Letter to Minister Donnelly 29th March 2021 Dear Stephen, Thank you for your reply to me in the Seanad today in which you undertook to respond in writing to me about the precise legal situation pertaining to the organisation of public worship (with regard to Regulation 8 of…
Clergy presiding at funerals also a vulnerable category doing ‘essential work’ Independent Senator Rónán Mullen has said that a lack of joined-up thinking at the HSE over the roll-out of the Covid vaccine may have cost lives among elderly members of religious orders. Senator Mullen was speaking as news broke…
Article published in the Sunday Independent on the 24th January 2021 Yet again I have reason to be glad that I opposed the 2011 referendum to give greater powers to Oireachtas Committees to mount public inquiries. Last week in the Dáil and Seanad, Judge Yvonne Murphy and her Commission of…
“We are all connected with families who are part of this story.” Independent Senator Rónán Mullen called for a national voluntary collection to be organised to enable individuals and families in the community to contribute to a redress package for those who spent time in the State’s Mother and Baby…
Concern that Chinese students in UCC may face sanctions back home for speaking up in class The Oireachtas Education Committee may invite Irish university heads to explain their developing links with Chinese universities in light of human rights concerns for Chinese academic staff and students in Ireland, and for Irish…
Reflecting the views of those with religious faith, and greater respect for diversity of social outlook, in broadcasting media, especially public service broadcasting Dear Prof MacCraith, This brief submission relates most specifically to the first of the three areas on which the Commission has sought input, and to some of…
I hope this finds you well. It is hard to know what to say to friends and correspondents this Christmas. People’s experiences of this strangest of years have been many and varied. But as I look back at the Christmas e-card that I sent last December, I am struck by…
“Prudent management of public money means not just how it is spent but how it is collected in the first place” Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Sean Fleming T.D., revealed to the Seanad last night that the taxpayer had lost out on an additional €1.7 million of…
Independent Senator Rónán Mullen today called on the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, to allow fee-charging secondary schools to access the Covid-19 funding package for re-opening schools on the same basis as schools in the free scheme. A Department of Education circular ruled that fee-charging schools would not be eligible…
