“How to Get to Heaven From Belfast,” Lisa McGee’s new series for Netflix, is a wobbly, unsuccessful blend of comedy, mystery and would-be thriller.
Ireland
Posted inDispatches
A former Irish president’s provocative argument: Is infant baptism a threat to human rights?
McAleese desribes baptism as a kind of recruitment tool that ignores how children, as they mature, should be able to freely decide their own religious identity, noting that canon law acknowledges no right to exit Catholicism.
Posted inDispatches
At Christmas, a reminder of Ireland’s persistent homelessness crisis
“I know many homeless people who tell me they would love to fall asleep on the first of December and wake up on the first of January. Christmas is the most miserable time for them.”
Posted inNews
Catholics in Dublin now have a dedicated cathedral for first time in 500 years
The Catholics of Dublin have a dedicated cathedral for the first time in 500 years following Pope Leo XIV’s decision on Nov. 14 to designate St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral as the Irish capital’s official Catholic cathedral.
Posted inDispatches
Spoiled votes and celebrity campaigns: Ireland’s presidential election reveals exhausted state of its democracy
Catherine Connolly won the most votes of any candidate in the history of the Republic, but the election was marked by low turnout and a campaign to spoil votes, raising questions about whether Ireland is as stable a democracy as most presume.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
How Ireland avoided a far-right surge and anti-incumbent backlash in recent election
When Irish people went to the polls on Nov. 29, there had been concerns that the nation would see a far-right surge in the Dáil, or parliament, in keeping with trends within the rest of Europe. But Ireland continues to be an outlier.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Northern Ireland has a Catholic prime minister for the first time in history
The president of the Irish bishop’s conference hailed an agreement that sees a Catholic take the top political job in Northern Ireland for the first time in its history as an “opportunity for a fresh start and a new beginning.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
The Irish rebel who wrote ‘the first modern thriller’
Erskine Childers went from being the John le Carré of his day to a convicted war criminal and nationalist martyr.