Breda O’Brien: abortion – we can do better than women in prison and dead babies in binsPro-choice advocates did not mention Jade Rees, although the system they wish to introduce is at the very least implicated in her tragic deathSat Apr 09 2016 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Crucifixion reports show the perils of modern mediaThe story of Fr Tom Uzhunnalil spread on social media before the details were verifiedSat Apr 02 2016 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: We must not play down the faith of the 1916 leadersThis Easter, we could honour the sacrifices of the Rising by remembering religion’s roleSat Mar 26 2016 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Empathy for refugees lasted no longer than a like or retweetSub-contracting responsibility for refugees to Ankara sees refugees as a threat to be kept out, not human beings in need of shelterSat Mar 12 2016 - 00:36
Breda O’Brien: What wisdom can we glean from the election?‘Social issues’ do count. All politics is local. People don’t want recovery for the few.Sat Mar 05 2016 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: ‘Fatal foetal abnormality’ is a hurtful and damaging termMothers who continue their pregnancy are rarely lauded as brave – at best, they are patronisedSat Feb 27 2016 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Pope John Paul II had many friends, including women, which proves nothingA ‘Panorama’ documentary about the pope’s ‘secret ’ relationship with Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka tells a one-sided storySat Feb 20 2016 - 04:12
Breda O’Brien: My guide to choosing your TDLook for someone who would defy the party whip because of personal convictionSat Feb 20 2016 - 01:02
Breda O’Brien: Cutting off the supply of foot soldiers the best way to tackle gangsFor many young people raised in poverty, either numbing out through drug use, or becoming a tiny cog in the criminal machine, can seem like rational optionsSat Feb 13 2016 - 00:05
Breda O’Brien: Entire foster care system needs overhaulOur child protection and welfare system is broken, and there is no political will to fix itSat Feb 06 2016 - 01:45
Breda O’Brien: The bankers are gone but mortgage arrears problem remainsThere is still a sense of shame and stigma that blocks people from accessing helpSat Jan 30 2016 - 02:39
Breda O’Brien: Time to recognise genocide against ChristiansEU should follow Lithuania’s lead rather than cowardice and expediency of USSat Jan 23 2016 - 01:10
Breda O’Brien: Ultrasound is the biggest enemy of abortion on demandIt is a moot point as to when a foetus experiences pain, but it is not a moot point as to when someone becomes humanSat Jan 16 2016 - 03:41
Breda O’Brien: The Finns have a pro-life party so why cant we?We have simply replaced one set of authorities whom we feared to challenge with anotherSat Jan 09 2016 - 03:30
Breda O’Brien: Climate change should be an election issueIn my view, the media have to bear a huge amount of responsibility for the lack of a compelling narrative that motivates changeSat Dec 19 2015 - 02:17
Breda O’Brien: Removing 'religious spirit' from schools an act of desperationIt is more than likely a symbolic response by Minister O’Sullivan to Fine Gael’s refusal to buy her School Admissions BillSat Dec 12 2015 - 01:31
Breda O’Brien: British bombing of Syria does not meet test for a ‘just war’Can you really say that air strikes on fighters dispersed among a civilian population fulfil the criteria of proportionate force and protection of civilians?Sat Dec 05 2015 - 01:19
Breda O’Brien: Making divorce easier will bring little benefit for childrenThe law is a teacher. It embodies what society considers to be worth both validating and punishing.Sat Nov 28 2015 - 01:16
Breda O’Brien: What happened to Pat Carey was a long time in the makingReligious have long been subjected to similar treatment by media and the ChurchSat Nov 21 2015 - 04:58
Breda O’Brien: Ireland should not aspire to providing legalised killingSo long as the safety valve of abortion is there, we never have to take seriously the issue of providing real alternatives.Sat Nov 14 2015 - 03:29
Breda O’Brien: The good ship Enda sails merrily on‘The degree to which this Taoiseach has been given free passes is quite extraordinary’Sun Nov 08 2015 - 12:23
Breda O’Brien: No epic struggle at synod, just slow steady progressLayman voting at synod shows it is possible laywomen could be nextSat Oct 31 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Education is key to ending Traveller inequalityReinstating the Visiting Teacher Scheme and resources teachers for Travellers would be a practical, realisable way to mark watershed momentSat Oct 24 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Free pre-school places about workers, not what is best for childrenPre-school intervention works best when employed to make up for a lack of adequate parentingSat Oct 17 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: The norms may have changed but the pressure to conform remains“Vindictive protectiveness” is on the riseSat Oct 10 2015 - 14:02
Breda O’Brien: Americans singled out by pope have one thing in commonAll shared an intense consciousness of the centrality of God in their livesSat Oct 03 2015 - 01:06
Breda O’Brien: State subsidised child care is no NirvanaWhat is good for disadvantaged children is not good for all children, research suggestsSun Sept 27 2015 - 08:34
Breda O’Brien: Women tell me their stories about abortion all the time‘You can argue about personhood before birth, but you cannot argue about humanity’Sat Sept 19 2015 - 05:00
Breda O’Brien: Syrian boy deserves better than moment of voyeurism‘I feel that photographs taken after a tragic death demean a person’s dignity’Sat Sept 05 2015 - 02:00
Breda O’Brien: Could Ireland become the fairest little country for migrants?Images from ‘Children of Men’ are eerily similar to current television news broadcasts, down to the cages and the barbed wireSat Aug 29 2015 - 00:30
Breda O’Brien: Trump and Corbyn tap into electorate’s views‘How viable is our democracy when despite the proliferation of new parties and old, many Irish people still have no party for which they can vote?’Sat Aug 22 2015 - 02:00
Breda O’Brien: Let a hundred flowers blossom in home educationThere are formidable obstacles to pursuing the Leaving Certificate at homeSat Aug 15 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Why Pope Francis should take a holidayThe Pope should strike a blow against the ‘overwork’ cultureSat Jul 25 2015 - 04:15
Organ harvest trade underlines inhuman violence of abortionTaking foetal organs for profit requires obliteration of individuals’ humanitySat Jul 18 2015 - 01:03
Breda O’Brien: Lone parent cuts won’t break poverty cycleIn Sweden it is considered almost regressive to want to look after your child yourselfSat Jul 11 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Pope’s views on environment echo tradition of social teachingFrancis builds on ‘human ecology’ to ask how to develop an ‘integral ecology’Sat Jul 04 2015 - 01:06
Breda O’Brien: Tragic that Amnesty now prioritises undermining the right to life‘An equal right to life is a much more basic and foundational concept than Constitutional recognition of a loving relationship’Sat Jun 27 2015 - 04:30
Breda O’Brien: The Berkeley deaths draw us close together in our sorrow‘Sometimes we worry that community is weakening in Ireland. That may be true in some respects, but it is at times of bereavement that we see the importance of community ties’Sat Jun 20 2015 - 04:29
Breda O’Brien: Sex, alcohol and consent – what the research tells us‘Consent, personal autonomy, and choice are the new holy trinity of modern mores’Sat Jun 13 2015 - 13:01
Breda O’Brien: Fintan O’Toole’s appeal on child poverty is worthy of support‘Until Irish people can re-discover the sense that the poorer kids are also our kids, a crusade to end child poverty will never receive the support that it deserves’Sat May 30 2015 - 04:00
Breda O’Brien: An inconvenient truth about the same-sex marriage referendum‘734,300 No voters are just as generous and inclusive as those who voted Yes’Mon May 25 2015 - 09:59
Breda O’Brien: High-heels in Cannes and the gender agenda‘High heels were once the exclusive province of men’Sat May 23 2015 - 03:00
Breda O’Brien: Think about intolerance of thought police before you vote‘This Government’s only commitment to marriage is to re-defining it to make it gender-neutral’Sat May 16 2015 - 02:30
Breda O’Brien: Asking questions about funding for referendum campaign‘Groupthink has been exalted to an Irish sacrament’Sat May 09 2015 - 08:03
Breda O’Brien: Garda body’s call for a Yes vote undermines democracy‘It is just one of the deeply disturbing aspects of the debate, or should that be non-debate, in advance of the referendum’Sat May 02 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Little sympathy for migrants who make it to Ireland’s shores‘In a landmark decision on Wednesday, the High Court ruled that gardaí failed to identify a victim of human trafficking, resulting in a trafficked woman being imprisoned in Mountjoy for two and a half years’Sat Apr 25 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Does Mary McAleese understand why people are voting No?‘If the referendum is passed, there will be children born in this country who will never experience a mother’s love’Sat Apr 18 2015 - 12:34
Breda O’Brien: Question of pizza for a gay wedding sparks death threatsSame-sex marriage referendum is not just about saying ‘I do’Sat Apr 11 2015 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Domestic violence – men are victims tooWe need a second report on sexual abuse and violence in Ireland – and we must act on itSat Apr 04 2015 - 02:30
Breda O’Brien: Fianna Fáil is alienating core voters without attracting new ones‘There is no party that now represents those who are socially conservative but not economically right wing’Sat Mar 28 2015 - 02:00
