What is the justice system for if we don’t believe in rehabilitation?
Serving time in prison should not be the start of a longer sentence of stigma and shame
One day we will have redress schemes for the children failed by Ireland’s care system
We must stop outsourcing the care of vulnerable young people
Blocking Maria Steen from running for the presidency will backfire
The same people who blocked Steen are already rubbishing Independent Ireland’s proposed Bill for a referendum to widen access to candidacy
We need to have a conversation about babies born alive after abortion
The 2023 three year review on abortion called for guidelines to be developed on comfort care after a live birth after abortion
Nobody can claim the decline of Catholic influence has made Irish society happier or healthier
The liberal left has become the comfortable voice of the establishment, but this is far from the progressive utopia we were promised
Carlo Acutis, the millennial saint, could not be more different to the influencers of the manosphere
The canonisation process has been swift for Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006, aged 15. He will be canonised in Rome this weekend
Interest in Jim Gavin says little for Micheál Martin’s faith in his party colleagues
It’s odd that the once-dominant Fianna Fáil lacks an electable politician or former politician embodying its core beliefs
Taking teachers seriously as professionals would solve some big problems in Irish education
Primary and post-primary schools are struggling to fill teaching posts and having to resort to employing unqualified people. Why?
The lure of AI companionship poses a real danger to vulnerable people
The same online forces that nudged Gen Z into a pit of loneliness using algorithms are selling AI companionship to them
Ireland is in an adolescent stage where everything that smacks of Old Ireland is embarrassing
John Henry Newman’s legacy has fallen victim to the new orthodoxy that there is nothing good at all in Catholicism
Let’s stop glorifying motherhood and glorify parenthood instead
But we’ll need more than just a cultural shift if we’re to stop birth rates falling further
Parents facilitating a 16-year-old’s ‘prinks’ is a sign of our weird relationship with alcohol
With alcohol labelling, we were on the verge of doing something as revolutionary as the smoking ban. Then we chickened out
As abortions triple, when will we admit that reluctant repealers were profoundly wrong?
We collect statistics on where abortions happen in Ireland and under what part of the legislation, and little else. We have zero interest in knowing why women have them
Some schools are relying on deposit return scheme to stop them going broke
More is being spent on free hot meals for students than on education itself
Oliver Plunkett’s story would make a great film – it’s a shame modern, secular Ireland has forgotten him
This year marks the 400th anniversary of Oliver Plunkett’s birth and the 50th since his canonisation. Coverage has been muted