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Programme 33 (Last in current series): Sunday, 17th May 2009

'The real clash of cultures in our world at the moment is not between the religious traditions of the world [but] between those who believe in God and those who disdain such belief and aggressively oppose any tolerance of its influence on law and morality.'

The words of Cardinal Sean Brady in a historic address in Trinity College last Monday. Was he responding to the sort of statement made by the author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins in the wake of 9/11 when he said 'Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense.'

This week, we asked what influence do or should religious believers have on the rules that govern our society? Are believers more likely to be moral human beings? Would our laws be different if we lived in a society run by atheists?

Our guests this week were:

Michael Nugent - chairman of Atheists Ireland

David Quinn of the Iona Institute - which, according to its own website, makes the case for religious practice

Fr. Brendan Purcell - philosopher and priest

Harry Browne - journalist and lecturer in DIT

And Claire O'Connell - scientist and journalist

Programme 32: Sunday, 10th May 2009

'The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious or indecent matter is an offence which shall be published in accordance with law'. So says Article 40.6.1 of Bunreacht na h-Eireann

Its not the remit of this programme to divine the motives behind the announcement this week by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern that he proposes to introduce legislation on blasphemy, it may be an absolute constitutional imperative, it may be sneaky misdirection at a time of fiscal crisis, it may be a play for the conservative vote at the coming elections, or, given the size of the potential fine for blasphemers, up to €100,000 it may even be a stealth tax. What is certain is that it caught everyone unawares and has led to a mixture of head scratching and apoplexy. All the more so because our esteemed Law Reform Commission suggested nearly twenty years ago that 'blasphemy' had no place in our law.

This week we asked if we still need a reference to blasphemy in the constitution and, consequently, legislation to give effect to that constitutional provision. Is the concept of blasphemy anathema to modern notions of free speech? Is one man's blasphemy another's fair comment? Are we about to walk into a metaphorical minefield where the law of unintended consequence will explode in our faces?

Joining Myles on the programme were:

Brian D'Arcy, priest and broadcaster

Mark Dooley, Lecturer in Philosophy in NUI Maynooth and Columnist with the Irish Daily Mail

Abdul Haseeb, presenter of Islam in Focus, 4.30 - 5.00pm on Near FM

Dearbhail McDonald, Legal Affairs Correspondent with the Irish Independent

And Liam Egan, former Christian Lay Preacher who now goes by the Muslim name Muhajid. He's the South East branch manager of MPAC.IE , a website for the Muslim Public Affairs Committee

Programme 31: Sunday, 3rd May 2009

The end of the reign this week of Michael Fingleton as Chief Executive of Irish Nationwide and the announcement of the departure of the team at the top in AIB which presided over a 95% fall in share values, seems to indicate that the nations bankers may be getting the message that the country holds them morally responsible for much of the economic mess in which we find ourselves. However, a report by the Central Bank this week suggests that, despite being bailed out by the state to the tune of €7 billion the banks are not living up to their social responsibilities. The Central bank has found that, despite the bailout and assurances to the contrary, lending is actually tightening.

This week, we asked whether the words 'moral responsibility' and 'banks' can ever appear together comfortably in the same sentence.

The ESRI report this week confirmed that the recession will be deeper and longer in Ireland than in any other developed country. The extra depth and length is a function of irresponsible and, if the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is right, unethical behaviour. It seems as if, eighty years after the Wall Street Crash Woody Guthrie is still right - 'Some will rob you with a gun; And some with a fountain pen.'

So, is it time to draw up a new ethical code of practice for our banks - and maybe for ourselves while we're at it?

Our guests this week who discussed the issue of the moral, social and ethical responsibilities of our banks were:

Pete Lunn - Behavioural Economist with the ESRI and author of 'Basic Instincts - Human Nature and the New Economy'

Sarah Carey - Irish Times columnist

Mike Soden - former chief executive of the Bank of Ireland

John O'Keeffe - Dean of Law at the Dublin Business School and former banker with ING Barings, London.

Audry Deane - lectures in creativity, innovation and change on an MBA course, she is a consultant in the NGO and voluntary organisation sector and with a major Irish charity in a social policy and justice role.

Programme 30: Sunday, 26th April 2009

It was a week when the Chairman of the British National Party referred to 'bloodless genocide' in his defence of a leaked BNP leaflet and when delegates to the UN Convention on Racism in Geneva, including our own, walked out when Iranian President Ahmadinejad began his expected rant against Israel.

Closer to home, lest we ignore the beam in our own eye the EU Fundamental Rights Agency identified Ireland as one of the most difficult countries in Europe for immigrants. According to the report Three out of four immigrants from Africa feel helpless in the face of abuse and discrimination that they say affects every sphere of their lives, from ordering a coffee in a cafe to having their children educated. That figure falls to 25% when the immigrant is from central or Eastern Europe but the report also records a huge element of the non-reporting of incidents. So far the most obvious response this year has been cuts in the funding of the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority and the closure of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Intolerance (NCCRI|).

Common sense suggests that in the context of increased competition for even the lowest paid jobs the graph of racist incidents will only go one way. Are the '100% Irish' stickers anecdotally appearing on some Irish taxis the moral equivalent of the 'No Irish Need Apply' signs in 19th century USA?

So this week on Spirit Moves we asked if racism in Ireland is going to get worse as recession deepens and widens and do we have a moral obligation to do something about it before that happens?

Joining Myles were:

Anastasia Crickley, Dept. of Applied Social Science, NUIM and Chair of the European Fundamental Rights Agency

Philip Watt, Consultant of Migrant issues and former Director of the now defunct National Consultative Committee on Racism in Ireland.

Nigerian-born Journalist and playwright Yemi Adenuga

Dr. Bryan Fanning of the Dept of Applied Social Science at University College Dublin who is co-author of a report on Irish political parties and immigrants

John Waters, author and Irish Times columnist

And Lionel Kinsey, a South African born man who's been living and working here for the past 10 years, now working as a taxi driver

Programme 29: Sunday, 19th April 2009

In January of this year the Prison Service began a new programme for the treatment of Irish sex offenders. The progamme is based, initially, on the identification of high risk offenders and increasing the range and availability of therapeutic intervention.

Between 1994 and 2008 only 100 offenders completed the available therapy programmes. There are more than 300 sex offenders in our prisons today. The Building Better Lives programme, which offers new approaches to the problem, will allow intervention in 60 cases each year.

A discussion document from the Department of Justice - the Management of Sex Offenders - identifies 24 separate categories of sex offender. Some of the crimes involved carry life sentences. The document, however, also insists that 'not all people convicted of a sex offence pose a high risk . . . the circumstances, motivating factors and level of danger vary considerably'. Recidivism rates for sex offenders, less than 20%, are lower than for most convicted criminals. However, it has also been demonstrated that adequate therapeutic intervention can halve even those rates.

On Spirit Moves this week, we explored how, as a society we deal with our sex offenders? Is there too great a desire for revenge and an insufficient emphasis on rehabilitation? Can sex offenders be 'cured' or is it simply a case of them managing and us monitoring their behaviour for the rest of their lives? Should offenders be allowed to return to the community in which they committed their crime? And how can we balance the rights of the released offender with the need to protect communities?

Our guests were:

Dr. Esther Lonergan - senior clinical psychologist with the Irish Prison Service. She runs the programme in Arbour Hill Prison for people who have committed sex offences.

Fr. Paul Murphy - child Protection Officer with CORI

Shane Dunphy - child protection expert.

Fiona Neary - Director of the Rape Crisis Network

Olive Travers - chairperson of the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers.

Programme 28: Easter Sunday, 12th April 2009

In religious terms Easter is a season of sacrifice and rebirth. In the context of Irish nationalist mythology Easter is a season of sacrifice and rebirth. The Rising on Easter Sunday 1916 - the centenary of which is just around the corner - was born of a perceived need amongst Republican militants for a 'blood sacrifice' and a revolutionary rebirth of the character and distinctiveneness of the Irish nation.

In her new book 'Dublin 1916: The Siege of the GPO' Clair Wills writes that 'Although the project of 1916 has been abandoned, particularly as far as remoulding Ireland into an Irish speaking and self-sufficient nation is concerned, the events of 1916 gave citizens of the Republic a sense of dignity and achievement, a self respect that has been woven into the texture of their political life.'

This week on the programme we explored the function and even the morality of nationalism in a globalised and interdependent world. We also interrogated Irish nationalism as represented by Pearse, Clarke and McDonagh and asked what remains of that particular brand almost a century later and whether it is still being used by destructive forces to justify their activities.

With Myles in studio were:

Dr. Niamh Hourigan, Sociologist at UCC. Her book 'Ireland in the 21st Century: Who are we now?' will be published later in the year.

Dr. Pat Wallace, Director of the National Museum - who deals on a daily basis with our national identity

Dr. Robert Gerwarth, from the School of History and Archives at UCD whose interest is in the history of German and Central European political culture in the period between 1871 and 1945. He is currently working on a history of paramilitary violence after the Great War and a biography of Reinhard Heydrich.

And

Dr. William Murphy from the Department of Irish studies at Mater Dei and DCU whose primary field of research is the Irish revolutionary period and prison history. He is at present writing 'Political Imprisonment and the Irish, 1910-1921'

Programme 27: Sunday 5th April 2009

On Friday we heard yet another disturbing account of how vulnerable people are sometimes treated in our society. This time it wasn't children, it wasn't the elderly - but it was people suffering from mental illness.

They were locked in wards even when there was no good reason to do so. They were drugged with tranquilisers when this was not medically necessary. They had little to do and were forced to wear night clothes during the day.

This is according to Friday's report from the Mental Health Commission that listed a series of poor practices in the two approved centres for psychiatric patients in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
The report highlighted what it describes on a number of occasion s as the 'bleak' conditions in which patients live. It also found that the number of broken bones they suffered were significantly above the national average.

In summary, as the report says, residents of these institutions lead impoverished lives.

On this week's programme, Myles and his guests examined our moral obligations to patients in our psychiatric wards, they discussed the ethical issues faced by their carers and explored society's attitude and duties towards all vulnerable citizens.

This week's guests were:

Mike Watts of Grow - the mental health organisation which helps sufferers - the organisation has been in Ireland since 1969 and has established a network of 130 groups around the country. (http://www.grow.ie/)

Carol Hunt - Sunday Independent journalist who has written about her own depression in that newspaper.
Professor Harry Kennedy - consultant psychiatrist and Director of the Central Mental Hospital

Mary Raftery - broadcaster and journalist and maker of the 1999 documentary series States of Fear which dealt with abuse in industrial schools.

Seamus Murphy - psychiatric nurse who works with the psychiatric nurses association. He worked as a nurse in St. Lukes for twenty years. The conditions in St. Luke's Hospital and St. Michael's Unit were highlighted in the report.

Programme 26: Sunday 29th March 2009

The philosopher Martin Niemoller as he was released from prison in 1945 said -

"When they came for the communists, I was silent, because I was not a communist; When they came for the socialists, I was silent, because I was not a socialist; When they came for the trade unionists, I did not protest, because I was not a trade unionist; When they came for the Jews, I did not protest, because I was not a Jew; When they came for me, there was no one left to protest on my behalf."

This week on Spirit Moves in a time of unprecedented global turmoil, we asked if we have an absolute right or even a duty to protest, or is there a time to remain silent in the common good? But for the intervention of An Taoiseach Brian Cowen and the agreement of the trade union movement to renewed partnership talks, Monday would have seen a day of strikes in this country. Next Thursday could see chaos in our airports as strikes are threatened.

Yesterday thousands of people marched through Berlin, Paris, Rome and London - to demand jobs, economic justice and environmental accountability, kicking off a series of protests and action in the run-up to the G20 summit to be held later this week in London.

We've had our own protesters recently here - the over 70 medical cardholders, students, taxi drivers and public servants. The April 7th hairshirt Budget could spark renewed protests which might add to Ireland's current image of instability. We have a democratic right to protest. However, is there a danger that in the current circumstances the desire for public declaration of anger, opposition and frustration becomes counter-productive?

Joining Myles Dungan this evening was:

Richard Boyd Barrett, from the People before Profit Alliance
Eamon McCann, Journalist and Broadcaster
Marie Louise O'Donnell, lecturer in DCU
Moore McDowell, Economist and lecturer in UCD
And Monica Barnes, former Fine Gael TD.

Programme 25: Sunday 22nd March 2009

With the upcoming publication of an Oireachtas Committee report on the issue of sex with people under the age of consent, this week, we discussed the role of parents and the State in protecting teenagers from sexual predators and perhaps more commonly, from each other - and indeed themselves.

Are today's parents are finding it harder to provide a strong moral framework for their teenagers? And what sort of values are we passing onto our children?

Sean's guests were:

Jacki Ascough, columnist with Alive magazine

Dr. Kieran Moore, Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist.

Carol Coulter, legal affairs editor of the Irish Times and author of a new book Family Law in Practice which will be published this week

David Quinn - Iona Institute

And Deirdre Seary, director of the Cork Sexual Health Centre.

Programme 24: Sunday 15th March 2009

We're perhaps a little too old to give up sweets, cakes and being cheeky to our parents for Lent but according to the Wall Street Journal, many adults have given up logging on to social networking sites like Facebook for 40 days this year, so the observance of Lent still holds or does it?! This week on Spirit Moves, as the St.Patrick's day respite from the annual lenten-fast approaches, we asked if Lent still matters in an increasingly secular society and whether self denial and frugality are good for the soul and society in general.

Joining Seán Rocks on the programme were:

Dr. Niamh Hourigan, a Sociologist at University College Cork
Piaras Jackson, SJ., Editor of the Sacred Space website - visit www.sacredspace.ie
Pat Coyle, Journalist and Broadcaster Ian Robertson, Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin

Programme 23: Sunday 8th March 2009

Health workers who blow the whistle on colleagues they believe are putting patients at risk, now have full legal protection - thanks to new legislation which came into effect this week.

Also this week a report from anti corruption watchdog, Transparency International highlighted the lack of whistleblower laws for the business sector.

This week on Spirit Moves we explored the moral minefield that is whistle blowing.

Is acting out of loyalty to your organisation ultimately seen as a disloyal act?

Does motivation matter?

If you're a witness to potentially corrupt, harmful or dangerous practices and you standby and do nothing, are you as morally culpable as the person who's getting away Scot free?

Sean's guests were:

Sheila O'Connor - Patient Focus
Pierce Kent - Corporate governance specialist with UCD Michael Smurfitt Graduate business school.
Gina Menzies - a theologian who teaches ethics to medical students

John Devitt - Transparency International

Estelle Feldman - Research Associate , School of Law Trinity College Dublin and lecturer in Administrative Law in Independent Colleges.

Programme 22: Sunday 1st March 2009

In his address last night to the Fianna Fáil faithful Taoiseach Brian Cowen spoke of the common good, the community and old fashioned concepts like the meitheal. He also said that it was time to focus on the people we serve rather than on the institutions which serve the people. This evening on Spirit Moves we asked how can the Banks for example, or the HSE, small enterprises or indeed the Government achieve the common good while also concerning themselves with the bottom line - profit and accountability?

Joining Seán Rocks on the programme were:

Margaret Benefiel, a Professor at Andover Newton Theological School in Boston who also runs a company called Executive Soul. Margaret believes that we can create 'caring, values-based companies' without negatively impacting on the bottom line.

Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations (Seabury Books, 2005) The Soul of a Leader: Finding Your Path to Success and Fulfillment (Crossroad, 2008),

Gavin Duffy,the man behind the very successful LMFM Radio station. He started his Media Consultancy company Dorland in 1995. He is one of the dragons on RTE's highly successful Dragon's Den

Niamh Brennan is Michael Mac Cormac Professor of Management at UCD Quinn School of Business

Independent Senator Joe O'Toole, former General Secretary of the INTO and President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions from 2001 to 2003

And Ray Kinsella, Chairman of the Smurfit Business School and author of 'Regulation, Corporate Governance and Ethics'

Programme 21: Sunday 22nd February 2009

The continuing and apparently never ending bad news about the economy is causing great concern to very many people. But to some, our dwindling net worth may seem to matter a little less than to others.

Close to 30,000 people die here each year and for those who are aware they are coming to the end of their days, other issues loom large. Among them, the reality that many patients spend their last hours in noisy hospital wards with little dignity or privacy.

End of life care presents many medical, religious and ethical challenges and on this evening's programme, we explored the rights of people who are dying - and asked how their spiritual needs can be met in our increasingly secular society.

On this week's programme, Sean Rocks was joined by a range of people who have a particular interest in this subject. Among them, Paul Murray Co-ordinator of the Irish Hospice Foundation's End of Life Forum. The forum was set up this year to explore how modern Ireland can address the challenges of dying, death and bereavement. Last Friday, was the deadline for its final written submissions.

Sean's other guests were:
David Fanagan of Fanagans Undertakers
Fr. Bryan Nolan - a hospital chaplain of 20 years.
Sharon Vard - a founding member of Anam Cara following the death of her 5 year old daughter, Rachel

and

Mo Flynn - Chief Executive of Our Lady's Hospice in Harrolds Cross.
End of Life Forum contact details
submissions@endoflife.ie
Tel: 01 6755970

Programme 20: Sunday 15th February 2009

On February 27th 1997 the Family Law Divorce Act 1996 came into force after a fiercely divisive referendum in November1995, won only by a narrow margin of 9,000 votes, representing just 50.28 of the electorate. Remember slogans such as 'Hello divorce, bye bye daddy' or the 'Yes vote' will herald a secular society'. Socially and culturally it acknowledged the reality of marital breakdown. This week on Spirit Moves on St. Valentine's weekend and as Marriage Week Ireland draws to a close we asked if divorce has made a difference to contemporary Irish society?

Joining Tom this week to discuss what has happened to our society in the intervening 12 years were

Mags O'Brien who lectures at the Siptu College and who was Chairperson of the Divorce Action Group in 1995.

Muriel Walls from the McCann Fitzgerald who specialises in Family Law

Psychotherapist Medb Ruane

Fr. Joe Mullen who is the Director of the Dublin branch of Accord, a voluntary Catholic organisation specialising in Marriage Preparation Courses and Marriage Counselling with 57 centres around the country...

And Liam O Gógáin, a separated father and Chairman of Parental Equality

Programme 19: Sunday 8th February 2009

Across the Celtic tiger years the ultimate authority in this country was money. What you had or didn't have, your credit record, what you could borrow.

Now that money has failed us where is authority? Indeed where is new authority to be found and who is there to find it?

On Spirit Moves this week, we asked who should be responsible for solving society's problems - our figures of authority or perhaps is it time to look within ourselves and our communities.
Tom's guests were:

John Waters - Irish Times columnist
Mike Soden - former chief executive, Bank of Ireland
Jesuit priest, Fr. Seamus Murphy
Prof. Tom Inglis, sociologist with UCD
and
journalist, Brenda Power

Programme 18: Sunday 1st February 2009

Imagine if you will, one of your children or your wife or your husband were tragically killed in a criminal act. Imagine the grief, the confusion, indeed the anger, but then imagine too a graveyard full of photographers, the satellite vans outside your home, your neighbours being closely questioned about you and your family.

It's all perfectly legal of course but why is it done and what purpose does it serve?

This week on Spirit Moves we asked if sometimes news values override ethical values when reporting on individual lives or human tragedies. In part our programme was prompted by the coverage of the recent death of a leading Irish business man.

His widow was moved to say "Callous speculation on why and how he took his own life and misinformed commentary on his financial affairs was deeply hurtful...

"If this part of our lives gives some media the right to declare 'open season' on us and intrude on our grief with reckless reporting and ill-informed comment then it is time to ask some fundamental questions about the values and ethics of sections of the Irish and International media......I know they are only doing their jobs but I have to stand up for my husband. It is sad that you can't be left alone to grieve"

Joining Tom to discuss this were

Eoin O'Dell, Barrister and Lecturer in Law at TCD

Paul Drury - Managing Editor Irish Daily Mail and The Irish Mail on Sunday

Colum Kenny - Journalist and Associate professor of Communications at DCU

Tom Clonan - Lecturer in Ethics and Journalism in DIT

Psychologist Joan Freeman, who works in Pieta House with people who have attempted to take their lives by suicide

Pieta House is open 9.00 - 17.00 Mon - Fri. Please feel free to call us on (01) 601 00 00 to arrange an appointment or to find out more. Evening appointments are sometimes available.

And Lisa O'Carroll who is former Editor of mediaguardian.co.uk. She was previously TV correspondent of the Daily Mail and media correspondent of the Evening Standard. Lisa is currently working at Irish Times Publications.

Programme 17: Sunday 25th January 2009

It seems that the wisdom of President Barrack Obama has already crossed the Atlantic..

"It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate."

It's perhaps folksy, perhaps old fashioned but is Obama's call to the old values of community and neighbourliness just right on cue given the disappearing benefits of the free market society? Do you even remember something called duty?

"We have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

Joining Tom to address these matters on Spirit Moves this week was

Colm Carey, a Consumer psychologist

Aodhán O Riordáin, a Primary School Principal in Dublin's Sheriff Street, and a Labour Party Councillor

Mary Raftery, who wrote, produced and directed the three-part documentary series States of Fear.

David Quinn, a columnist with the Irish Independent and the Irish Catholic, and Director of the Iona Institute

And Public Affairs consultant, Stephen O'Byrnes,

Programme 16: Sunday 18th January 2009

I suspect that there are few who do not sense that at we are at a defining global moment.

In 48 hours time, in the USA, Obama year one begins.

Across the world the western economic system lurches and staggers along while here in Ireland the government, the banking system and even the churches face increasingly hostile citizens.

The crisis at one level is about leadership and its failures

On spirit moves this week we asked about the components of that thing called leadership and specifically about whether it requires a moral and ethical framework.

Tom's guests were ...

Pete Lunn, a Behavioural Economist with the ESRI and author of 'Basic Instincts - Human Nature and the New Economy'

Gemma Hussey, former Minister for Education and author

Jerusha McCormack, Academic and author who holds Irish and American citizenship

Noel Dorr, former Irish Diplomat and currently holding the Chair of NUI Galway's Governing Authority

And Theologian Gina Menzies who lectures in medical ethics

Programme 15: Sunday 11th January 2009

The current crisis in Gaza has raised once again a host of complex ethical questions about the use of violence, even as in this instance, by a sovereign state. The death toll mounts with by now nearly 800 Palestinians dead and almost three and a half thousand wounded. Among the dead more than 300 children. In Israel a total of 3 have died as a result of rocket fire.

As both sides insist that the other side fired first what are we on the margins to make of the moral and ethical issues involved? Indeed what is the definition of a just war and can it apply here?

How and when can we kill? And what of that commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill?

We teased out these issues with this week's guests:

Dr. Peter Admirand
Lecturer and Programme Co-Ordinator with the Irish School of Ecumenics. He's a Catholic theologian who works in the area of Jewish/Christian dialogue.

Judith Mok
Author and classical singer

Dr. Ray Murphy
Former army captain and law lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway.

Tom Carew
Chairman of the Ireland Israel Friendship League

Danny Morrison
Playwright and former republican activist

Programme 14: Sunday 4th January 2009

In this programme, we looked forward to 2009 and considered ethical and moral issues that our society will face in the coming year.

Our guests were:

Tom Clonan - Lecturer in media at the Dublin Institute of Technology
Richard Delevan - Journalist
Senator Joe O'Toole
Mary Kenny - Writer
David Quinn - Iona Institute

Programme 13: Sunday 28th December 2008

In this programme, we look back on news events of 2008 that raised ethical or moral issues.

Our guests were:

Maryann Valiulis - Centre for Gender and Women's Studies, Trinity College Dublin
Eddie Hobbs - Financial guru
Joe Little - RTE's Religious and Social Affairs correspondent
Paddy Quinn - Moral philosopher with All Hallows College
Maev-Ann Wren - Specialist writer on health

Programme 12: Sunday 21st December 2008

Homelessness - if even the word itself sends a shiver down the spine, then try homeless at Christmas.

Many thousands are. And given the increasingly consumerist demands at Christmas, it's also a time when poverty can be savagely and vividly highlighted.

On Spirit Moves this week we considered if as a society we care anymore or is it everyman or woman for themselves.

Joining Tom on the panel were

Joyce Loughnan, CEO of Focus Ireland

Focus Ireland aims to advance the right of people-out-of-home to live in a place they call home through quality services, research, and advocacy.
Contacts
Dublin
9 - 12 High Street
Christchurch
Dublin 8
Tel. 01 881 5900
Fax. 01 8815 950

Waterford
St John's Park
Grange Cohan
Waterford
Tel. 051 879 807
Fax. 051 879 811

Limerick
Parnell Place
Parnell Street
Limerick
Tel/Fax. 061 317 199
Fr.Peter McVerry

Fr Peter McVerry is seeking to provide the highest possible quality care for young homeless people living in hostels.

"We seek to provide an atmosphere in which young people not only receive support and encouragement from staff but also offer such support and encouragement to each other"

Welcome Home
9 Annsbrook
Clonskeagh
Dublin14
Ireland.
T: +353 1 2830745
F: +353 1 283 0746
E: info@welcomehome.ie

Audry Deane

National Social Policy Officer, Society of St. Vincent de Paul

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a direct service non-profit organisation whose work primarily involves person-to-person contact with people who have a variety of needs. In addition to direct assistance, we try to promote self-sufficiency, enabling people to help themselves. Any assistance offered by the Society is given in a non-judgemental spirit of compassion, based on the need of the individual or family.

National Office
Address SVP House, 91/92 Sean Mac Dermott Street, Dublin 1
Telephone 01 838 6990
Fax 01 838 7355
Email info@svp.ie

And Sam McGuinness, CEO of Dublin Simon Community..Working to end homelessness in Dublin.

Simon Communities in Ireland
St. Andrews House, 28/30 Exchequer St. Dublin 2
Tel: 01 671 1606 |
Fax: 01 671 1098

Programme 11: Sunday 14th December 2008

'Have we forgotten what Christmas is all about' asked a somewhat incensed Archbishop Diarmuid Martin recently?

As the flood of consumerism increasingly threatens to drown out the occasion and as secular voices insist that we separate religiosity and Christmas, we wonder has Santa eclipsed Jesus?

On Spirit Moves this week, we asked has the time come to reassert in our public life the integrity of the Christian festival which is Christmas.

Our guests were

Moral theologian John Murray
Commentator Mary Raftery
Philosopher Brendan Purcell
Psychologist Mark Harrold
And self professed atheist Harry Browne

Programme 10: Sunday 7th December 2008

60 years ago this week in the aftermath of World War 2 with its massive death toll, its concentration camps and the atomic bombing of Japanese cities the United Nations Universal declaration on Human rights was published.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that:

'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.'

This week on Spirit Moves we asked whether we are living up to the moral and legal obligations we signed up to under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Tom was joined in studio by Harry Kennedy, Director of the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum - Fiona Crowley, Research and Legal Officer with Amnesty International Ireland - Liam Herrick, Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust - Criminologist Paul O'Mahony, who lectures at TCD and Eamon Mac Aodha, Chief Executive of the Irish Commission for Human Rights.

Programme 9: Sunday 30th November 2008

Last year in Ireland at least 460 people took their own lives but many experts feel the figure is closer to 600. And as Christmas approaches and our economic recession deepens, experts are increasingly concerned that the figure could increase.

As this week's programme went on air, more than 1000 people who have been bereaved through suicide were attending a Console Christmas Celebration of Light in Maynooth. Fr Aidan Troy who led the celebration joined our discussion.

Also joining Tom McGurk were:

Prof. Patricia Casey consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Hospital

Joan Freeman who set up Pieta House a service for those feeling suicidal

Carol Hunt a journalist who has written about her own depression.

And Dr John Connolly of the Irish Association of Suicidology

There are many questions surrounding this crisis but this week, we concentrated on the moral crisis that is suicide; a crisis for the family involved, for the church and for society at large.

If you have been affected by the issues discussed in tonight's programme, you can call the Console Helpline at 1800 201890 More information is available on their website at www.console.ie

Programme 8: Sunday 23rd November 2008

The growing debate on the new Europe has been joined by a new voice, the Catholic Church.

In perhaps a re-visitation of older battles it seems now that the proverbial Church/State relationship has taken on a European context.

Some weeks ago at the Humbert Summer School Cardinal Brady wondered if Europe was forgetting its Christian memory and heritage and if the forces of secular and humanist ethics intend to shape Europe on its own.

Indeed the Cardinal went so far as to suggest that the recent 'No' to Lisbon was a signal that increasingly Christian Ireland is growing concerned.

To discuss if the new Europe is becoming a cold house for Christian ethics and values Tom was joined by

Fr. Fergus O'Donoghue, SJ, Editor of Studies

John Cooney, Journalist and broadcaster and Director of the Humbert Summer School

Dana Rosemary Scallon who served as an MEP for Connacht-Ulster

Michael Nugent - Writer,(author of I Keano) and an Atheist

And Mairead McGuinness Fine Gael MEP for Ireland East

Programme 7: Sunday 16th November 2008

According to Ireland's leading churchman Cardinal Sean Brady it represents 'perhaps the greatest revolution in the history of the Irish family'. He was talking about the civil partnership bill, currently being drafted by the government which proposes to legislate for relationships which fall outside those of the traditional married couple.

In a word, the government wants to recognise gay relationships and other types of cohabitating relationships. Its critics say it amounts to almost the same rights as conventional marriage.

This week on Spirit Moves, we asked if it will undermine marriage as we currently know it, create numerous problems as yet unknown in the future with the children of such relationships and we looked too to the possibility of the catholic church mounting a constitutional challenge to such a move.

Tom McGurk's guests were

Senator Ronan Mullen
Ciaran Cuffe TD
Fr Joe Mullan, parish priest of Lusk who works with accord the Catholic Marriage Care Service
Patrick Lynch, a gay man
And Cathy Molloy a theologian who teaches on the issue of theology and marriage

Programme 6: Sunday 9th November 2008

90 years ago this week World War 1 ended. In total there were 10 million military deaths and 9 million civilian deaths, a total of 19 million. Another 21 million were seriously wounded. The average age of the soldiers who died was 17 and half years.

Its impact was catastrophic; it defined the politics of the world for a century to come. In Ireland it was largely responsibly for sundering the Union; Ireland and Ireland's part in World War I were to have lasting consequences right down to today.

Now a lobby in Ireland wants us to join in the British Legion Poppy day ceremonies to remember the Irish who died in WW1. This week on Spirit Moves we asked if poppy day and its ceremonies, and its wider context, obscure the reality of war and militarism.

Tom's guests were:

Canon Patrick Comerford, Director of Spiritual Formation at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, where he also teaches church history. He was this week's Canon-in-Residence in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and his grandfather was in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in World War I.

Myles Dungan, Broadcaster and Historian and author of 'Irish Voices from the Great War' (1996 Four Courts) and 'They Shall Not Grow Old: Irish Soldiers and the Great War'(1997 Four Courts)

John Horne, Professor of Modern European History at TCD and Editor of 'Our War : Ireland and the Great War', a collaboration between the RIA and RTE, based on the 10 part RTE Radio 1 Thomas Davis lecture series which starts on November 10th @ 10.02pm.

Emer O' Kelly, Theatre Critic and former broadcaster.

And the artist Robert Ballagh.

Programme 5: Sunday 2nd November 2008

In any period of recession the question of State benefits joins the headlines.

Who is entitled? Who should be paid less? Who should be paid more?

Already we have seen the argument about medical cards for over 70s create a political earthquake.

On this week's programme, we delved into issue of State benefits.

Tom's guests were:

- Niamh Hourigan - sociologist

- Aileen O'Meara - specialist writer on health affairs

- Derek McDowell - former TD

- Breda O'Brien - teacher and columnist

- Moore McDowell - economist.

Programme 4: Sunday 26th October 2008

This week on Spirit Moves, as grey power took to the streets, we asked if we live in a culture that celebrates youth and as a corollary, repudiates age.

Is to grow old in modern Ireland to be abandoned, ignored or even demonised?

Are we at the mercy of a popular culture in a Peter Pan-like world, which insists that everyone must remain young even though we are all growing older?

Is to be young good and to be old bad, or it because they are uneconomical?

Indeed what has happened to notions of wisdom, experience, the authority that should come with age? Who listens to the tribal elders anymore?

And where is the Ireland which Eamon De Valera once famously depicted in his crossroads address as 'a place whose firesides would be forums for the wisdom of serene old age'?

Tom McGurk's guests included

Prof Eamon O' Shea, Head of Economics at NUIG and author of 'Towards a National Strategy for Older People in Ireland'

Mary O' Rourke, Fianna Fáil TD for Longford-Westmeath

Patsy McGarry, Religious Correspondent with the Irish Times

Margaret McCurtain (Sr. Benvenuta), a distinguished Historian, respected for her continuing input into Irish Social Development.

And

Diarmuid O' Shea Consultant Geriatrician, Dept. of Medicine for the Elderly, St. Vincent's University Hospital

Programme 3: Sunday 19th October 2008

Perhaps more than a profound change to our economic circumstances is currently underway in Ireland. Could it be that a new age of austerity will bring us to re -examine and reflect on the values of the Celtic tiger?

We have been awash in a tide of affluence and wealth, not to mention debt, and we may now be facing into a world more like the 1980's or even the 1950's.

Will it make any real difference? Will the new economic moment be as important as the one now disappearing over the horizon was?

Tom McGurk was joined by a variety of people to discuss this issue, all of whom perhaps are looking into the current moment through very different windows:

- Fr Michael Bennett who has spent almost all of his working life in the Third World in Africa.

- Des Geraghty who has spent most of his life as a socialist and a trade unionist.

- Gerald Keane is a wealthily solicitor and one our leading socialites.

- Gina Menzies is a distinguished theologian.

and

Dr. Maurice Nelligan is an Irish Times columnist and a famous cardiologist.

Programme 2: Sunday 12th October 2008

There are many fascinating things about Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, but for the purposes of our programme, the most fascinating thing has been the world wide reaction to her espousal of deeply traditional values. But why has her unashamed espousal of a clean living, family value-led, pro-life, patriotic and pro American view of things caused such a reaction? Why do comedians find her such an easy target? On Spirit Moves this week, we asked whether liberalism has become so intolerant that it cannot abide even the advocates of traditional values.

Tom McGurk was joined by a panel of five people interested in the direction that life in Ireland is taking

Paschal Mooney has had many lives in Country Music, in Politics, (he served in the Seanad for Fianna Fáil from 1987 - 2007) and is an advocate for rural and middle Ireland. In April 2008 he was nominated to the position of Chairman of Fáilte Ireland North West.

Marnie Inskip is a distinguished American documentary film maker who numbers among her associates the group who later became famous as the sex in the city set.

Emily Hourican is a young journalist, a young mother and very much among the brightest of the Celtic Tiger cubs.

Ailbhe Smyth is a feminist and a lesbian activist. She's been involved in radical politics for 20 or 30 years ands is a senior lecturer at the Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre, WERRC, in UCD..

And John Waters is prolific columnist, playwright, father and someone who now senses that we may have reached the point of post materialism.

Programme 1: Sunday 5th October 2008

On the night of November 9th 1989, thousands of East Berliners flooded into West Berlin as the Berlin Wall was demolished
lump of pre-stressed concrete by lump of pre stressed concrete. It was the end of the Cold War and apparently the victory of western capitalism. The US took a bow, we all said we told you so, and for the next 19 years our lives were dominated by what we called the market.

The Market apparently had all the answers, knew the value and the price of everything and increasingly all our politicians genuflected in its presence. For a whole generation then, afloat on a river of cash - earned or borrowed - the free market and its disciples became the only show in town. The market celebrated individuality, self interest, entrepreneurship and above all - although we rarely admitted it - greed. Greed even became sexy.

Last Tuesday, the Government agreed to bail out the Banks with 400 billion of our money. Last Sunday, the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg Governments had to bail out Fortis Bank. In the UK Northern Rock and then Bradford and Bingley had to be rescued. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Lehman Brothers read like characters in a movie, but in reality of course they are the reason why 2 days ago the US Congress agreed a 700 billion dollar dig-out for American banks.

But to what tune were they all marching that all their houses have come tumbling down? This week on Spirit Moves we asked 'What has brought us to our knees? Is it greed? And is greed ever good? Is this an economic or a moral crisis ?

Joining Tom McGurk in studio to mull over these matters were five heroic survivors of the Celtic Tiger.

Kathy Sheridan, a journalist with the Irish Times and co-author with her colleague Frank Mc Donald of 'The Builders - How a small group of Property Developers fuelled the building boom and transformed Ireland ', published by Penguin Ireland.

Constantin Gurdgiev is an economist with NCB Brokers and Research Associate at the Institute for International Integration Studies, at TCD. He is also Group Editor of Business and Finance Publications.

Pete Lunn is a Behavioural Economist with the ESRI and author of 'Basic Instincts - Human Nature and the New Economy', published by Marshall Cavendish Business.

Mary Ellen Synon is a business journalist writing for the Irish Daily Mail and a doughty defender of the market.

Lisa O'Carroll is former Editor of mediaguardian.co.uk. She was previously TV correspondent of the Daily Mail and media correspondent of the Evening Standard. Lisa is currently working at Irish Times Publications.