Brendan Kennelly’s poem transformed an unexpected moment of raw grief and vulnerability, played out before a nation of television viewers, into a moment of restoration

That state of suspension between Christmas and new year is a time of reflection, including memories we would prefer to forget — there's no getting away from the fact 2024 has been a sad year for humanity

As we grow older, we become more cynical, which is sad. Cynicism is not healthy, but, thankfully, strange things happen at Christmas that are beyond our control, writes Gareth O'Callaghan

For someone like Jim, it’s not the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the time he dreads most. His wife is dead, his son is homeless, and he lives alone in an empty house that was once a family home.

Apart from being the quintessential covid protester, he believes the CIA has infiltrated the US media, and that pesticides in drinking water are creating ‘sexual dysphoria’ in young men

The biggest shock next week could be the number of politicians who lose their seats. Nor would it surprise me if the turnout was the lowest ever

Most of the brochures that have come through my letterbox in recent days are no different in content — promises, platitudes, and pleas — to those that arrived five years ago. All that has changed on many of them is the candidate

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, but verbal rumblings are getting louder at the prospect of another world war — a war that could not only end all wars but also civilisation

We’ve lost what we once called free time, when we would read and reflect, or escape into our thoughts and memories

The historic Al Smith black tie dinner is an event held annually at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to raise funds for Catholic children’s charities in the New York archdiocese