Immorality is the result of ignorance - Socrates

Joe Humphreys in The Irish Times yesterday.

Poor Donald Trump. Just a week ago, he declared only “a stupid person” would turn down a $400 million luxury plane presented to him as a personal gift by Qatari royals. But it seems like he is the stupid one twice over.

Forbes has reported that Qatar’s rulers had put the plane on the market in 2020 but failed to find a buyer, suggesting they decided to offload the 747 on the US president to save them “a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs”, given “the fading demand for these huge, fuel-guzzling, highly personalised aeroplanes”.

It turns out you should look a gift horse in the mouth. Charlie Haughey could vouch for that. Flattered by the attentions of a wealthy international art dealer in 1989, the then taoiseach accepted his donation to the State of seven pedigree Arabian horses which, when they arrived on Irish soil, were found to be “of a very poor standard”. Declassified State papers revealed the taxpayer was left with a hefty bill for transport and stables for the millionaire’s nags.

The lesson for puffed-up leaders is to, literally or figuratively, kick the tyres of any jets that the superrich try to offload on you before you say yes.

But Trump has revealed his stupidity in a deeper and more profound sense by trousering an expensive bounty in a blatantly unethical manner. To understand why, we need to go back to Socrates and his principle that no one does wrong voluntarily. Immorality is the result of ignorance.

Too often in public debate an assumption is made that wrongdoers are acting with malice. Dig a bit deeper, however, and one usually finds a perverse logic – a stupidity, in other words – that motivates the offender’s actions.

There is a strong flavour of Socratic thinking in Christianity. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do,” said Jesus as he was being crucified. Before condemning anyone for moral transgressions they should be pitied, or at least understood. Pope Francis reiterated the point, describing selfishness as “a form of self-harm . . . Selfishness is stupid”.

Theory of stupidity

The Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer developed this idea into a general theory of stupidity. Writing from a German prison, after being arrested by the Nazis for plotting against Adolf Hitler, he declared: “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenceless”.

Trump is no Hitler. But he is tearing up international law. Using political office to personally enrich himself is part of that. So too is his style of using war for commercial opportunities – whether it’s accessing rare minerals in Ukraine or licensing private firms to provide food in Gaza. (Sure, you’d be “stupid” not to take your cut.)

Late-stage capitalism

Before we get too judgmental, however, Trump is acting in ways familiar to any citizen in late-stage capitalism. He is what Keynesians would call the “rational economic actor” writ large.

According to “rational choice theory” in economics, individuals will try maximise their advantage – and to minimise their losses – in any situation.

Trump can break rules against accepting personal gifts as US president because there is only an upside. He doesn’t have to worry about losses since he has already dismantled official systems of accountability. The rest of us don’t have that power. If you don’t pay your taxes, there’s a good chance Revenue will come after you and penalties await.

Looked at this way, it’s not moral superiority that makes us play by the rules while oligarchs cheat. Rather it is economic rationality. So before condemning Trump, it is worth considering whether you have your own price? Would you break a moral code if it was “rational” on a cost-benefit basis?

Under today’s crony capitalism, Trump represents a pure form of economic rationality. He also epitomises stupidity in Socrates’s understanding of the word. No one would intentionally harm themselves, the Greek philosopher said. But, through ignorance, the greedy and vain man destroys his own character.

Writing as fascism marched across Europe, Bonhoeffer realised that rationality – or what passed for it in civilised society – was itself the problem since millions of Germans saw Hitler as the logical answer to their problems. Against tyranny, he asked: “Who stands firm?” His answer: “Only the one whose ultimate standard is not his reason.”

It is the person who is “prepared to sacrifice all” for higher principles – specifically, for Bonhoeffer, Christian faith.

Bonhoeffer turned down opportunities to escape Nazi Germany. Was that stupid of him?

He didn’t think so: “The ultimate question for a responsible man to ask is not how he is to extricate himself heroically from the affair, but how the coming generation is to live. It is only from this question, with its responsibility towards history, that fruitful solutions can come, even if for the time being they are very humiliating.”

A few months after writing those words, Bonhoeffer was arrested. On April 9th, 1945, he was stripped naked and executed with five other prisoners at Flossenbürg concentration camp. He was aged 39.

Pope Francis’ inspiring words on hope

Hope isn’t about ignoring reality or pretending everything is perfect.
It’s the quiet courage to believe that even in the darkest moments, a new tomorrow is possible.

"The future does have a name, and its name is Hope. 

Feeling hopeful does not mean being optimistically naive. Hope is the virtue of a heart that doesn't lock itself into darkness, that doesn't dwell on the past, that does not simply get by in the present, but is able to see a tomorrow. 

Hope is the door that opens onto the future. Hope is a humble, hidden seed of life that, with time, will develop into a large tree. 

And it can do so much, because a tiny flicker of light that feeds on hope is enough to shatter the shield of darkness. 

A single individual is enough for hope to exist — and that individual can be you." 

Raymond Arroyo’s X comment disrespectful to Pope Francis

EWTN columnist Raymond Arroyo posts today on X:

“He’s [Pope Leo] certainly not Francis II. Viva il Papa."

Anyone who watches EWTN knows where it stands when it comes to its views on church and world.

Sometimes it tries to conceal its far right ideology and its links with the current US administration. 

Mr Arroyo lets the veil fall with his X comment.

While it is unfortunate, it gives one some sense of his views and opinions and those of EWTN.

In the first days of Leo’s papacy Arroyo’s comment is most unhelpful

In his homily today Pope Leo said that it is never a matter of feeling superior to the world. 

Such a sentiment needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

Pope Leo XIV and the mini skirt

Fr Robert Prevost's homilies were unusually direct. “He’d say that a homily should be short and to the point, like a miniskirt,” said Elsa Ocampo, 81, a volunteer at the Our Lady of Montserrat church in Trujillo.

States and organisation dismiss criticism at their peril

KatJa Hoyer’s Beyond the Wall is a masterclass in explaining East Germany from 1949 to 1990.

Hoyer was born in Guben in East Germany, her mother was a teacher and her father an officer in the NVA - East German Army.

She is a columnist for the Washington Post and hosts with Oliver Moody the podcast The New Germany.

The book gives a great insight into many aspects of life in the GDR about we in the west were never aware.

One of Hoyer’s major observations is that if any state or organisation, any grouping does not listen to criticism it is doomed.

Camogie on skorts 2025, priests on shorts 1935

The story below is from The Southern Star newspaper, September 1935.

Reading the below item of news surely one is forced to think of the current controversy over the wearing or non-wearing of skorts in camogie games.
Did priests back then ever refer to boys or men being a 'disgrace to their sex'? The violence the priest uses in recommending ‘kicking them off the streets’. And who was going to kick them off the streets? Was he going to organise vigilante groups?
Note the journalist refers to ‘a powerful sermon’. I wonder how it was linked to the Gospel of the day?
And then we wonder. God help us.

Girls in Shorts

In the course of a powerful sermon on the Gospel of the day, at 12 o’clock Mass in Dunmanway, on Sunday, Rev. C Creed,C.C., said he noticed young girls wearing shorts when cycling through the town during the week. Such girls were a disgrace to their sex and ought to be ashamed of themselves. Parents are bound to exercise  better supervision over their children and not allow their daughters out in such scandalous fashion, and if they appeared again in such disgraceful attire they deserved to be kicked off the streets.

Michael Kelly’s latest words on Pope Leo XIV

 Michael Kelly on X on Wednesday:

“It's remarkable how the Holy Father looks like he was born to be Pope!"

Michael Kelly’s criticism of Fintan O’Toole most unhelpful

Michael Kelly posted the comment below on social media. Included is Fintan O’Toole’s article in The Irish Times

"Fintan O’Toole has no interest in the Church thriving, nor are his opinions particularly insightful here. I suppose paper never refuses ink, but you’d think he’d sit this one out. https://t.co/vXelboOAht https://x.com/michaelptkelly/status/1922325189250957575?s=51&t=UgcVh3PPqPDgrCZ5Ux8O1Q"

Mr Kelly has appeared on radio and television on many occasions since the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo. He has attempted to speak about an open church, interested in dialogue and then this and indeed, most of his social media comments.

It would appear that all ‘dialogue' has to agree with his understanding about the church. He seems not to have the skill of winning friends, at least those who don’t agree with his views.

Many positives worth noting about Pope Leo XIV

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper

Michael Commane

Maybe it’s well I did not write about the conclave before the vote. I had suggested three cardinals; two Dominicans, Timothy Radcliffe and Jean-Paul Vesco and the former secretary of state Pietro Parolin.

It was a little similar to the Grand National, all 133 were in the running. Dare I say it, I placed €2 bet on each of the above. At first the woman in the betting shop asked me what’s the race. We both had a good laugh when I told her, no not horses, cardinals. 

I’ve been thinking about the papacy, Pope Francis’ death and funeral Mass, and the lead up to the conclave and the election of the first American pope. 

He’s a truly American pope, representing both South and North America.

From my church experience I have always been impressed with women and men who have worked on the ‘missions’ but especially so in South America. 

They return to Ireland with a new vision of church and what it means to be part of the Christian community. Don’t forget Liberation Theology has its genesis in South America. John Paul II was nervous about what was happening in the South American church but Pope Francis came from that world, indeed, it had a significant influence on his papacy.

Pope Leo has worked many years in Peru, indeed, he obviously was greatly in love with the people and the place, why else would he have taken out Peruvian citizenship.

It was interesting he spoke in Italian and Spanish as his first public words as pope.

At his first Mass as pope the first two readers  of the Scripture were women. Also to be noted was the simple bare altar, no pious clutter. I’m always saying it’s the little things that give us away.

It’s also interesting that we have now had two popes one after the other  from religious congregations, Francis the Jesuit and now Leo, an Augustinian friar. 

I’ve always found the Augustinians extremely friendly. I recall my student days in Rome and well remember how friendly my fellow Augustinian friends at university were, they were always helpful and friendly, a lovely human touch about them. 

At the same time students from the Legionaries of Christ were not allowed talk to Dominicans and they all walked about dressed in identical clerical garb. 

On that score when people were talking about Irish man Cardinal Kevin Farrell for pope I was anxious and nervous. While he is no longer a member of the Legionaries of Christ, he joined the congregation as a young man and was with them for a period of time as a priest. They scared me then and still scare me today.

I can just about add and subtract but I have great respect for mathematicians. Pope Leo studied maths at university.

On a sad note. These days I’m thinking of my friend, the late Fr Ben O’Brien. He was an Augustinian priest. Wonderful man and no doubt he would have met the then Fr Robert Prevost either here in Ireland or in Rome. I can just imagine him filling me in on what sort of a man Pope Leo XIV is.

And something else in Leo’s favour, Maga does not like him.

Michael Kelly to write a book on Pope Leo XIV

Social media never ceases to amaze.

Michael Kelly writes on X : "This seens [sic] to have caused some confusion. I obviously did not know who would be elected: I was approached about writing a book about the new Pope [sic], and have thrown myself into it. I hope I will be up to the task.

The text below that includes the cover of the new book and the following comment: "My new book on Pope Leo XIV - In Christ We Are One - will soon be available for pre-order. Watch this space! [sic]

Startling alacrity. 

And then a further text posted the previous day:

"If the far-left took over the country, many people they dislike would be in prison. That’s how the operate in other countries.”

Is there a hidden link between the posts?

What about those who say they are always right?

When someone is honestly 55 per cent right, that’s very good and there’s no use wrangling. And if someone is 60 per cent right, it’s wonderful, it’s great luck, and let him thank God. But what’s to be said about 75 per cent right? Wise people say this is suspicious. Well, and what about 100 per cent right? Whoever says he’s 100 per cent right is a fanatic, a thug, and the worst kind of rascal.

                                               - An old Jew of Galacia

A student recalls the kindness of the late Fr Luke Dempsey

This is a comment sent to the blog today. It appears under Fr Luke Dempsey’s obituary, hence it would be lost to most readers.

Here it is as the blogpost for today:

My life was changed by Fr Luke [Dempsey]. 

When arriving to Rome for studies during a semester abroad, a flight delay left me stranded at the doors of the Angelicum because the office I needed was closed. 

He kindly invited me in and gave me a place to stay until I sorted out my accommodation. 

There, I met some lifelong friends and gained stability for the remainder of my time in Rome. What a man! May he rest in peace.

Karlhshorst was May 8, why Russia celebrate yesterday?

Yesterday Russia celebrated its victory over Germany. It is 80 years since the German Instrument of Surrender was signed in Berlin Karlshorst. 

Wilhelm Keitel signed on behalf of Germany and Georgy Zhukov signed on the dotted line on behalf of the Soviet Union.

But for the Soviet Union Germany would have been able to fight on much longer. Had the Red Army not defeated them at Stalingrad vast oilfields would have been at the disposal of the Germans.

The brutality and dictatorship of Stalin can never be forgotten or airbrushed out of the history books.

'Beyond the Wall' by Katie Hoyer gives a brilliant description about some of the terror inflicted by Stalin with special reference to the former GDR.

But why did Russia commemorate the event yesterday, May 9 when in fact the Karlshorst signing took place on May 8, 1945?

Maybe a read has the answer?

A worrying first time in post war Federal Germany

Approximately two weeks ago  Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party was designated as right-wing extremist by the country's Federal Office for theProtection of the Constitution.

"The ethnicity- and ancestry-based understanding of the people prevailing within the party is incompatible with the free democratic order," the Domestic Intelligence Agency said in a statement.

On Tuesday Friedrich Merz was elected in the Bundestag German Chancellor on the second vote. It is the first time in the history of the Federal Republic that a nominated candidate was not elected on the first ballot.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance accused Germany of behaving in a tyrannical manner. The Germans immediately replied, informing the US authorities that the Germans well know the evils of right-wing regimes.

These are worrying times for Germany without the United States interfering  and getting it so wrong. in Germany’s internal affairs. 

Bishop Barron’s words about a new pope

 From Bishop Robert Barron’s Facebook account. The bishop is currently in Rome.

"Friends, the preoccupation with “left” vs. “right” is a distraction from what matters: a pope capable of declaring Christ's Resurrection in a compelling way.

Sent from my iPhone”

Is the bishop ever in his diocese? It is unfortunate the diocese does not reply to correspondence.

Not so much a matter of left or right. Let’s pray for a pope who is not pompous.

Far too many pompous clerics, who seem to spend a lot of time jetting around the world.

Embarrassing asking for a wire cutters on a bus

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

It takes all types to make up the world. Every profession and workforce have the good, the bad and the in-between.

Because there is no large urban area in Kerry we don’t have the same exposure to bus drivers as the people in our cities. Of course we have Bus Éireann services, the new Local Link buses, which are proving a godsend to so many people, and we also have some private operators.

On Easter Monday I had a journey of about 12 kilometres to get to Dublin’s Blackrock. The plan was to cycle the first three kilometres, then put my fold- up on the bus for the next seven kilometres and back on the rothar for the final two kms.

I placed the bicycle in the bay inside the door, locking it to the bar, and went upstairs.

I was late coming downstairs before my stop. Rushing to unlock the bicycle I broke the key while it was in the lock. It meant I couldn’t get the bicycle off the bus. 

I was in panic, as later that day I was attending a funeral Mass in Tallaght. I refuse to tell you about some of my embarrassing antics trying to break the lock. Eventually the driver said he had to drive on. Of course. I travelled on a number of stops. Gave the driver my name and phone number and got off the bus. Ran across the road and got a bus heading back towards Blackrock. Told the driver my story. He phoned bus control. The driver told me not to panic, all would work out.

At approximately 1.30pm shortly after I had arrived in Tallaght for the funeral Mass Dublin Bus phoned me. They sent a car out to meet the bus my bicycle was on, managed to remove the lock and told me that the bicycle was waiting for me in Donnybrook Garage.

Later that evening I called to the bus depot and collected my rothar. I only had the first name of the driver. After making some enquiries I got a second name. There are over 700 drivers working out of Donnybrook Garage so I hope I got the correct last name. 

I left the man a bottle of wine. I hope he gets it, and if he doesn’t I hope someone enjoys a glass on me and, indeed, on the driver.

How helpful everyone was. The two drivers, the man who phoned me and then the man I met in the office when I went to collect the bicycle.

Just think of the value of a kind act for word and the ripple effect it can have.  Deep in my DNA it’s easy for me to have a bête noire. I am far too quick to see the negative side in a person and then far too slow to appreciate their good points. 

Nobody is all good and nobody is all bad. Can you imagine what I think of Dublin Bus drivers these days. I’d let no one say a bad word about them. That’s the way of the world.

It’s the small kind personal act and word that so often touches our lives, changes our minds and makes us open to the world. 

The new bins were to hearld a new cleaner environment

Councils across the State

are introducing new Bruscars. All the Dublin Local Authorities have many now in place in the capital.

The new bins are fitted with the latest technology. A signal goes from the bin when it is full to the depot. They are also fitted with compactors. The public and staff have been assured the new bins will make for a far cleaner environment.

And this happens. This bin is in a park in the Dublin City Council area. This was the situation on May Bank Holiday afternoon.

Not just as cute as a fox, the real thing

It is a great privilege to be in the 

presence of someone whom you know is interested in you, someone who is genuinely a kind and wise person.

This picture was taken while chatting with a wonderful person in their kitchen. They simply have it. Lives in a remote setting, close to nature, their livestock,  cats and their dog.

Chatting away when suddenly a fox appears outside the window. It stayed there some considerable time, looking in at us and then just scampered off.

This is not fake, nothing to do with AI. It’s real, Alleluia.

Gardaí in Carlow called out to suicidal dog

At this year’s GRA conference in Killarney Garda Dan Ryan, who is stationed in Carlow, said his colleagues were recently sent to a house after someone rang in saying they thought their dog was suicidal.

The person called “believing that her dog was suffering from mental health ­problems and the dog was going to take his own life,” Garda Ryan said.

“Currently, there’s no ­triage policy with the control room,” he said. “We have to go to everything. We had to go speak with this lady. I wouldn’t say we spoke with the dog.”

Donald Trump appointee asks for prayers

Below is a post from US Bishop Robert Barron on his Facebook platform and then the link below includes comments on his appointment.

The bishop asks for prayers. Prayers for what? Birds of a feather flock together.

Pomposity is alive and well in the world of the episcopacy, whatever poor Pope Francis tried.

"I am grateful to President Trump for appointing me to serve on the Commission on Religious Liberty. 

"Freedom of religion in our country has been a central concern of the United States Conference of Catholic 

"Bishops for decades, and I see my task as bringing the perspective of Catholic social teaching to bear as the Commission endeavors to shape public policy in this matter. In assuming this responsibility, I take as my model Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, the legendary president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987. 

"In the course of his career, Hesburgh served on sixteen separate presidential commissions over several decades in both Republican and Democrat administrations. I ask you to pray for me as I commence this important work."

 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BqNV21DJx/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Forming useful habits not as easy as widely believed

Interesting. Written by William Reville. Article appeared in The Irish Times yesterdy

We are creatures of habit for a reason. The automatic nature of habits helps people meet their daily life needs more effortlessly

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Habits are an example of automatic behaviour. We can deliberately cultivate habits or acquire habits without intending to. Good habits are helpful and bad habits, of course, are not. Bad habits can also be difficult to break. Habit-formation was reviewed recently in Psychology Today.

Habit-formation is the process whereby behaviour becomes automatic, and we develop countless habits over our lifetimes. We are creatures of habit for a reason. The automatic nature of habits helps people to meet their daily life needs more effortlessly and efficiently, enabling us to perform useful behaviours without having to spend a lot of time and energy pondering about what to do.

Simple examples of habits would be automatically buckling your car seat belt (good habit) and munching peanuts when watching TV – one of my not-so-good habits. Common bad habits include smoking, eating or drinking more than is recommended, misuse of various drugs, including alcohol, excessive use of mobile phones, and many more.

Habits are built through learning and repetition in the course of pursuing goals such as, for example, driving to a particular destination. We learn to associate certain cues with behavioural responses that assist us to meet the goal, such as turning at a certain corner.

Both habits and routines involve repeated behaviour, but a habit is a response to an ingrained impulse, while a routine usually is not. For example, your routine of dressing in the morning is motivated by your recognition that you need to do this, rather than responding to an ingrained impulse.

Research shows that repeating a simple action in a stable context can, through associative learning, make the behaviour automatic, reducing the need for conscious effort. Consequently, breaking a habit may be hard to do because consciously intervening in our own habitual behaviour doesn’t come naturally.

How long does it take to establish a new habit? There is a fairly widespread belief that a new habit can be acquired after 21 consecutive days’ practice. This idea was popularised in 1960 by cosmetic surgeon and author Maxwell Maltz.

He noticed that, for example, it takes about 21 days for patients to adjust to their new appearance after undergoing facial plastic surgery. He also noted that amputee patients experience phantom limb syndrome for about three weeks after the operation. He based his 21-day habit-formation hypothesis on such observations, and not on controlled clinical trials. But it turns out that things are not as clean cut or as easy as Maltz thought.

One rigorous experiment on habit-formation was published in the European Journal of Psychology in 2010 by Phillippa Lally and others. The researchers studied how automatic behaviour developed when people establish new habits. Ninety-six university students were asked to develop new habits relating to healthy eating, drinking or exercise. The habits had to conform to three criteria – (a) the habit could not be behaviour they already practised, (b) the habit must be linked to a daily stimulus, eg “run for 15 minutes before dinner”, (c) the stimulus had to occur once daily to ensure consistency.

Participants practised their chosen habits for 84 days. The results showed that (a) automatic behaviour plateaued after 66 days on average, (b) exercise habits took 1.5 times longer to acquire than eating/drinking habits – median time 91 days to establish an exercise habit, and (c) almost half the participants in the study did not practise their behaviours consistently enough to form a habit.

A recent meta-analysis/review examined the time necessary to develop healthy habits and what factors affect this process (Mauro Proenca, American Council Science Health). The most commonly studied habits included exercise and dietary changes. Habit-formation times ranged from two to five months, with some studies finding rapid initial gains, while others showed gradual increases over more than a month, highlighting the subtle interplay of psychological, behavioural and contextual factors. The review emphasised the need for long-term interventions and professional support to sustain behavioural changes.

Creating and maintaining a habit calls for more than willpower; it requires approaches that smoothly integrate the behaviour into daily life. Taking anywhere from four days to a year, habit-formation isn’t a one-size-fits-all timeline – it’s a slow grind of repetition, context, and, most importantly, realistic expectations.

William Reville is an emeritus professor of biochemistry at UCC

Different take on Christianity’s power and potential.

The text below is an excerpt from Derek Scally’s article in the Weekend section of  Saturday’s edition of The Irish Times.

The late Pope Francis’s final state guest, hours before he died on Monday, was US vice-president JD Vance. Six years after becoming a Catholic, Vance has embraced his new faith with a convert’s zeal.

Last February he presented what looked like the first outline of an America First Christianity, telling Fox News: “You love your family and then you love your neighbour and then you love your community and then you love your fellow citizens and your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritise the rest of the world.”

Vance said this thinking informed Trump administration migration policy and was in line with the teaching of ordo amoris – the order of love – of St Thomas Aquinas.

Pope Francis delivered a swift reply days later, telling US bishops in a letter there was no Catholic impediment to policy that regulates orderly and legal migration.

“However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others,” he wrote. “What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.”

It’s unlikely the two reached an accord in their brief conversation on Easter Sunday. The photograph of their meeting – a grinning, poised Vance opposite an exhausted, sagging Francis – may well become historic: a collision of two very different understandings of Catholic Christianity’s power and potential.

A flag that heralded the end of German terror

On this day 80 years ago, Monday, April 30, 1945 the Soviet Army, soldiers of 1st Belorussian Front, raised the Red Flag over the Reichstag in Berlin.

On that same day Hitler and his new bride took their lives by suicide.

Has the Western World ever appreciated the role the Soviet Union played in saving the world from the German terror? At Stalingrad the Russians promised they would chase the Germans all the way back to Berlin. And that’s exactly what they did.

On yer bike - but US cyclists about to pay for the ride

US cyclists are facing price increase of  up to 50 per cent on bicycles. The price hike is due to US tariffs on  China.

What was it again that President Donald Trump had to say about the word tariff?

The real worth of a missing boarding pass or overweight bag

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has recently bought a 250 acre farm of tillage land in Delvin and Collinstown in Co. Westmeath.

It adds to his approximately 2,000 acre estate in Giggenstown, to which he has added another 58 acres, paying €25,000 per acre.

All those extra costs passengers pay for an overweight bag or forgetting to print a boarding pass must be proving a fabulous income to Mr O’Leary. And then there’s loads more money to keep the grass growing by charging little Jimmy or tiny Mary to sit beside their mammy on the plane to Faro or Frankfurt

Don’t they say he has the common touch.

Angela Merkel’s powerful withering words about the AfD

Below is an excerpt from Derek Scally’s ‘Christianity at a crossroads in Europe’ in The Irish Times yesterday.

Over the last decade, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has presented itself as defending the country’s “Judeo-Christian cultural roots”. I have yet to meet an AfD politician who could explain to me what these roots actually are.

In 2015, as the AfD began to grow, Angela Merkel was asked if she saw Islamisation as a threat to European identity. The former chancellor said she was less worried by that than Germany’s cultural Christians – and defenders of its heritage – who couldn’t even explain Pentecost.

As the refugee crisis began to build, she added: “I would like to see more people who have the courage to say ‘I am a Christian believer’ and more people who have the courage to enter into a dialogue.”

A decade on, however, it seems that those most likely to come out as believers are those least interested in dialogue.

The late Pope Francis’s final state guest, hours before he died on Monday, was US vice-president JD Vance. Six years after becoming a Catholic, Vance has embraced his new faith with a convert’s zeal.

Last February he presented what looked like the first outline of an America First Christianity, telling Fox News: “You love your family and then you love your neighbour and then you love your community and then you love your fellow citizens and your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritise the rest of the world.”

Vance said this thinking informed Trump administration migration policy and was in line with the teaching of ordo amoris – the order of love – of St Thomas Aquinas.

Pope Francis delivered a swift reply days later, telling US bishops in a letter there was no Catholic impediment to policy that regulates orderly and legal migration.

“However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others,” he wrote. “What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.”

It’s unlikely the two reached an accord in their brief conversation on Easter Sunday. The photograph of their meeting – a grinning, poised Vance opposite an exhausted, sagging Francis – may well become historic: a collision of two very different understandings of Catholic Christianity’s power and potential.