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The Common Good
The Concept of the Common Good I have argued elsewhere that the current debate on Ireland’s crisis needs to move away from economist dominated reasoning and be replaced by something more fundamental–a deeper and altogether more important consideration of the basic principles that we should use to organise our society. This week saw the publication of a document called From Crisis to Hope: Working to Achieve the Common Good by The Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Episcopal Conference. This is a welcome and much needed addition to the current discourse. It is a thoughtful exposition of what it means to think ethically about the current situation particularly…
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The Election Count- A Learning Opportunity
Why School Students Should Manage the Election and the Counting of Votes In Ireland voting in the general election takes place this Friday and this means a weekend of ballot boxes, exit polls, tally men and counting. We use a system of proportional representation (PR) that is very fair but very complex. When you vote you mark candidates in order of preference on the ballot paper. You can go through all the candidates assigning a number to indicate 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th preferences and so on. You can influence the outcome of who gets elected by means of your later preferences. It is not unusual for the whole process to…
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The Two Hour Club
It works like a book club but with a twist…. I have been working with some friends here in Maynooth to establish The Two Hour Club. I think this is something that could catch on. It’s a simple idea the goal is to provide a format for groups to get together frequently to discuss meaningful issues. I think this is a useful format for learning and it evolves from my interpretation of some of the ideas of Jurgan Habermas. I have described this to other friends and colleagues and a number have indicated that they would like to establish their own version. To help this I have created some video…
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The English (Poets) Graveyard in Rome
If you’ve been to Rome as I have many times you begin to look beyond the usual tourist haunts for places of interest. Of course there is no shortage of these–the city has layer upon layer of stories to tell. One such place of interest is the English Graveyard, or more precisely the graveyard for non-Catholics. There are two famous poets buried here Keats and Shelly. I loved poetry as a teenager. Reams of beautiful words, gifts from my school days, are still available to me. There is certainly something to be said for learning poetry ‘off by heart’. Ode to a Nightingale My heart aches, and a drowsy…