Needs of children trumped by politics and economicsColumn: Despite all our rhetoric about cherishing children, cultural factors stand in the way of progressSun May 19 2013 - 06:00
Our treatment of those who can’t pay their debts is misguided and destructiveColumn: The Central Bank’s proposed framework for restructuring debts at least makes an attempt to see people as human beingsSun May 12 2013 - 06:00
Abortion legislation is enough to make you weep for this benighted little countryColumn: In what other instance would the Government consider killing another human being because a mother is in distress?Sat May 04 2013 - 06:00
Evidence showing ‘no mental health benefit to abortion’ cannot be ignoredColumn: Those who believe abortion should be available in Ireland are ignoring scientific evidence in favour of faith-based dogmaSat Apr 27 2013 - 06:00
To oppose gay marriage is not necessarily a bigoted positionThoughtful conservatives are not bigoted, intellectually inferior or vile: they just see the balance of values differentlySat Apr 20 2013 - 06:00
Any decent society prioritises children and people most in need of careOpinion: Sometimes the people who need it most receive neither justice nor mercySun Apr 14 2013 - 10:00
Young people should be told that sex is not just another recreational activityOpposition to violent and degrading porn is an issue on which conservatives and progressives can uniteSat Apr 06 2013 - 06:00
No family should be left alone to deal with a child’s terminal illnessRespite and homecare packages should be available to all regardless of locationSat Mar 30 2013 - 06:00
Inhumane asylum-seeker system needs radical reformPeople living in ‘direct provision’ centres are lonely, fearful and sometimes malnourishedSat Mar 23 2013 - 06:00
‘Transitional’ pope could radically reform the churchFrancis will not change core church teachings, but he may have new prioritiesSat Mar 16 2013 - 06:00
Surrogacy is a legal and ethical minefield and must be bannedIn the recent surrogacy case involving twins where the genetic mother’s sister acted as a surrogate, I was struck by one aspect…Sat Mar 09 2013 - 00:00
Benedict's warnings show there is no smoke without fireThe general reaction of young people to the news that Pope Benedict XVI was retiring reminded me of something that happened when…Sat Mar 02 2013 - 00:00
State must apologise for dire conditions of Bethany HomeDr James Deeny was chief medical adviser to the government from 1944 to 1962, with periods of secondment to the World Health …Sat Feb 23 2013 - 00:00
Benedict achieved what few manage - to voluntarily give up power with graceWhen Pope Benedict became pope, Fintan O’Toole happened to be standing in as a radio host on the daySat Feb 16 2013 - 00:00
Every section of society let Magdalene women down‘There is no single or simple story of the Magdalene laundriesSat Feb 09 2013 - 00:00
Schools struggle to maintain vital mental health support as cuts biteIt is profoundly ironic that the Government is launching mental health promotion guidelines at a time when cutbacks are seriously…Sat Feb 02 2013 - 00:00
Sobering message about suicide few in Ireland want to hearDanny Healy-Rae thinks that people should be able to drink a couple of pints and drive home, but only on quiet country roadsSat Jan 26 2013 - 00:00
Cheap food a tasty delusion hiding high costs and lack of sustainabilityOne of the things most likely to make you feel old is to be asked by a younger colleague who Larry Goodman wasSat Jan 19 2013 - 00:00
Simplified link of abortion with suicide could normalise taking one's own lifeSome very clear findings have emerged from the Oireachtas committee hearings on abortion in the wake of the expert group report…Sat Jan 12 2013 - 00:00
Children map their own online worlds but parents must help with navigation‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch…Sat Jan 05 2013 - 00:00
Neither side in heated abortion debate has monopoly on nastiness‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.”Sat Dec 29 2012 - 00:00
Our legislators need to be reminded abortion not some kind of magic wandWhen someone wants to take her own life, we do everything possible to prevent her doing soSat Dec 22 2012 - 00:00
Skewed statistics do little to promote choice in educationOn November 9th last, RTÉ news broadcast a report by education correspondent Emma O’KellySat Dec 15 2012 - 00:00
Line between journalists' opinions and reporting increasingly blurredThe media has been under scrutiny recently both in Britain and in Ireland.Sat Dec 08 2012 - 00:00
Directly linking suicide and unwanted pregnancy is flawed base for legislationThe Media Guidelines for Reporting Suicide and Self-Harm, produced by the Irish Association of Suicidology and the Samaritans…Sat Dec 01 2012 - 00:00
Legislation must save life of mother not take life of childThere is at least one issue that pro-choice, pro-life and all shades between can agree on – the need to preserve a mother’s life…Sat Nov 24 2012 - 00:00
Tragedy of Savita should not be used as excuse for witch-huntSo many women I have talked to about the desperate tragedy of Savita Halappanavar have said, “It could have been any of usSat Nov 17 2012 - 00:00
Lack of outcry over advice by crisis pregnancy agencies is extraordinarySometimes politicians deserve praiseSat Nov 10 2012 - 00:00
Death, where is thy sting in this zombie festival?We have taken on the tackier US Halloween customs, while ignoring our cultural heritageSat Nov 03 2012 - 00:00
Charity takes brave pre-budget stance by telling real-life storiesBehind the economics of austerity and tough policies, ordinary people struggle to surviveSat Oct 27 2012 - 01:00
Why do we tolerate places like St Patrick's Institution?St Patrick’s has failed our troubled youth. We need real solutions based on interventionSat Oct 20 2012 - 01:00
Lessons need to be learned before we change Junior CertThe proposed reform of the Junior Cert needs proper resourcing and is wide open to abuseSat Oct 06 2012 - 01:00
Cyberbullying means collapse of moral codeInternet abuse is a symptom of the passing of everyday values such as kindnessSat Sept 29 2012 - 01:00
Caring for me, myself and I all too much in vogue nowadaysThe selfish worldview as preached by Ayn Rand has helped create the mess we are inSat Sept 15 2012 - 01:00
Church change welcome, albeit much too lateAS A teacher, it is horrifying to read that a religious order, the Spiritans, which ran some of the country’s most prestigious…Sat Sept 08 2012 - 01:00
Abortion is clearly an issue of conscienceIt’s reasonable to suggest that killing members of the human family is never a good solution to a crisisSat Sept 01 2012 - 01:00
Leaving Cert's core issues still not confrontedStudents have too much material to learn and the system is distorted by obsession with pointsSat Aug 18 2012 - 01:00
Life balance dilemma affects both sexesTHE HEADLINE on columnist Sally Jenkins’s piece in the Washington Post puts it, “In 2012, winning Olympic gold is women’s work…Sat Aug 11 2012 - 01:00
Ireland must resist following the herd on abortion issueIt is wrong to argue that the only opposition to abortion comes from misogynistic, religious fundamentalistsSat Aug 04 2012 - 01:00
Teaching from within religion is an influential force for goodMINISTER FOR Education Ruairí Quinn promised that in return for some Catholic schools transferring patronage to other bodies, …Sat Jun 30 2012 - 01:00
Cuts hinder any major reform of child servicesJust as we are promising change, we are cutting the ground from under this generationSat Jun 23 2012 - 01:00
Even bishops couldn't jump the queuesThis week’s Eucharistic Congress in Dublin was a fantastic, life-giving experience for manySat Jun 16 2012 - 01:00
Congress will succeed if it helps make people better citizensFEW OF the findings of the recent Irish Times MRBI/Ipsos poll on Catholicism are surprisingSat Jun 09 2012 - 01:00
Media a player - and a very powerful oneLAST WEEK in the US, a proposal to allow American propaganda to be used on American citizens, instead of just on foreigners, …Sat Jun 02 2012 - 01:00
Education needs freedom from marketsEducation is not a commodity but a way of liberating people to challenge a consensusSat May 26 2012 - 01:00
Young getting caught up in the webAdolescents need to be more adept at seeing the consequences of the new mediaSat May 19 2012 - 01:00
Opportunity knocks when things fall apart‘A CRISIS is a terrible thing to wasteSat May 12 2012 - 01:00
Liberal jolt has positive role to play in churchThe clergy can embrace sincere questioning but not to the point of killing core beliefsSat Apr 21 2012 - 01:00
RTÉ has no remit to be blinkered by liberal biasJournalists who think they know the best ‘way forward’ run the risk of flouting standardsSat Apr 14 2012 - 01:00
Believers are painfully aware of their failings‘EASTER SHOULD be a time of shameful reflection for Christians – because, undoubtedly, Jesus of Nazareth gave his life in vain…Sat Apr 07 2012 - 01:00
