Columnists

Godfreys Gospel

Pledges, pledges, pledges: there must be an election on the way

by 01/05/15 11:53am

WOULDN’T you know there is a by-election in the offing and a general election on the way? Pledges, pledges and more pledges; the more the merrier it would seem. There seems to be no end to the pledging by all...

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Teens’ assault on man with special needs is a new low

THERE are times when there is no question but we are going backwards. In 2003, the country was bursting with...

Friday, 24/04/15 - 12:03pm Read More

The release of Eamonn Lillis poses pertinent moral questions

I KNOW it is legal, but that doesn’t make it right. What I am talking about is the release of...

Friday, 17/04/15 - 12:04pm Read More

Illegal dumping is the scourge of the countryside

ASK any tourist what their lasting memory of Ireland is and they will probably tell you it is the colour...

Thursday, 19/03/15 - 2:54pm Read More

Enda Kenny’s €185k salary is anything but excessive

AN underlying attitude of entitlement and arrogance was how Sinn Féin’s Pierce Doherty described taoiseach Enda Kenny’s claim that he...

Friday, 06/03/15 - 12:11pm Read More

I think it’s time we cut the pope some slack

IT SEEMS Pope Francis cannot say anything right these days. He is damned if he does and damned if he...

Friday, 20/02/15 - 1:25pm Read More

The end of cheap alcohol is a step in the right direction

I HAVE to admit that it infuriates me when legislation impinges on the simplest of things, such as buying eye...

Friday, 13/02/15 - 10:30am Read More

Political correctness gone mad

THERE are times when political correctness is a must, and then there are times when it is just a distraction...

Friday, 06/02/15 - 10:38am Read More

What ‘quantitative easing’ will mean for you and me

A COUPLE of years ago no-one – or very few, at least – had heard the term ‘quantitative easing’, let...

Friday, 30/01/15 - 11:29am Read More

Town ticks all the boxes, but still no jobs investment

I HAVE to admit that I am getting sick to death of reading, or hearing, of all the places in...

Friday, 23/01/15 - 11:07am Read More

Looking South

Eleven Irish-born men have served in the US Senate – two of them from Carlow (part 2)

by 11/06/13 11:18am

  LAST WEEK we had a look at Carlow-born Pierce Butler’s contribution to the founding of the United States of America. As mentioned, there were two Irish-born men among the 40 who signed the American constitution; this week, we deal...

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Time to Think

Appreciating what’s done on your behalf

by 17/04/15 12:05pm

A YOUNG, academically-excellent person applied for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview. The managing director conducted the last interview and made the final decision. He discovered from the candidate’s CV that his academic achievements...

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The healer

I SAW a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing my life had ever prepared me...

Friday, 27/03/15 - 11:05am Read More

A mother’s love is a blessing

EVERYONE has a mother, so it isn’t surprising that throughout the world there are ways of honouring and celebrating mothers....

Friday, 20/03/15 - 2:51pm Read More

God loves us as we are

I SHOOK my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be the right place. After all, I couldn’t possibly be welcome here....

Friday, 13/03/15 - 11:23am Read More

The gift of life

LAST year, I baptised a tiny 28-week baby. Her name was Angel. She survived and is testimony to the resilient...

Friday, 06/03/15 - 12:14pm Read More

Ten pieces of advice from God this Lent

Quit worrying LIFE has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you forgotten that...

Friday, 27/02/15 - 12:53pm Read More

Lent: a time to prepare

ASH Wednesday, 18 February, marks the beginning of Lent. Traditionally, Lent brings with it a time of cutting back, which...

Friday, 20/02/15 - 3:24pm Read More

Oscar Romero – a prophet of justice

AFTER decades of debate within the church, Pope Francis has formally recognised that Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed “in...

Friday, 13/02/15 - 11:32am Read More

The spring novena – a time to hope

I ABSOLUTELY love early February as we celebrate St Brigid’s Day. The pagan festival of Imbolc honouring the goddess Brigit...

Friday, 06/02/15 - 11:40am Read More

The Church and homosexuality: ‘who am I to judge’

LAST week, minister for health Leo Varadkar shared a very personal reality for him, via a very public medium. The...

Friday, 30/01/15 - 12:28pm Read More

Times Past

The South African politician and the brutal killing of Hazel Mullen in Dublin

by 20/03/15 10:42am

AMAZINGLY, the South African Independent Democrats had to find out from the Saturday Star newspaper that one of its parliamentary nominees, Narentuk Jumuna, was a convicted killer. Jumuna had been a successful businessman in his hometown of Verulam in the province...

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Ireland home and away in WWI (part 4)

FOLLOWING the 1916 Easter Rising and the subsequent executions, Ireland was devoid of purpose, with many of her sons serving...

Friday, 13/03/15 - 11:13am Read More

Ireland home and away in WWI (part 3)

ALTHOUGH fighting started on 28 July 1914, Germany’s declaration of war on Russia on 1 August is noted as the...

Friday, 06/03/15 - 12:09pm Read More

Ireland home and away in World War I (part 2)

BRITISH prime minister Herbert Asquith’s ultimatum to Germany was to get out of Belgium before midnight. This was ignored. At...

Friday, 27/02/15 - 12:55pm Read More

Ireland home and away in World War I (part 1)

THIS article will be in four parts, and even that isn’t enough for a comprehensive review of ‘The Great War’....

Friday, 20/02/15 - 3:26pm Read More

The appalling murder of Ann Ogilby in Belfast

AT 9am on 29 July 1974, workmen cutting grass discovered a woman’s body lying in a ditch close to the...

Friday, 13/02/15 - 12:34pm Read More

The Bishop Daniel Delany story

THERE are many religious who have served Ireland well down through the centuries. Some have received the recognition they deserved,...

Friday, 06/02/15 - 1:44pm Read More

The history of Dublin’s oldest graveyard

KILMAINHAM is a town and townland in the parish of St James, within the boundaries of Dublin city, although originally...

Friday, 30/01/15 - 10:26am Read More

The Anglican Church in early times and its role in the 1798 Rebellion

THE Tudor reign ushered in the most anti-Catholic period ever endured by Irish people under the English crown. But at...

Friday, 23/01/15 - 3:10pm Read More

Seán McLoughlin, the forgotten ‘boy commandant’

SOME times, this column includes forgotten heroes or those practically written out of Irish history. This week we are highlighting...

Friday, 09/01/15 - 10:56am Read More

Trials and Tribulations of a Single Parent

My best friend’s wedding

by 29/05/15 11:58am

I WAS four, so she must have been five when we first became friends one summer. What attracted me to her was the fact that she and her sister owned the two finest tricycles on our road. A gang of...

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Kids? You really do have to love them!

SO, there we all were, having a jolly old time of it over lunch on a Saturday afternoon. There was...

Friday, 22/05/15 - 10:13am Read More

Losing my religion

SO there we were watching The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford when the definition of the word ‘assassination’...

Friday, 01/05/15 - 10:34am Read More

A new school isn’t always a bed of roses

SHE wanted, she said, to go to Coláiste Fiachra to start a new life. She said that she was “sick...

Friday, 24/04/15 - 11:55am Read More

Car-test centre would test your patience

THE waiting room was busy for that time of the day. It was as busy as a doctor’s surgery on...

Friday, 17/04/15 - 12:07pm Read More

Hovering like a helicopter

A helicopter parent is a parent who pays extremely close attention to a child’s or children’s experiences and problems, particularly at...

Friday, 10/04/15 - 11:29am Read More

Oh my Goth!

And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations They’re...

Friday, 03/04/15 - 11:52am Read More

Weddings aren’t always everyone’s cup of tea

I OFTEN mistake the word ‘wedding’ for ‘funeral’. I don’t mean to do it and it’s a troubling trait to...

Friday, 27/03/15 - 10:06am Read More

Getting into the sprit of St Patrick’s Day

SORCHA and Siobhán and the others are going drinking on Paddy’s Day,” she says, squinting up from her phone. Reader,...

Friday, 20/03/15 - 2:49pm Read More

My mother had the foresight to go with the times

“AS A woman in this family, you only have to think of a penis and you’ll get pregnant!” My mother...

Friday, 13/03/15 - 11:17am Read More