Why is mental health so much worse among Irish youths than adults?
Insta-therapy or therapy-speak should not be confused with real, very valuable therapy
Breda O'Brien
Breda O'Brien columns
Leaving Cert Oral English exam a potentially great idea but piling assessments on stressed students and teachers is not
By 2029, 41 subjects will have been redeveloped. Most will have an additional component such as a project or investigation
A year on from the failed referendums, has anything changed for carers and families?
Women can participate in the paid workforce if they want to, even if the work is often precarious and 'greedy'. What they often can’t do is afford a home within reasonable distance of family and workplace
Is it wrong to treat Lent as purely a time for self-improvement?
Most Catholic traditions have faded away, but the idea of giving something up for Lent persists. But many have lost sight of the idea that it should be about solidarity, rather than just sacrifice
Don’t be fooled by the movie poster - Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a committed pacifist
The message of a new film about his life is that heroism but can be achieved by fallible people stumbling along
As Pope Francis battled against ill health this week, the Catholic community in Ireland lost two great leaders
Bishop emeritus Willie Walsh’s simple goodness changed my view of him. Sr Máire Hickey sought to forge a connection between spirituality and the environment
A lot is written about great leaders, but what the world needs now is great followers
A great follower is aware of the human tendency to excuse or rationalise the behaviour of our own tribe, but is still willing to challenge it
Why do religious people tend to have more children? Because they value different things
It would be unwise to pin our hopes on a religious revival saving our declining fertility. We could, however, encourage more supportive attitudes towards those who have faith, and those who want to have more children
Big tech is bullying teachers into premature adoption of AI. We need to slow down
Most of the Irish debate concerns potential for cheating in the assessment components of new senior cycle. Why are widespread calls for a delay being ignored?
The school’s electricity bill was €3,000 – and some of that was during the holidays
Thirty principals recently published a list of circumstances faced by their students. It includes a parent in prison, suicide in families, neglect of every conceivable kind
Nicole Kidman’s Babygirl isn’t the ‘hottest film this year’. It might be among the most depressing
How did we get here, where a successful woman’s deepest desire is to lick milk from a saucer on the floor under orders from her intern?
As UK grapples with Elon Musk’s interventions, there’s no room for complacency here on child protection
A 2023 study found that young people in State care, particularly girls, were being targeted by older men who plied them with gifts, drink and drugs and then exploited them sexually
Jimmy Carter went to Mass in Waterford in 1995 - a sign of a deep faith that was often overlooked
It is impossible to understand the former US president without taking seriously his faith, which underpinned his whole life, both public and private
Don’t be so cynical. It’s bad for your health
Cynics suffer more depression, drink more heavily, earn less money and die younger; hope is what helps us endure
It’s a pity more of us don’t identify with Scrooge, the skinflint who was capable of change
If even Ebenezer Scrooge can change, perhaps there is hope for the rest of us and for our planet
Norma Foley’s approach to AI in the classroom is breathtakingly naive
There is no incentive for students to admit to using AI and every incentive to cheat, while teachers have been woefully underprepared for a revolution likened to Gutenberg’s printing press
Instead of talking about assisted dying, we should prioritise palliative care
Rather than foist assisted suicide on healthcare professionals who don’t want it, why don’t we do something progressive?
Forget Bluesky and pre-Musk Twitter. Friendship is the only true antidote to polarisation
It is less easy to hate someone with baffling ideas when you know and like them as a person
Opposition to abortion is seen as a position of the right, but it’s not that simple
By embracing abortion in the 1970s, feminism accepted that pregnancy is damaging to women’s lives, rather than something fundamental to human experience
The principal can’t sleep for worrying. If she paid all the bills on her desk, she couldn’t open the school
The top five costs for schools have nothing to do with education but just keeping the buildings heated, lighted, clean, safe and insured. And they’re increasingly unsustainable
Covid-19 left deep scars in Irish society. Those whose lives were lost or upended deserve better
People need, want and deserve a proper accounting of the successes and failures of the handling of the pandemic
Men are suffering a crisis of meaning. And some are finding answers in orthodox religion
While being young and female is still no picnic, young men are struggling in multiple ways
Students from Republic missing out on UK places because of junior cycle marking
Everyone wants senior cycle reform to succeed, but if junior cycle is an indication, there are real grounds for concern
Meet the two Irish women with voting rights at the Synod of Bishops in Rome
Traditionally, the only non-bishops with voting rights were 10 members of male religious orders but Pope Francis has changed that to five men and women religious
Is inexplicably hard marking at Junior Cycle meant to prove a point to teachers?
Same students facing frustration at mediocre marks in the Junior Cycle are about to be the guinea pigs for the new Senior Cycle. This is doubly unfair
Stop framing breastfeeding versus bottle-feeding as a question of mothers at war
Our culture is not breastfeeding friendly. We should focus instead on changing that instead
Why do so many people want spiritualist wedding ceremonies?
The Catholic Church cannot and should not attempt to compete with a spirituality which is essentially whatever a couple wants it to b
Pornography is sending men to ever darker places in search of more extreme images
The proliferation of ugly, misogynistic, violent porn online is testament to the fact that sexuality without love or boundaries is damaging
Attempts to clamp down on the influence of Big Tech may hinge on the fate of one woman
Lina Khan, the Biden-appointed chair of the Federal Trade Commission, has enemies on both sides of the aisle
Most teachers love teaching. What they don’t love is knowing they might never afford a house
Seeing teachers as human being who deserve respect would help a great deal to allow more teachers to do what they truly love
Palliative care is about so much more than end of life
Many patients could benefit from an approach that focuses on the whole person rather than just their disease
The good news for parents is you’ll never be perfect and you can’t fully shape your children
Divisions over parenting have been grotesquely magnified by the insane algorithmic dance of the internet
‘Cultural Christians’ Elon Musk and Richard Dawkins undermine Christianity’s very foundations
They claim to applaud the principles of Christianity while professing none of its faith
What does JD Vance’s Catholic conversion tell us about Donald Trump’s running mate?
Vance does not so much flip-flop as ruthlessly shed anything that does not serve his ambition
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