A Presbyterian Appreciation of Pope Francis Sometimes people ask me how I ended up directing a Jesuit social research centre, as a Presbyterian theologian. At this stage, the polite answer rolls out of my mouth with barely any thinking required.  But if I was to tell the truth, I would have to say that it… Read more »

What we are witnessing is a form of societal resignation. We tolerate a level of road danger that curtails the freedom of children to move through their communities. This is a moral issue. When we fail to police motor offences, when we design streets around the convenience of cars rather than the safety of people, we make a clear choice: to prioritise speed and flow over life and freedom.

Forced to take an indirect route to work or a night out because of “no-go” streets. Hurriedly crossing the road due to serial law-breaking and aggressive behaviour. Speeding up on your bicycle as a “single male” aggressively follows. Children unable to go to school on their own—even the shortest distance—without needing to be delivered to the school gate in the parental car.

We’ve written on this blog before about the environmental impact of the fashion industry and how it increases inequality, and the issue of garment worker exploitation has been explored in our journal Working Notes. Visit any shopping centre or high street and you’ll see bustling stores and people carrying multiple shopping bags from clothing retailers,… Read more »

The JCFJ is a member of Coalition 2030, an alliance of over 70 civil society and trade union organisations in Ireland who collaborate for the domestic and global achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs, which are all equally important and should be treated equally, were adopted by all UN member… Read more »

There’s a common trope that we have a name for an entity that seeks to grow without limit (as our variety of capitalism demands) and it is cancer. There’s a deeper, fundamental critique that even anticipating the wonderful gains of efficiency that can come from market competition, infinite growth with finite resources is bound to… Read more »

2025 marks ten years since the publication of the papal encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home and it is also a jubilee year with the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. On the same day that a ten-hour international vigil was held online to mark the anniversary of Laudato Si’, approximately 170 people gathered… Read more »

The new government has been formed and one of its first acts is to roll-back on one of the most successful policies of the old government. The FF/FG(Greens) coalition committed to a 2:1 ratio on transport spending in favour of public and active transport over infrastructure that served the private motorist. That radical vision took… Read more »

The year draws to a close and the Irish people anticipate that when the Dáil sits again in January, a new government will form. It will mostly be the same as the old one, albeit lacking a strong environmental concern after the electoral wipe-out suffered by the Green party. The results of the General Election… Read more »

A Long-Standing Crisis Earlier this week, RTE organised a televised debate about the different positions on housing ahead of the General Election. While we might have qualms about importing televised debates as a means to discuss such important societal factors, it is certainly the case that housing should be near the centre of our thinking… Read more »