverage here, but over in Britain a major row has been taking place over the refusal by the British Government to order a national inquiry into the rape of thousands of underage girls in towns across Britain by men of mostly Pakistani background. Typing the last few words of…
Christianity is suddenly becoming a respectable intellectual choice again. It will take some time for this news to reach Ireland, maybe even another couple of decades, but next door in England, and in the US and Canada, we are seeing some movement by some leading intellectuals, and other people of influence towards Christianity. Some have…
The night of Jesus’s birth must have been a very mixed experience for Mary and Joseph. Their chid was born and that would have been a happy experience, but they were away from home, they could not find a room for the night and therefore their baby was born in a manger. That was not…
Some readers might remember the widely-acclaimed BBC documentary series from 1969 called ‘Civilisation’ presented by the ultra-urbane, quintessential Englishman, the art critic, Kenneth Clark. In the 13-part series (which can be found on YouTube), Clark gives a personal view of Western civilisation and how it developed from the ‘Dark Ages’ down to his own day,…
How did you feel about the election result? How happy did it make you feel? I think a lot of people went into the election with a slight feeling of resignation. There wasn’t much enthusiasm for the Government but not enough anger either to kick them out, and for many there was no viable, realistic…
Boys are more boisterous than girls. Are we still allowed to say that, or has it fallen into the category of forbidden thoughts and utterances? A new study is being undertaken in the French city of Strasbourg which believes that yes, boys are more boisterous, and this is a bad thing, and boys must be…
In case you hadn’t noticed, there are serious moves being made in the House of Commons to allow assisted suicide. Where Britain goes, we usually follow in due course. The bill to permit assisted suicide is not being sponsored by the new Labour Government, but by a member of the Labour party and there will…
It is as though the two referendums in March never happened, that is, the one on so-called ‘durable relationships’, and the other on removing the protection the Constitution tries to give to mothers in the home. That second one was long the target of feminist groups in Ireland, above all the lavishly State-funded National Women’s…