Justine McCarthy

1 day ago | irishtimes.com | Justine McCarthy

If women ruled the world, there would be no wars. True or false? False, if all the women were Ursula von der Leyen. Because a hawk in sheep’s clothing is still a hawk. The president of the European Commission was the most petite participant at the G7 summit in Canada last week but she landed with the force of a grenade packed with testosterone. “I spoke to prime minister Netanyahu today,” she announced after Israel had bombed Iran in an unprovoked attack.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Justine McCarthy

It’s not a question of if, but when. Scientists are warning that a new pandemic is lurking over the horizon poised to pounce on us. “It’s an epidemiological certainty,” says WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Are we ready for the next one?” asks everyone from Boston College and Johns Hopkins University to the Economist and the United Nations. “No,” is the straight answer for this country.

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Justine McCarthy

One of Earth’s most intelligent creatures, the novelist Margaret Atwood, was asked in a magazine interview in 2019 to name her greatest fear. “That human beings will follow their stupid and greedy side, rather than their smart side, and go down the plughole,” she replied. “We’re circling the rim.”Six years on and the suck of that plughole is threatening to become irresistible.

4 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Justine McCarthy

Sun-bathers lolling in their swimwear on Derrynane Beach occasionally witness the incongruous sight of funeral mourners walking behind a lofted coffin along the water’s edge. The procession terminates on Abbey Island, a small, sandy burial ground that can only be reached when the tide permits. Here lie the mortal remains of Mary O’Connell in a tomb of cracking stone slabs and invading weeds. The words inscribed on the top are no longer legible to the visiting eye.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Justine McCarthy

A Dutch historian has established an incubator for idealistic leadership that he calls the School for Moral Ambition. Rutger Bregman, who confesses to being an indomitable optimist, is the author of a book entitled Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference. His non-profit school’s mission is to put that message into practice by redirecting the careers of “high achievers” motivated by money and status towards making the world a better place.