Position Papers

Position Papers turns 600 this month! Maybe not years, but yes 600 issues have been produced since it was brought into being in 1974 by Michael Adams, the founder and editor for many years of Four Courts Press and Fr Charles Connolly, a journalist by training, who almost single handedly produced and edited Position Papers for over thirty years. In the period of upheaval following the Second Vatican Council, doctrinal confusion was rife and doctrinal clarity was much needed.

The Devil Wears Prada 2—a sequel to the Academy Award-nominated original from twenty years ago—is a fun Hollywood spectacle, reuniting heavy hitters from the original cast (Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt) while adding tongue-in-cheek cameos from media figures like Kara Swisher and Jenna Bush Hager.

The New Yorker is a world-famous magazine, not least famous for the very quirky sense of humour of its very prolific team of cartoonists. But it is also famous for its long, very long, essays and articles. What it is not famous for is positive and sympathetic articles, long or otherwise, about things Catholic. I’m not alleging it is anti-Catholic. Let’s just say you would not think of it as a place to go to reinforce your Catholic convictions.

America’s Human Arithmetic: Essential Essays from Nicholas Eberstadt. Nicholas Eberstadt. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute Press, 2025. 456 pp. On July 4, the United States of America will celebrate its 250th birthday. What should be a joyful marking of all that the country has achieved could end up being a party that nobody wanted to attend.

Good Slut: How Money, Sex and Power Set Women Free. By Zoe Strimpel. London: Constable, 2026. 256 pp. ISBN 9781408720974. Zoe Strimpel is a columnist who writes in various leading British conservative publications. She holds a PhD in modern history, and her main area of interest and expertise is gender and feminism. She is an atheist of Jewish parentage, which is an important part of her personal identity and heritage.

The Wisdom of Farmers: What We Can Learn from the Land. John Connell. Allen & Unwin. 2026. 241 pp. ISBN 9781805464235 The Wisdom of Farmers comes at an interesting time in Ireland. Less than two months ago, widescale protests were staged in response to the global fuel crisis, involving thousands of workers who blockaded fuel depots, road infrastructure and Ireland’s only oil refinery at Whitegate. Many of them were farmers.

A Treasure for the Church: St. Josemaría on Marriage, Family & Education. Madonna M Murphy. Scepter Publishers, 2026. 170 pages. ISBN: 9781594175695 I have had the privilege of being in the presence of a few saints – Saint Teresa of Calcutta during her last visit to Ireland in the early 1990s, as one in a million with St John Paul II in Dublin’s Phoenix Park in 1979, and twice in 1972 at get-togethers with St Josemaría Escrivá.

The European Union and Religion: The Supranational Meets the Supernatural. Fearghas O’Beara, London: Routledge, 2026. ISBN 9781041084051. 214 pp. As Head of the European Parliament Office in Ireland, and having acquired decades of experience in European Union affairs, Fearghas O’Beara is one of Ireland’s most distinguished Eurocrats. The fact that O’Beara holds a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University belies the notion that the EU institutions are solely populated by secularists.

The Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:11–12) In a Catholic school, assisting God in forming minds and souls is our mission. It’s how we help the young learn to be free and responsible. To grow in knowledge, wisdom, and holiness. To become fully alive.

Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution Amy Coney Barrett Sentinel September 9, 2025 336 pages ISBN: 978-0-593-42186-4 (hardcover) When I qualified as a solicitor a few months ago, I eagerly awaited my grand courtroom debut – something in the spirit of A Few Good Men, perhaps. That moment finally arrived in October 2025, when I was dispatched to Antrim County Court to cover a review for Counsel who, very wisely in hindsight, could not attend. The case? A boundary dispute.