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The village I grew up in, settled in and even managed to find a husband in is a rural village in South Offaly called Cadamstown which lies at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Visitors to the area come here regularly to experience its tranquility and beauty, one would never suspect that this village […]
Catherine McAuley was born in Dublin in 1778. In 1824 she used her inheritance from an Irish couple she had served for twenty years to build a large House of Mercy where she and other lay women would shelter homeless women, reach out to the sick and dying and educate poor girls. The House on […]
On the 102nd anniversary of the end of WWI we look at how colossal leadership errors and inability to learn caused catastrophic hardship and death, and how our leaders followed the same blundering style of management during the corona virus pandemic. On this day in 1918, Europe collapsed exhausted, with neither the Germans nor the […]
The raggle-taggle, baseball and medieval implement-brandishing band of conscripts converge with one accord on a pile of unsuspecting bargain T-shirts piled up in front of a roadside stall. As the whistle blows ferociously, they raise their weapons and bring them down repeatedly on the lifeless mound shouting “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Giggling uncontrollably, they are called […]
Britain has entered a second period of hard lockdown to avert a wave of Covid-19 patients swamping hospitals. Holiday travel overseas is banned. However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that visiting the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas will be permitted, as an exception. This follows consternation in the media over a woman with terminal breast cancer […]
Pádraig Mac Piarais (Padraig Pearse) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary; he who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Following his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the embodiment of the rebellion. Pádraig, his brother Willie, […]
In the face of massive protests, the government of Poland has delayed indefinitely the implementation of a law banning abortions of children with birth defects. The country’s supreme court ruled last month that this was unconstitutional, sparking huge demonstrations every day across the country. The government, led by the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), […]
Editor’s note: We have heard a lot about the toll Covid restrictions have taken on the wellbeing of young people. But three Maryland high school girls beat the lockdown blues by writing, illustrating and publishing an adventure story for young children. Well done, gi Here’s a sweet and delightful picture book for your little […]
China began its once-a-decade census on November 1st. About seven million community workers and volunteers will help to count the world’s largest population. It is expected to take two months to complete, with the results released in April 2021. Over 400,000,000 households will be included, from the country’s largest cities to its most remote villages. Though there […]
On Tuesday, October 20, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Google Inc under the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act, charging that the firm is a “monopoly gatekeeper for the internet”. This is the first time the DOJ has used the Act since 1998, when similar charges were filed against Microsoft. The Microsoft case failed to […]
What will change over the next day or two? Who can say? Will we wake up to the smile of a victorious Joe Biden (likely)? A chastened and contrite Donald Trump (unlikely)? A messy and disputed election (O, please, God, no!)? What will not change is the groupthink at America’s leading newspaper, The New York Times. […]