opinion

Gone are the days of eating bread with bread

Gone are the days of eating bread with bread

Sat, 23 May, 2026

Food was never something I thought very deeply about growing up. In our house, food was simply there to fill you before the next farming task, the next journey or after a day’s work or football game.
No easy answer to one-off housing dilemma

No easy answer to one-off housing dilemma

Fri, 22 May, 2026

In all my years away from home, perhaps the most consistent line of division between urban and rural Ireland has been on one-off houses.
Ireland's energy debate is collective delusion

Ireland's energy debate is collective delusion

Fri, 22 May, 2026

There’s a particular Irish talent for moral outrage that conveniently stops at the point where it might cost us something.
Searching for answers on a trip to California

Searching for answers on a trip to California

Thu, 21 May, 2026

Generally speaking, the thing about the American people is that they are very much like ourselves.
A struggle for the soul of American Catholicism

A struggle for the soul of American Catholicism

Thu, 21 May, 2026

Podcasts from the idiotic to the sublime now pepper the airwaves.
School divestment has failed miserably

School divestment has failed miserably

Wed, 20 May, 2026

The recent Western People article by Brendan Hoban (May 12, 2026) calling for a “flexible approach” to school divestment reflects a debate Ireland has now been having for so long that many parents have simply stopped believing meaningful change is ...
Reflections on a trip to the Golden State 

Reflections on a trip to the Golden State 

Sat, 16 May, 2026

Despite what you might think of Donald Trump and the people who elected him, America is a great country. It just is and there is no way of getting away from the fact. Now, of course I was in California and the state is not America.
Like swallows, the young return to the West

Like swallows, the young return to the West

Fri, 15 May, 2026

All across the region, like swallows, our young people have returned for the summer. Going away is a tale as old as time in our part of the world. Each generation experiences it a little differently, but the basic elements don’t change.
Leaving Los Angeles

Leaving Los Angeles

Fri, 15 May, 2026

There are times when I think back to when I was a moody teenager during a family holiday in a damp Bundoran resort. On one of the least wet days, we were packed into the Nissan Vanette and headed off to a remote Glencolmcille.
The Irish Wake is now a dying tradition

The Irish Wake is now a dying tradition

Thu, 14 May, 2026

There was a funeral I recall from a few years back - a handyman, a good man, the kind who'd give you a day's work for nothing and never mention it again.

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