Introduction: Manufactured Chaos We are living through a moment of extraordinary political upheaval. From the United States to Europe, leaders who present themselves as defenders of “common sense” are reshaping societies in ways that benefit the wealthy while dismantling protections for the vulnerable. At first glance, many of these policies seem chaotic: reactive, rushed, even… Read more »

“What is the moral basis for punishing someone, perhaps hard, in order to prevent entirely different people from committing equivalent acts, when those we punish to a large extent are poor and highly stigmatised people in need of assistance rather than punishment?”

The JCFJ is a member of Coalition 2030, an alliance of over 70 civil society and trade union organisations in Ireland who collaborate for the domestic and global achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs, which are all equally important and should be treated equally, were adopted by all UN member… Read more »

There’s a common trope that we have a name for an entity that seeks to grow without limit (as our variety of capitalism demands) and it is cancer. There’s a deeper, fundamental critique that even anticipating the wonderful gains of efficiency that can come from market competition, infinite growth with finite resources is bound to… Read more »

A new prison at Thornton Hall was a bad idea in 2005, and it still remains so.

2025 marks ten years since the publication of the papal encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home and it is also a jubilee year with the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. On the same day that a ten-hour international vigil was held online to mark the anniversary of Laudato Si’, approximately 170 people gathered… Read more »

The new government has been formed and one of its first acts is to roll-back on one of the most successful policies of the old government. The FF/FG(Greens) coalition committed to a 2:1 ratio on transport spending in favour of public and active transport over infrastructure that served the private motorist. That radical vision took… Read more »

The question of how people ended up with “multiple and complex needs” is avoided to focus on regulation, form- filling and box-ticking; all wrapped in the language of concern.

The year draws to a close and the Irish people anticipate that when the Dáil sits again in January, a new government will form. It will mostly be the same as the old one, albeit lacking a strong environmental concern after the electoral wipe-out suffered by the Green party. The results of the General Election… Read more »

A Long-Standing Crisis Earlier this week, RTE organised a televised debate about the different positions on housing ahead of the General Election. While we might have qualms about importing televised debates as a means to discuss such important societal factors, it is certainly the case that housing should be near the centre of our thinking… Read more »