Whether you’re struggling with the fear and isolation of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic or you’re just having one of those weeks where nothing seems to go right, relying on faith can help carry you through. I took some time to reflect on how my faith guides me during my life so I could offer […]

I have a recurring dream, it centres itself around my leaving cert. I find myself sitting my history exam and not having a clue of any of the answers. I wake up anxious but with a great sense of relief. The Leaving Cert is never easy, but this year, it has been most challenging. The […]

Matt Talbot was born May 1856 in Dublin Ireland. He was one of twelve children, six of whom lived to adulthood. His father was a heavy drinker and, as a result, the family grew up in poverty. Typical of his era, Matt spent just one year at school. There was no compulsory education and he […]

A woman, pushing on in years, boasted to her pastor that she did not have an enemy in the world. He was very impressed. What a wonderful thing to be able to say after all those years! And then she added: – ‘I have outlived them all’. I suppose if we live long enough we […]

You don’t just wake up one morning, light streaming in from the window, birds fluttering about, and jump from your bed with exuberance declaring “I have a faith!” No, it’s more like a slow crawl from your bed as you try to slam on the snooze button one last time. Getting faith isn’t easy, even […]

Jack Charlton’s recent death left many deeply saddened. An iconic personality, that won the hearts of the Irish people. He made people believe in themselves. His cap. His fishing. His pint. His long ball. His mantra – “put ‘em under pressure.” Big Jack was very different to Bobby.  The poetry of Bobby contrasted with the […]

This pandemic, is far from over, whilst hopefully it remains contained, on our Island. Here in Laois, we face the second week of restrictions, I believe necessary, in our collective responsibility to ensure safe public health and our shared desire that children will return to school in September. The recent spike of Covid-19, highlights that […]

John Hume put his devotion to what was right above what was best for himself, his life’s work was given its ultimate return in the Good Friday Agreement he signed 22 years ago. Hume had a multitude of qualities that allowed him be a singularly resolute peacemaker during The Troubles but his selflessness was surely […]

I was moved by Brendan O Connor’s interview with Brent Pope recently. Brent spoke of his reflective-time during the lockdown. He thought of his mother in New Zealand who had gone into a home. He thought of those 30 years in Ireland away from home and family. He realised what he had missed. He spoke […]

Our world screams out for poetry even if it can’t cope with it. Faith can only exist in a world of poetry. God is always big and bigger. Little minds have nothing worthwhile to say of God or faith. The rigids and the dogmatics and the absolutes, live in the world of machines or robotic […]