Neither side of abortion debate emerges well from McCorvey storyNorma McCorvey, aka Jane Roe of Roe v Wade was exploited by elements of both sidesSat May 23 2020 - 01:00
The groups of students who deserve particular attentionThis year’s Leaving Certs have been the focus, but incoming sixth, third and first years also need concern and planningSat May 16 2020 - 01:00
Breda O'Brien: Seán O’Rourke’s balance will be missed on the airwavesBroadcaster showed rare understanding of centrality of religion in people’s livesSat May 09 2020 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: The church has been catapulted onlineRather than being in opposition to real community, virtual experience fosters itSat May 02 2020 - 01:00
We have failed our older and more vulnerable citizensNeglect of nursing homes during coronavirus pandemic has had disastrous resultsSat Apr 25 2020 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: We apologise to Leaving Cert class of 2020Global pandemic prohibits easy answer to question of when to hold final examsSat Apr 18 2020 - 01:00
Need to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt protects us allQuashing of Cardinal Pell conviction underlines need for safeguardsSat Apr 11 2020 - 01:00
Pope Francis: An icon of hope and solidarity in a time of crisisThe Pope praying before an empty square will linger as an image of this pandemicSat Apr 04 2020 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Communicating with ‘screenagers’ in a pandemicTeens are being actively encouraged to spend hours a day on screens. How do we keep a balance?Sat Mar 28 2020 - 01:00
Breda O'Brien: Extraordinary measures need to be taken – even with Leaving CertMinister’s announcement to award full marks for orals and practicals has caused shockSat Mar 21 2020 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: There is something particularly vile about Jean VanierIn the midst of such darkness, how can one find the light?Sat Feb 29 2020 - 01:00
Us adults should stop rolling our eyes about Greta ThunbergBreda O’Brien: Young people are paralysed with fear about the planet, and we must take actionSat Feb 22 2020 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Election result shows the perils of treating people as outsidersThe general election was won by outsiders who know how to listen to the excludedSat Feb 15 2020 - 01:00
Breda O'Brien: If we really valued children we would prioritise their carersSocial engineering caused by tax individualisation has come at a heavy costSat Feb 08 2020 - 01:03
Breda O’Brien: We must vote against the stifling political and media consensusPublic funding and media visibility stack the deck in favour of ensconced political partiesSat Feb 01 2020 - 01:00
Breda O’Brien: Time to smash Tweedledum and Tweedledee politicsAontú offers pro-family policies to bring much-needed real change to Irish societySat Jan 25 2020 - 01:00
Let politicians know that education mattersBreda O'Brien: Education will only become an election issue if voters choose to make it oneSat Jan 18 2020 - 01:00
What moral authority does the US have to kill Suleimani?We should question the morality of killing any person, even those supposed to be evilSat Jan 11 2020 - 05:00
Breda O’Brien: Binge-watched insights into Teutonic TV landEpisodes of Dark can make you notice stark German and Irish cultural differencesSat Dec 28 2019 - 06:00
Peloton advert a metaphor for pressure on middle-class womenAllegedly sexist commercial unwittingly reveals phenomena far worse than the offenceSat Dec 21 2019 - 06:00
Britain is now divided as never beforeResearch reveals two tribes who intensely dislike each other, and who are not terribly informed about each otherSat Dec 14 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Genetic disability tests are misleading couplesLimitations of non-invasive, pre-natal testing are ignored by opinion-formersSat Dec 07 2019 - 06:00
Time to pay attention to the persecution of ChristiansSecular institutions need to end their neglect of 245 million Christians who face extreme persecutionSat Nov 30 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: We must honour our history and welcome the strangerBetween extremes of open borders and xenophobia, there is a generous IrelandSat Nov 23 2019 - 06:00
Breda O'Brien: A simple, dignified apology from McAleese would sufficeFormer president should say she never intended to imply Pope John Paul II endorsed marital rapeSat Nov 16 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Time to get adult about pornEthical porn is doomed. Child protection needs legal and cultural changeSat Nov 09 2019 - 06:00
Married priests and pregnant statues distract from church’s real issuesThe Amazon synod focused on the wrong solutions to very deep problemsSat Nov 02 2019 - 06:00
‘England get out of Ireland’ does not apply to abortionSinn Féin and DUP show abortion ranks higher than nationalism or unionismSat Oct 26 2019 - 06:00
Mental health services for young people need real changeChronic underfunding and understaffing need to be addressedSat Oct 19 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: UCD to turn on canonisation of John Henry NewmanPrelate failed to establish a Catholic university and Irish education is the poorer for itSat Oct 12 2019 - 06:00
Our emergency departments are a kind of purgatoryDo we have Stockholm syndrome that makes us accept appalling conditions?Sat Oct 05 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Euthanasia is symptom of society which does not careMedical killing is motivated not by love but cold functions of sexism, ableism and ageismSat Sept 21 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Schools should be teaching instead of beggingPuny capitation grant deprives children of materials and forces staff to fundraiseSat Sept 14 2019 - 06:00
Breda O'Brien: Ireland is not quite as secular as it pretends to beWe now draw a distinction between the deserving and undeserving believersSat Sept 07 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: We need to mobilise our empathy to save the planetThe complicated ethics of trying to live sustainably cause some of us to just give upSat Aug 31 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Legacy of Muckross nuns lives on foreverFar from corrupt religion, these nuns inspired as strong female role modelsSat Aug 10 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Boris Johnson’s infidelity shows how some sexism gets a free passBritish prime minister’s living arrangements are modern sexism, not progressSat Aug 03 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Child’s voice ignored in surrogacy debateCommittee prioritises doctors and academics over donor-conceived peopleTue Jul 30 2019 - 12:57
Parents need to grasp dangers of children’s online activityParents can unwittingly allow children wander in a treacherous online worldSat Jul 27 2019 - 06:00
Being religious is now a countercultural identityChristianity is no bulwark against new tribal identities dominating discourseSat Jul 06 2019 - 06:00
Breda O’Brien: Smartphone addiction is a great danger we must resistTechnology giants wean us on their apps and glowing screens. It is time to take actionSat Jun 29 2019 - 06:00
Questions to be answered about Holles Street casePanel to examine abortion on grounds of alleged fatal foetal abnormalitySat Jun 22 2019 - 06:00
Breda O'Brien: The pain of the Leaving Cert should be spread out over two yearsAs a teacher, I have always known how tough the exams are. Reform is overdueSat Jun 15 2019 - 02:00
Breda O’Brien: Aontú’s superpower seems to be invisibilityTrump bluster mops up media coverage at expense of small social justice partiesSat Jun 08 2019 - 02:00
Breda O’Brien: Irish culture needs to learn how to deal with griefWe often fail to recognise that grief can result from major losses other than deathSat Jun 01 2019 - 02:00
Breda O’Brien: State must start nurturing marriagesGovernment embraces divorce when it should help low-conflict wedded couplesSat May 25 2019 - 02:00
Figures suggest surge in abortions post-repealIf the trend continues, more than 5,000 preborn children will be deadSat May 18 2019 - 02:00
Pro-life votes in upcoming elections can lay groundwork for future progressVoters who care about the right to life must send a message to smug pro-choice partiesSat May 11 2019 - 02:00
No one loves election posters but the alternatives are worsePosters have downsides but online targeted advertising has serious drawbacksSat May 04 2019 - 02:00
Breda O’Brien: Persecuted Christians merit progressives’ supportWest often neglects anti-Christian bias, seeing them as unenlightened leftoversSat Apr 27 2019 - 02:00