Autonomy is the fundamental principle of contemporary bioethics – or most of it. In moral dilemmas, the path leading to greater autonomy is normally the right one. But are there exceptions? In a fascinating article in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Laura Williamson, of Augusta University, in Georgia, argues that substance abuse is a disorder for […]
Lobby groups for Canadians with disabilities are working hard to defeat a bill broadening the scope of euthanasia legislation. Under the current legislation, although some people with chronic illness want “medical aid in dying” (MAiD), they may not be eligible because their death is not “reasonably foreseeable”, in the words of the legislation. A new […]
Written by John William O’ Sullivan If you are familiar with political discussion in 2020 then you’ve probably heard the phrase the ‘Great Reset’. The Great Reset is a strange notion. If you put the term into Google, you will see New York Times articles denouncing it as a conspiracy theory next to Time articles […]
A paper examining the practice of late-term abortion and feticide in Irish maternity hospitals paints a deeply disturbing picture of the brutal reality of Ireland’s abortion regime. Three medical professionals from various departments of University College Cork sought to look at the experience of 10 Fetal Medicine Specialists who provided abortion in Ireland in cases where […]
Few Americans, one imagines, walked away from the first presidential debate this year feeling optimistic about national politics. “Chaotic,” “vicious,” and “ugly“ were some of the words used to describe the sharp exchanges between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Trump constantly derided Biden’s 47-year political record, and told him he lacked the “blood” […]
Willie James Pearse – Uilliam Seamus Mac Piarais – was an Irish republican executed for his part in the Easter Rising. He was a younger brother of Pádraig, a leader of the rising; Willie was very devoted to Pádraig and the brothers had a very close relationship. Pearse inherited his father’s artistic abilities and became […]
On the night of 14 November 1920, during the War of Independence, 28-year-old Fr. Michael Griffin, was taken from his home – by men suspected to be Black and Tans – and was never seen again. On 20 November, his body was found in an unmarked grave in a bog at Cloghscoltia near Barna; he […]
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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 […]