Education Nation

David Lane, MD of Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland (proudly part of the Benefact Group), tells The Irish Catholic podcast, Education Nation, why the company's unique ownership model means its profits go to charity — and why that matters for Catholic institutions Most people regard paying an insurance premium as, in David Lane's words, a grudge purchase. Nobody wakes up in the morning delighted to...

The final episode of the 2026 season of Education Nation brings listeners a rich and compelling conversation with one of the most authoritative voices in the world of Catholic education: Prof. Eamonn Conway, a priest of the Archdiocese of Tuam was appointed as the inaugural Professor of Integral Human Development at the University of Notre Dame, Australia in 2022.

Our guest on Education Nation this week is Fintan Murphy, CEO of the Catholic Schools Trustee Service (CSTS)—the sectoral body supporting the trustees of the approximately 450 Catholic schools across Northern Ireland. In this episode Fintan offers valuable insights into the context of Catholic education within the Northern Ireland education system—one that mirrors the experience in the Republic in...

The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 has undoubtedly improved fairness and transparency. The Act for the first time required that every school publish a clear, nondiscriminatory admissions policy and that they follow an agreed common national timeline. There is no doubt that parents now have greater confidence in how places are allocated. But one unintended consequence means that Catholic...

This week’s guest on the Education Nation podcast is Seamus Mulconry, the CEO of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA), a key stakeholder in Irish education and the national body supporting the Boards of Management and leaders of almost 3,000 Catholic primary schools across the country. Originally from Kilkee, Co. Clare, Seamus fondly recalls his early school days in “the sch...

With First Communion and Confirmation season in full swing, the Education Nation podcast is turning its attention to the primary sector for a while. Next week’s guest is Seamus Mulconry, CEO of the Catholic Primary School Managers Association. This week, in the first of our ‘focus on primary education’ series, the spotlight falls on someone from outside the majority Catholic nationalschool traditi...

On this week’s Education Nation podcast, we turned our attention to one of the pinch points of our education system, perhaps the most pressurised and least understood roles in Irish education: school leadership. More specifically, the conversation focused on the lived reality of principals and deputy principals in post-primary schools. Our guest, Rachel O’Connor, a long-standing advocate for schoo...

In words that resonate strongly with those of other contributors to the Podcast, O’Brien sees the key challenges facing Catholic education as stemming not from a lack of goodwill or talent, but from a lack of formation. Ultimately this leads to a gap in confidence around leadership and the articulation of the Christian message that underpins the entire tradition of Catholic education.

This week’s guest on EDUCATION NATION Jonathan Tiernan, CEO of the Jesuit Education Trust provides a clear-eyed assessment of what lies ahead for Catholic schools should we fail to capitalise on the opportunities before us or if we do not respond adequately to the challenges of the next ten years.

For our first episode, Nicholas Cuddihy interviews Dr Eilis Humphrey about her love of learning and the education system in Ireland.

In this week's episode, prominent anti-trafficking campaigner Sr Liz Murphy addresses a problem that has often gone under the radar but continues to grip parts of the country: the devastation of human trafficking. Sr Liz outlines how Ireland's inability to meaningfully tackle the offence has seen it flagged on a global stage for its inadequate response, an offence that Sr Liz characterises as a "c...

Our guest this week is Dr Donal O’Shea of UCD School of Medicine who speaks to regular hosts Michael Kelly and Wendy Grace about how to prevent obesity and be healthy at any weight, provided one makes healthy choices and exercises. As the HSE's Clinical Lead on Obesity in Ireland, he emphasises the importance of “children being active as a default”. They also discuss how consumers are hoodwinked b...

In this week’s episode, regular hosts Michael Kelly and Wendy Grace speak with Prof. Donal O’Shea, an endocrinologist working at St Vincent’s Private Hospital. He has worked for many years in the field of gender transition in both the UK and Ireland. In the past he says his and others concerns with regards to the medical care of children and young adults were not listened to and now the Cass repor...

This week State of the Nation speaks with Stella O’Malley, Irish psychotherapist and author, and is the founder of Genspect , an international organisation includes professionals, trans people, detransitioners, and parent groups who work together to advocate for a non-medicalised approach to gender diversity. We ask what is the Cass Report and what happens to a person when you stop their sexual de...

A Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality could be reasonably expected to deliberate on the term “gender” but this did not happen. The Assembly changed the term “gender” to “gender identity” and this route was taken without open deliberation or discussion with the 99 citizen members. Academic and writer Colette Colfer argues that we are in 1984 territory as she argues while words like diversity are...

Michael Kelly is joined by David Quinn and Cormac Lucy, economics columnist with The Sunday Times and an independent candidate for Blackrock local area in the local elections to be held in June.

In this latest State of the Nation podcast, Aisling Considine is a mother, teacher and South West Inner City candidate for Aontu speaks to State of the Nation about how teachers and parents are waking up to the “nonsense” of gender ideology which is all across the school curriculum. Aisling spoke out against the National Women’s Council of Ireland which she says wants to silence women who don’t ag...

March was a hell of a month in Irish politics, but the most significant event for the people of this island passed by almost unremarked. Overshadowed by Varadkar’s resignation and the referendum results, the recommendation from the Oireachtas Committee that Ireland legalise assisting dying may prove to be a decisive moment. Michael and Wendy are on hand to dive into exactly why certain Irish polit...

In this episode, Michael Kelly and David Quinn sit down with barrister Lorcan Price and academic Gerard Casey to probe the looming Hate Speech Bill - its practical implications, its intentions and how it will have a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression for those who dare to challenge the latest orthodox view.

Journalist and former Fine Gael diehard Sarah Carey outlines how the party previously entrenched in her family's heritage has become completely unrecognisable under successive leaderships.

The shock resignation of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar this week was just the latest sign that Irish politics is in a new era. And it’s an era defined by the mess created by our political elites. The overwhelming rejection of the March 8th Referendums showed just how disconnected the government had become from the people, and this week on State of the Nation, we show how our disappearing Taoiseach is jus...

In this episode of The State of the Nation, Michael Kelly and David Quinn speak to secretary of the National Union of Journalists Séamus Dooley about the major changes he has witnessed in the media landscape over the years, the lack of diversity of opinion in the media causing alienation for some people, and whether RTÉ is worth the licence fee.

Wendy Grace and Michael Kelly combine both old and new celebrations of St Patrick’s Day and how our missionaries forged the global links we still enjoy today.

In the latest episode of State of the Nation, Michael Kelly and Wendy Grace discuss the results of the Family and Care referendums with Independent Senator Rónán Mullen. The consensus is that the Govt, after receiving a resounding ‘No’ from the general public, is now more concerned with saving face and ‘explaining away’ the results than understanding the reasoning and sentiment behind the voting d...

In our second episode, journalist Michael Kelly sits down with social commentator David Quinn to discuss the nitty gritties of the latest referendums, the general understanding of what constitutes ‘durable relationships’ according to our politicans, and more!