Author: Kevin Hargaden

Cycling is Still not Safe

My life has been so enriched by cycling as a way of getting things done that I cannot help but encourage others to try it for themselves. But while I was excited to hear that my friend had a new job and also to hear he might join the thousands of people who have discovered the joy of getting to work on a bike, I was also worried. What if he and his little boy were in an accident one day? The reality is that commuting by bike – in Ireland – is taking a risk.

Building Solutions Bound to Fail

What seemed like common sense in 1960s Dublin would be viewed as madness today. Yet an obsession with the car continues to have a hold on the imagination of certain sections of the Irish electorate and with our city planners.

Poster for God is Not White

JCFJ Webinar: God is Not White

Next Thursday, November 25th, at 12:30pm Dublin time, JCFJ is proud to host Dr Taido Chino for a conversation about racism and Christianity. Dr Chino, who teaches at Augustana College in Illinois, will explore not just the problem of racism, but the ways in which our spiritual convictions can help us to make a meaningful… Read more »

19th Century eviction of an Irish tenant with battering ram

Squatters, Right?

Squatting may be a crime, but the Christian tradition speaks with one voice: vacancy is a sin.

Unpretty Vacant

The property market has perpetually distorted Irish economic development for generations.  A large-scale, popular movement may be required to nudge our leaders out of their complacent and mis-placed deference to those who want to make a profit out of our homes.

News  

two men stand at the Orca Plant in Iceland

A Shared Path Out of the Climate Crisis

Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Eastern Orthodoxy represent well over 1.6 billion people. Christians working together to combat climate change are an immense and therefore powerful demographic.

Military helicopter on patrol in Afghanistan

What To Do When A Never-ending War Ends

The truth is good. And sometimes we have to sit and wait and study and listen to discover the truth. Faced with human anguish on the scale of Afghanistan this week, lament is an act that pays respect to the suffering endured by those people.

Reflections on the Unheard Voices of Prisoners

Early in the book, I read the sentence that has stayed with me longest: “Is it not time for some prison walls to come down and for society to have the courage and foresight to explore other options to address the issues of crime and punishment?”

People’s Vaccine Launch

Today sees the launch of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a campaign demanding that the Irish Government shows global leadership by committing to solving this problem. We have the resources to take a stand for fairness, equality, and global health. We should use them.

Man engaging with many screens at once

The Only Thing Shrinking Faster than the Glaciers is our Attention Span

In his 2015 book, Don’t Even Think About It, George Marshall examines the psychological obstacles to thinking seriously about the environmental catastrophe we have unleashed. He argues that the kind of problem we face in the climate collapse is one to which the human mind is not well suited. There are a number of ways… Read more »