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 9 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 2 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 5 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 5 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 1 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 4 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 6 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 9 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 2 2021 - 01:00
Facebook's negative impact affects far more than teenage girlsBreda O’Brien: Facebook does very little about the cartels and traffickers it hostsSat Sep 25 2021 - 01:00
Strangulation is not just some private kinkViolence towards women during sex is just good old-fashioned misogynySat Sep 18 2021 - 01:00
Crisis in recruitment and retention of school principals will only worsenResponsible for everything from drains to contact tracing, why would anyone want to be a principal?Sat Sep 11 2021 - 01:00
Ireland can rise above shameful EU response to Afghan refugee crisisWe must learn the lessons of history and show generosity to AfghansSat Sep 4 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Pregnant teachers and SNAs should be allowed work from homeGoing to school has potentially catastrophic consequences that could easily be avoidedSat Aug 28 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: I am breaking up with Gretchen Rubin, her world is too tidyBeing human is not a project with one self-improvement experiment at a timeSat Aug 14 2021 - 01:00
Ireland needs to fully embrace community-led housingIrish meitheal tradition has potential to help solve the crisis – with State supportSat Jul 31 2021 - 01:00
Why younger Catholics are attracted to the Latin MassBreda O'Brien: Pope's presumption of bad faith on part of those who attend the Mass is worryingSat Jul 24 2021 - 01:00
Jill Biden is thriving as Kamala Harris languishesMany of the US president’s signature proposals have long been priorities of his wifeSat Jul 17 2021 - 01:00
Breda O'Brien: Media not doing its job properly when covering abortionBAI upheld some complaints about radio coverage but there is a systemic problemSat Jul 10 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Smaller parties up against it in the byelectionCoverage of important democratic moments must reflect diversitySat Jul 3 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Independent review crucial in Baby Christopher caseSystemic failures at clinic leading to catastrophe must be fully examinedSat Jun 26 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Leaving Cert lessons to be learned from the pandemicTo reform the exams, let’s start with the Covid-19 concessions given this yearSat Jun 19 2021 - 01:00
Underfunding of universities leading to blind spots on human rightsBusiness-led utilitarianism and closer China links resulting from underfundingSat Jun 12 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Foley must explain the delay in Leaving Cert resultsTeachers fear exam results will be used to adjust accredited gradesSat Jun 5 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Foetus’s pain should be a focus for both sides of abortion debatePeople of goodwill must agree to relieving foetal pain with anaesthesiaSat May 29 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: The work of feminism is far from doneWomen are shamed for being women not only when it comes to menopauseSat May 22 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: As churches reopen it cannot be service as usualLoss of religion as lip service has opened opportunities to do things differentlySat May 15 2021 - 01:00
Breda O'Brien: There is a great deal of ageism in Irish societyOne example is older people being inappropriately placed in nursing homesSat May 8 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Constitution clause ignores parents in homeCitizens’ Assembly rightly values carers but is letting economics edit out parental roleSat May 1 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Government treats religion as whimsical hobbyState ban on public worship is unjust and labyrinthine regulations fool no oneSat Apr 24 2021 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Healthcare students bullied into taking AstraZeneca vaccineDespite having legitimate concerns, they were mocked and painted as anti-vaxxersSat Apr 17 2021 - 01:00