Short reports and media links
Church angered as Prime Time wins IFTA award
Irish Examiner – By Nick Bramhill : Catholic leaders have launched a stinging attack on organisers of the IFTAs for presenting an award to suspended RTÉ series Prime Time Investigates. The investigative series has been temporarily axed to allow for a probe by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland into the defamation of Fr Kevin Reynolds in one of its programmes.
Read more – http://www.irishexaminer.com/news/church-angered-as-prime-time-wins-ifta-award-184019.html#ixzz1mk3l7QzE
Will it ever be Ireland without a prayer?
Independent.ie – John Meagher writes – The landmark case (in Great Britain) has attracted plenty of attention from secular groups here, and it has prompted Atheist Ireland to send a letter to all members of the respective Committees on Procedure and Privilege of both the Dáil and the Seanad to ask them to stop the practice of saying prayers before every session of both houses.
Chairman Michael Nugent writes: “We request that the Oireachtas cease the practice of starting daily business with the prayer: ‘Direct, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspirations and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance; that every word and work of ours may always begin from Thee, and by Thee be happily ended; through Christ our Lord. Amen.’
“It is inappropriate that any of our parliamentarians should publicly ask a god, particularly a specific variation of a specific god, to direct their actions and every word and work of theirs. It suggests either (a) that they are being directed in their work by messages that they believe come from a supernatural being, or (b) that they are taking part in the prayer without believing it to be true.”
The Labour Senator, Ivana Bacik, has been vocal on this issue in the past. “I don’t think the prayer as it exists is appropriate in a pluralist society,” she says. “I think the Dublin City Council policy of starting sessions with a minute’s silence is far more fitting.”……
New Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has been vocal about secularism, not least in education. In an interview with the Irish Catholic, the former school principal made his position clear: “Religious ethos has no place in the education sector of a modern republic.”
Read more: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/will-it-ever-be-ireland-without-a-prayer-3023933.html
Churches unite to save rural schools
U.TV –“It’s going to copper-fasten the decline of rural Ireland.” Rev John Deane from the Church of Ireland said: “We feel that the rug has been pulled right from under our feet. “The whole minority community here in Co Donegal and further afield indeed with …
Read more – http://www.u.tv/News/Churches-unite-to-save-rural-schools/3d3aba41-4056-42af-a5d1-5461ce4f649e
Handshake call for Kingsmills parade
News Letter – Friday 17 February 2012 09:07 – The pastor involved in organising a march in memory of 10 Protestant workmen murdered by the IRA at Kingsmills has called for the Roman Catholic priest in Whitecross and a member of the Reavey family to engage in a public handshake as the march passes through the village…Pastor Halliday said: “There is a need for around 100 people representing the families, including Willie Frazer and myself, to march through Whitecross and meet and shake hands with the local priest and a member of the Reavey family. “That would do unbelievable good for the community. There needs to be a public handshake because we have to move on. We have to live together. If they do that it will not go unnoticed and we will certainly repay it.”
Read more – http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/handshake_call_for_kingsmills_parade_1_3531886
Sinn Fein back plans for Queen’s Jubilee
News Letter – A Sinn Fein member of Belfast City Council says his support of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee should be seen in the context of forthcoming centenary celebrations such as the 1916 Easter Rising. Councillor Conor Maskey and his party colleague Jim McVeigh have backed a report detailing the council’s plans to celebrate the Queen’s 1952 accession to the throne at the beginning of June.
Read more – http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/sinn_fein_back_plans_for_queen_s_jubilee_1_3531871
‘In Your Corner’ Samaritans campaign
Belfast Telegraph – Local sports personalities have given their support to the Samaritans’ In Your Corner campaign.
Video at: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-in-your-corner-samaritans-campaign-16118868.html#ixzz1mjfvOaK9
Cremation cost in NI set to rise by 25%
BBC – The cost of arranging the cremation of a loved one at Northern Ireland’s only crematorium is set to increase by 25%.
Read more – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17066951
Lifeline to families trapped in negative equity nightmare
Independent.ie – Homeowners in negative equity have been given a lifeline after two banks were cleared to offer them new mortgages.The Irish Independent has learned that major lenders Permanent TSB and Bank of Ireland have obtained permission from the Central Bank to offer a new type of home loan.This will involve their negative-equity debt being tacked on to a mortgage for a new property, freeing them up to move.
Read more – http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/lifeline-to-families-trapped-in-negative-equity-nightmare-3019832.html
Closure of Vatican embassy has wide-ranging implications
Irish Times – Just as we ratchet down our relationship with the Vatican, the British step theirs up, writes Breda O’Brien . The debate about the closure of the embassy to the Holy See is fascinating. Rather quietly, a consensus has grown up that it was a bad decision. There are lots of reasons why, and Seán Donlon, former secretary general in the Department of Foreign Affairs, articulated some of them in the Irish Examiner, including the obvious one of influencing standards on child abuse.
Read more – http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0218/1224311977327.html
Praying for a little diplomacy in Vatican embassy row
Independent.ie – The Government has used all the subtlety of a Miss Piggy karate chop in its decision to close our holy embassy in Rome. As a result of this cack-handedness, I find myself in the highly unlikely position of siding with the Catholic Church, and wishing Fine Gael and Labour would grow up a bit in their approach to this matter. Irish bishops must be laughing up their sleeves as this argument about the closure of the Vatican embassy is played out. They don’t have to utter a single word about it. No need, Eamon and Enda have done the work for them. They’ve stressed that this was a decision taken for purely economic reasons. But actually it was a decision that was taken for the wrong reasons, and with poor political judgment.
Read more – http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/praying-for-a-little-diplomacy-in-vatican-embassy-row-3023795.html
It’s best for Pope Benedict to stay away from Ireland, for now
Irish Central – The huge and emotive Eucharistic Congress of the last century was one of the most iconic events in the entire history of the new Irish nation. It was garnished by the golden voice of Count John McCormack, it demonstrated how bonded church and state …
Read more – http://www.irishcentral.com/story/roots/the_wests_awake/its-best-for-pope-benedict-to-stay-away-form-ireland-for-now-139511033.html
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