Here’s a thing: I really would like to hear a sermon on the tangled issue of finance. It could be called ‘the moral maze of money.’ What are we to make of waking up each morning to the heated discussions about ‘the markets’? We tremble to hear that the Nikkei (Japan) has crashed, the Hang…
When the history-books are written, it is quite likely that the most influential Irishman of our time will be Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair. Yes, Clongowes-educated Mr O’Leary has probably made more impact on our world than all the politicians, leaders and general celebrities put together. He has made his low-budget airline the most dominant…
I was married on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, many moons ago, back in the 1970s. Friends said “You’re mad! Getting hitched at the end of the tax year – such bad timing!” I have always borne in mind, ever since, that money and fiscal policies often have quite an influence on matrimonial…
The modern trend in education is towards the co-ed school. Single-sex schools are in decline, and often regarded as archaic relics of a past time, unhealthily segregating boys and girls, Taliban-style. But what strikes me as I watch schoolkids piling boisterously onto trains and buses is how uneven the physical development of boys and girls…
There is a long Christian tradition – rooted in the Gospels – of showing compassion for women who work as prostitutes. Christian women and early feminists took up this cause in the 19th century – the anti-slavery Christian campaigner Josephine Butler sheltered prostitutes, and halted young girls from being trafficked into prostitution, too. Compassion and…
One of the points that Volodymyr Zelensky made in the now infamous Oval Office confrontation with Donald Trump and JD Vance, was that 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia. No further discussion ensued about this terrible statistic, which is confirmed by other sources. Indeed, Radio Free Europe claims the number of Ukrainian children…
I believe the majority of us favour the flourishing of the Irish language (even if some school pupils do try to obtain exemptions – it’s not an easy subject to master). And in Northern Ireland, as I’ve written previously, I think the Unionists have been daft to try to oppose its introduction: they should have…
During my apprenticeship as a rookie journalist, many decades ago, I was taught some rudimentary rules about the law. The first was an emphasis on the difference between ‘the accused’ and ‘the convicted’. There was a sacrosanct rule in every liberal democracy that everyone has the right to be judged innocent until and unless they…
Over all the European countries – and North America – migration and immigration are among the most persistent topics which concern the public. In the crucial German general election, coming up on February 23, it’s the prime issue. The French are obsessed with the topic. In Britain, Nigel Farage’s ‘Reform’ party – deeply critical of…
I am a fan of a BBC TV series called “Silent Witness”. It’s somewhat macabre in that it focuses on a forensic pathologist (played by Emilia Fox) who is seen gruesomely cutting up dead bodies – those murdered in unknown circumstances. The “silent witness” is the corpse. In essence, it’s a murder-mystery – “whodunnit” –…