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...
THERE are times when there is no question but we are going backwards. In 2003, the country was bursting with...
I KNOW it is legal, but that doesn’t make it right. What I am talking about is the release of...
ASK any tourist what their lasting memory of Ireland is and they will probably tell you it is the colour...
AN underlying attitude of entitlement and arrogance was how Sinn Féin’s Pierce Doherty described taoiseach Enda Kenny’s claim that he...
IT SEEMS Pope Francis cannot say anything right these days. He is damned if he does and damned if he...
I HAVE to admit that it infuriates me when legislation impinges on the simplest of things, such as buying eye...
THERE are times when political correctness is a must, and then there are times when it is just a distraction...
A COUPLE of years ago no-one – or very few, at least – had heard the term ‘quantitative easing’, let...
I HAVE to admit that I am getting sick to death of reading, or hearing, of all the places in...
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...
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...
I SAW a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange, like nothing my life had ever prepared me...
EVERYONE has a mother, so it isn’t surprising that throughout the world there are ways of honouring and celebrating mothers....
I SHOOK my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be the right place. After all, I couldn’t possibly be welcome here....
LAST year, I baptised a tiny 28-week baby. Her name was Angel. She survived and is testimony to the resilient...
Quit worrying LIFE has dealt you a blow and all you do is sit and worry. Have you forgotten that...
ASH Wednesday, 18 February, marks the beginning of Lent. Traditionally, Lent brings with it a time of cutting back, which...
AFTER decades of debate within the church, Pope Francis has formally recognised that Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed “in...
I ABSOLUTELY love early February as we celebrate St Brigid’s Day. The pagan festival of Imbolc honouring the goddess Brigit...
LAST week, minister for health Leo Varadkar shared a very personal reality for him, via a very public medium. The...
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...
FOLLOWING the 1916 Easter Rising and the subsequent executions, Ireland was devoid of purpose, with many of her sons serving...
ALTHOUGH fighting started on 28 July 1914, Germany’s declaration of war on Russia on 1 August is noted as the...
BRITISH prime minister Herbert Asquith’s ultimatum to Germany was to get out of Belgium before midnight. This was ignored. At...
THIS article will be in four parts, and even that isn’t enough for a comprehensive review of ‘The Great War’....
AT 9am on 29 July 1974, workmen cutting grass discovered a woman’s body lying in a ditch close to the...
THERE are many religious who have served Ireland well down through the centuries. Some have received the recognition they deserved,...
KILMAINHAM is a town and townland in the parish of St James, within the boundaries of Dublin city, although originally...
THE Tudor reign ushered in the most anti-Catholic period ever endured by Irish people under the English crown. But at...
SOME times, this column includes forgotten heroes or those practically written out of Irish history. This week we are highlighting...
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...
SO, there we all were, having a jolly old time of it over lunch on a Saturday afternoon. There was...
SO there we were watching The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford when the definition of the word ‘assassination’...
SHE wanted, she said, to go to Coláiste Fiachra to start a new life. She said that she was “sick...
THE waiting room was busy for that time of the day. It was as busy as a doctor’s surgery on...
A helicopter parent is a parent who pays extremely close attention to a child’s or children’s experiences and problems, particularly at...
And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations They’re...
I OFTEN mistake the word ‘wedding’ for ‘funeral’. I don’t mean to do it and it’s a troubling trait to...
SORCHA and Siobhán and the others are going drinking on Paddy’s Day,” she says, squinting up from her phone. Reader,...
“AS A woman in this family, you only have to think of a penis and you’ll get pregnant!” My mother...
