Each year is marked by three important religious festivals, Christmas, Easter, and St Patrick’s Day, which recalls the coming of Christianity to Ireland at the dawn of recorded Irish history. Each of them is an occasion for families to come together or to contact each other. Christmas especially is a time to remember those outside…
Dr Martin Mansergh
Ireland is not immune from the wave of dissatisfaction
“A more united Government would provide reassurance”, writes Martin Mansergh
For militant liberals, conscience is a one-way street
“It is not always appreciated how much the Churches have restrained violence” writes Martin Mansergh
Skimping on public funding of higher education harms families
“Much of politics is about trying to shift financial burdens on to other shoulders”, writes Martin Mansergh
Genuine religion does not send young zealots to kill and destroy in its name
“It is a flaw in much human rights practice and thinking to focus accountability exclusively on States”, writes Martin Mansergh
Somme anniversary is sober reminder of essential role of European integration
“The Irish State now finds itself beside a deeply divided and unhappy country”, writes Martin Mansergh
Britain leaving the European Union is an alarming prospect
“Smaller countries are aware of the difficulties that come from being isolated”, writes Martin Mansergh
No hint of sectarianism in Rising leaders’ independence struggle
“It would be easy, but wrong, always to assume that all that matters is the faith that people die in,” writes Martin Mansergh The commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising has been uplifting, and has attracted wide public interest, support and enthusiasm. Fortuitously, its timing has filled a gap in public life created by the…
Anti-clerical coalition alienated many voters
“There are warning signs of the emergence of a growing secular zeal in this country”, writes Martin Mansergh The phrase in the Easter 1916 Proclamation least quoted in this centenary is the guarantee by the Republic of religious and civil liberty to all its citizens. While at one level sincerely intended as a reassurance to…
Coalition ‘alienated’ religious voters
Dr Martin Mansergh has insisted that the Fine Gael and Labour coalition “alienated” religious voters during their time in Government. Writing in The Irish Catholic this week, Dr Mansergh said that politicians and speech writers “whose anti-clerical invective may have won applause in the national media” now “need to reflect on where public attitudes really…