Breda O’Brien: Joe Biden is not a ‘seamless garment’ Catholic

We have not advanced as far as we like to think in terms of religious tolerance

Thinking Anew – Religion can be a source of error as well as truth

How Republicans came to deify the presidency

US Politics: Trump’s acquittal will reflect deference towards the office as well as partisanship

Simon Jenkins: How liberals paved way for populism to emerge

Calm down everybody: Donald Trump is not the worst and won’t go unchallenged

Trump is a New York wheeler-dealer, not a redneck from the backwoods. He is no Reagan ideologue

Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch, by Barbara A Perry

Stoical and politically tough, Rose Kennedy put up with her husband’s philandering, controlled every aspect of her children’s lives and to the end adhered to the ‘Kennedys don’t cry’ rule

When Ireland woke up

Kennedy’s visit lifted us out of our suspicion of those who had been away. He seemed to drive away images of lonely figures leaving with a single suitcase

A leader of style and substance

It was his brother who was groomed for the White House but bravery, composure and an easy charm that captivated audiences made ‘Jack’ the perfect candidate