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Breda O'Brien

Breda O'Brien

The Irish Times

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Ann Widdecombe defended free speech. But it’s hard to defend some reactions to her death

Ann Widdecombe defended free speech. But it’s hard to defend some reactions to her death

AI-generated memes were posted of her in her famous yellow Strictly Come Dancing costume, being dragged into hell by the devil

19.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Our justice system should have better ways of dealing with the likes of Enoch Burke

Our justice system should have better ways of dealing with the likes of Enoch Burke

Justice system is expected to remedy everything from poverty to addiction. It was never designed to carry this load - and does not do it well

13.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Populists from both sides are seizing on the great air-conditioning divide in France

Air conditioning is a thorny issue but it can form part of a relatively low-carbon response to rising temperatures

05.07.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Vote on three-day wait for abortion is a sign of leaders out of step with their parties

Are we supposed to believe 60,000 abortions since 2018 have nothing to do with falling school enrolments?

29.06.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Loneliness influencers: The odd appeal of ‘living alone, no friends’ diaries

Solitude vloggers destigmatise being friendless – but they also normalise an unhealthy kind of loneliness

22.06.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Beware ideas which offer a pseudointellectual cover for racist rioting

A book coining the ugly phrase ‘suicidal empathy’ has been on the NYT bestseller list. At its heart is the idea that ‘misdirected’ empathy is...

14.06.2026 20

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Could incentives such as discounted summer camps help to reverse decline in birth rates?

We talk a lot about the economic cost, but the human heartache caused by involuntary childlessness is incalculable

06.06.2026 30

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Teachers are frustrated by some of the dafter aspects of reformed senior cycle exams

Concerns raised over how Additional Assessment Components are working in classrooms and the increasing dependence on iPads and Chromebooks

31.05.2026 40

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Struggling to get your children off Fortnite? There’s a reason for that

Games are designed to offer something to capture your attention every 40 seconds. No wonder it’s a battle

24.05.2026 40

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

We only talk about access to abortion – never the reasons why women choose it

Abortion allows society to shrug its shoulders – towards the children of unplanned pregnancies but also to systemic pressures, from the housing...

17.05.2026 40

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Honeymoon for Pope Leo will eventually come to an end. As it should

Measured, calm, reflective pope is rightly seen as an authoritative moral voice. But his role is not to act as a counterweight to Donald Trump

09.05.2026 40

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Robust criticism and mockery are not the same as urging murder and mayhem

Something is seriously awry in US culture that an attempted assassination of a president is just another day in Washington

03.05.2026 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

How will Catherine Connolly represent those beyond her own ideological orbit?

Already, people of faith are unsure whether the ‘all voices’ the President said she would listen to include theirs

26.04.2026 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

The audacity of newbie Catholic JD Vance lecturing Pope Leo is breathtaking

It has been disconcerting to see US Catholics belatedly turning on Trump. Where was the outrage before now?

19.04.2026 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Why are religious schools seen as divisive but Irish language schools are not?

There is a double standard about religion in schools compared with other areas of learning

12.04.2026 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Road death statistics are incomplete unless they include all who died

Jax’s Law would recognise babies who die in the womb as victims in road traffic collisions

06.04.2026 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

He lambasted Ireland in the New York Times for locking up children. Now he may be sainted

What would Edward Flanagan say about a wealthy Ireland where children in care are put in unregulated emergency placements?

29.03.2026 40

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Now that my children live abroad, my uncle’s ‘bás in Éirinn’ has a new meaning

Everything from a stray sock beneath a bed to an old photo album shouts of the ones no longer here with us

22.03.2026 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

All babies who die in the womb as a result of crime must be recognised as people

Jax’s Law will cover unborn babies of at least 23 weeks’ gestation who die as a result of dangerous driving

09.03.2026 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

We need to pause Leaving Cert science reform immediately

It is just not possible to carry out the required assessments safely or in a way that is fair to students

02.03.2026 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Christians tolerated Trump because they thought he would end abortion. They were wrong

07.02.2026 40

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Transgender rights misinformation is the last thing schools need

01.02.2026 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Why is no-one talking about the grandchildren gap?

25.01.2026 80

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Netflix hit Adolescence gets a lot wrong about the reality of boys’ struggles

18.01.2026 70

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Stranger Things-induced nostalgia for the 80s doesn’t tally with my memories

11.01.2026 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Let’s stop treating caring as a hobby and dependence as weakness

05.01.2026 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

The in-between days from Christmas to new year are a time to embrace imperfection

27.12.2025 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

This is the week when ‘lapsed Catholics’ and ‘spiritual but not religious’ go to church

21.12.2025 90

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Baby Christopher’s parents should not have had to wait so long for an apology

14.12.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Comparing AI to Wikipedia is like saying a bicycle is similar to a self-driving car

07.12.2025 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

We need secular schools, but also schools that believe in what the nativity play embodies

01.12.2025 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Amid the tricolours of Dublin’s inner city, 50 faith communities are doing vital work

09.11.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

The vibes-based politics that elected Catherine Connolly are powerful, but ultimately empty

02.11.2025 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

If Tusla were a flesh and blood parent, its children would be taken away

26.10.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Here’s why you should vote for Jim Gavin

20.10.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

What is the justice system for if we don’t believe in rehabilitation?

12.10.2025 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

One day we will have redress schemes for the children failed by Ireland’s care system

05.10.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Blocking Maria Steen from running for the presidency will backfire

27.09.2025 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

We need to have a conversation about babies born alive after abortion

21.09.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Nobody can claim the decline of Catholic influence has led to a happier or healthier society

14.09.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Carlo Acutis, the millennial saint, could not be more different to the influencers of the manosphere

07.09.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Interest in Jim Gavin says little for Micheál Martin’s faith in his party colleagues

31.08.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Taking teachers seriously as professionals would solve some big problems in Irish education

24.08.2025 90

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

ChatGPT is wearing the skin of something it can never be for vulnerable people

17.08.2025 70

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Ireland is in an adolescent stage where everything that smacks of Old Ireland is embarrassing

10.08.2025 50

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Let’s stop glorifying motherhood and glorify parenthood instead

03.08.2025 70

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Parents facilitating a 16-year-old’s ‘prinks’ is a sign of our weird relationship with alcohol

27.07.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

As abortions triple, when will we admit that reluctant repealers were profoundly wrong?

20.07.2025 60

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Some schools are relying on deposit return scheme to stop them going broke

13.07.2025 70

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien

Oliver Plunkett’s story would make a great film – it’s a shame modern, secular Ireland has forgotten him

06.07.2025 40

The Irish Times

Breda O'Brien