Breda O’Brien: Catholic higher education is being downgradedEclipse of Catholic institutions not inevitable, but a policy decision; Irish bishops seem incapable of resistance on their ownSat Oct 22 2022 - 00:01
Breda O’Brien: Euthanasia is not a slippery slope. It’s a precipiceExperience elsewhere shows that once it is introduced the laws governing it become more and more laxSat Oct 15 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: Why are today’s children so full of anxiety?Parents tend to blame themselves for their kids’ emotional troubles but, mostly, they are wrong: the problem is a much wider oneSat Oct 08 2022 - 04:50
Breda O’Brien: Daly and Wallace equivocate over Nicaraguan regimeNicaraguan regime’s crackdown on the Catholic Church is part of a broader move to silence all opposition voicesSat Sept 24 2022 - 05:00
Breda O’Brien: Big Tech is now the global monarch, answerable to nobodyAn unholy alliance between Big Tech, Big Finance and the Chinese Communist Party has allowed the values of Silicon Valley to dominate the planetSat Sept 17 2022 - 05:00
Breda O’Brien: Grief is the price we pay for love but we should not have to pay it aloneFaith can ultimately provide some sense of meaning, but it offers little protection against the rawness of grief, particularly the death of a childSat Sept 10 2022 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Botched Leaving Cert reform is worse than no reformAnnouncement of change without extensive consultations about a modular exam is predictable and demeaningSat Sept 03 2022 - 01:00
Ireland needs to address root causes of acute shortages of teachersUntil everyone joins to raise a chorus of protest, it is unlikely anything will be done to fix itSat Aug 27 2022 - 00:00
Catholic Church is not a democracy so don’t expect radical change Outcome of synod on synodality likely to disappoint many Irish participants seeking changes in doctrineSat Aug 20 2022 - 00:01
Exploring issues behind the desire to transition is not transphobia, it’s common senseRushing children into treatment with puberty blockers could risk permanent damage. A more cautious approach is essentialSat Aug 13 2022 - 00:01
Pope Francis has very little intention of slowing down, much less retiringIf Francis’s busy schedule in months ahead constitutes winding down, goodness knows what full speed ahead would look likeSat Aug 06 2022 - 00:00
We need a better answer to porn than ethical pornAs parents we have to step up. We cannot conveniently subcontract sex education to schools, and as adults we cannot hide behind ideas like ethical pornSat Jul 30 2022 - 12:00
The good nuns are in danger of being erased from Irish historyWe should not allow the good done by religious in Ireland to be buried with themSat Jul 23 2022 - 05:00
Republican Party can be wrong about guns but also right about abortionIf GOP is to be credibly anti-abortion, it has to stop preaching sturdy individualism in everything elseSat Jul 02 2022 - 00:00
The Catholic church is listening - but now it must actThe Church at its best is a family - a fractious, bickering family, full of love and brokenness.Sat Jun 25 2022 - 05:00
Children with autism are left by a broken system to suffer and deterioriateFailed both in early intervention and when in need of specialised psychiatric careSat Jun 18 2022 - 05:00
Spare a thought for the Junior Cycle students of 2022Previous generations faced far more challenging exam papers, but this year’s cohort have lived through challenges their parents would have laughed off as speculative fictionSat Jun 11 2022 - 00:00
So it’s good for teenagers to be online - but how much is too much? TCD study says a ‘Goldilocks’ amount of time online is good, but surely digital wisdom is more important than counting minutesSat Jun 04 2022 - 05:00
Breda O’Brien: The malign influence of the US gun lobby will survive yet another school shootingBreda for SaturdaySat May 28 2022 - 01:00
All the Sisters of Charity achieved was ramping up anti-CatholicismMaternity hospital site decision indicates no future here for Catholic healthcareSat May 21 2022 - 00:00
Ukrainian schools challenge exposes crisis in Irish educationChronic underlying systemic problems a consequence of threadbare fundingSat May 14 2022 - 00:00
Overturning Roe v Wade still leaves a battle for hearts and mindsPregnant women need real choices so that abortion becomes unthinkableSat May 07 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: Learning to listen to those with whom we disagree is vitalPeople conceived through surrogacy have something important to say about its ethicsSat Apr 30 2022 - 00:00
Church is really bad at communicating with its own membersHope is springing from the grassroots through dialogue of small parish groupsSat Apr 16 2022 - 00:00
Schools will be central to the integration of Ukrainian childrenTeachers from that war-torn country continue to teach, many online from around the worldSat Apr 09 2022 - 00:00
Teachers give cautious welcome for Leaving Cert reformsOverhaul of senior cycle is long overdue but the devil will be in the detailsSat Apr 02 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: World still struggles to accept people with Down syndromeTwo cases before ECHR challenge idea of fast progress embracing genetic diversitySat Mar 26 2022 - 00:01
Non-violence is not naive, unrealistic or uselessNon-violent resistance is more successful than violenceSat Mar 19 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: Wars are not fought on TikTokYounger people receive their information via social media – and that is deeply troublingSat Mar 12 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: Living with the lingering consequences of Covid-19For those with invisible illnesses such as fibromyalgia, the pain and worry continueSat Mar 05 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: Volunteers are a vital humanising force in Irish societyA heart in a heartless world is an apt description of St Vincent de Paul’s workSat Feb 26 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: ‘No woman left behind’ is a sham of a sloganWomen’s council has no time for anyone unwilling to march in ideological lockstepSat Feb 19 2022 - 05:00
Breda O’Brien: Third-year students are getting a raw dealJunior Cycle reform was under way and far from complete when pandemic hitSat Feb 12 2022 - 00:00
Stephen Donnelly may be having his own Zappone momentAppointment of chair of abortion legislation review receives almost no scrutinySat Feb 05 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: Another hybrid Leaving Cert is not the answerSix-hundred points should be rewarded with more than a ticket to a lotterySat Jan 29 2022 - 00:00
Breda O’Brien: Women need to work with men who despise misogynist behaviourRighteous anger should spur us to bring about change but also needs careful handlingSat Jan 22 2022 - 00:00
Schools are facing intolerable strain and a reckoning is comingPoliticians take for granted gargantuan pandemic efforts teachers are makingSat Jan 15 2022 - 01:25
Breda O’Brien: Our bodies are who we are. Respect themDignity and soul are innate to physicality be that frail, healthy, desirable or otherwiseSat Jan 01 2022 - 01:00
Driving home for Christmas is a trip through timeJourney home can be painful for emigrants but also for those who never leftFri Dec 24 2021 - 10:07
Breda O’Brien: Being obscenely wealthy is not proof of geniusOireachtas time is given to a lottery while our rotten system of inequality is ignoredSat Dec 18 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Cooling-off period for everything but abortionVital decisions need time yet many want to remove any delay impeding abortionSat Dec 11 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Suspicion of authority not only cause of vaccine hesitancyVon der Leyen’s suggestion of mandatory vaccine will further alienate the warySat Dec 04 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Fudging truth about Covid risks in classrooms damages public confidenceSociety needs schools but we must not bury health risks in constructive ambiguitySat Nov 27 2021 - 01:00
Restricting movement of teachers may push schools over the edgeEducation, including teacher supply, has been neglected in Ireland for yearsSat Nov 20 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: EU must block criminalisation of humanitarianismSeán Binder faces trial for helping migrants survive dangerous sea crossing to LesbosSat Nov 13 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Spirituality is vital in facing climate changeSpirituality and religion provide a kind of sustenance that allows people to change, even in halting, imperfect waysSat Nov 06 2021 - 01:00
Why do we still not believe whistleblowers?Unless new behaviours are championed we will still be asking that question in 20 yearsSat Oct 23 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Armagh kerfuffle highlights church leaders’ work for reconciliationPresident’s refusal to attend NI service may have focused more attention on work for reconciliation carried out by the Church Leaders’ GroupSat Oct 16 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: This is no time to let Irish cinemas dieIs the tentative recovery of movie theatres thanks to blockbusters or a more nuanced audience desire?Sat Oct 09 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Bloomberg ranking a mere snapshot of progressWe must measure our real Covid-19 record without defensiveness or demonisationSat Oct 02 2021 - 01:00
