Category: Uncategorized

The Churches & Peacebuilding: Address at ‘The Primacy of Peace’ Conference

I delivered an address on ‘The Churches and Peacebuilding – Before and After the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement’ at the ‘Primacy of Peace’ conference on 24 October 2023 at the Marketplace Theatre, Armagh.

The purpose of the conference was to promote … Read more...

Religion & the University Experience in Britain and Northern Ireland with Mathew Guest and me …

On Thursday 9 March the Queen’s Religious Studies Forum hosted an event on Religion and the University Experience: Perspectives from Britain & Northern Ireland, featuring Prof Mathew Guest (Durham) and me.

You can listen to the audio of our contributions … Read more...

‘The past is not a place to which we would wish to return’: Shannon Campbell on the Unity Pilgrim Resources

In June there was a formal launch of Clonard Monastery’s new ‘Unity Pilgrim’ resources, which are now freely available for use in churches and among young people.

Shannon Campbell, Director of the Catholic Chaplaincy at Queen’s, was the main … Read more...

Introduction to the Roundtable on the Special Issue of ‘Religions’ on Religious Conflict and Peacebuilding

On 7 April, Queen’s University Belfast’s Religious Studies Forum hosted a roundtable discussion of a special issue of Religions on ‘Religious Conflict and Peacebuilding’, co-edited by Joram Tarusarira me.

All articles in the special issue are open access, and you … Read more...

‘Where the Birds Sing’: A Song of Acknowledgement and Hope for Northern Ireland …

The Commission for Victims and Survivors in Northern Ireland (CVSNI) has partnered with the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition in their 10th anniversary year to sponsor a short organ piece.

‘Where the Birds Sing’, composed by Grace Evangeline Mason, had … Read more...

A Review of ‘Evangelical Journeys’ – A Decade On

It has been more than a decade since Claire Mitchell and I published Evangelical Journeys: Choice and Change in a Northern Irish Religious Subculture (UCD Press, 2011).

I recently stumbled across a review of the book by Brutus Green in … Read more...

U.S. Grant – Thranness isn’t always a bad thing, you know: My Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Ulster

In July 1885, former American president and Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant was dying – and writing his memoirs. My Thought for the Day reflects on the final days of his life.

You can listen here, or read … Read more...

Special Issue of Irish Political Studies, Celebrating the Work of Prof Jennifer Todd

I am delighted that a special issue of Irish Political Studies celebrating the work of Professor Jennifer Todd has been published.

Along with David Mitchell, I co-edited the special issue, which is titled ‘The Politics of Conflict and Transformation: The … Read more...

Churches during Covid on RTE Radio 1’s ‘The Leap of Faith’

I was interviewed about my research on religion during the Covid-19 pandemic on RTE Radio 1’s ‘The Leap of Faith’ programme, Friday 5 February. It draws primarily on my latest research report, Something Other than a Building: Churches during … Read more...

Review of Peter Mulholland’s Love’s Betrayal: New Post on Slugger O’Toole

I have a new post on the Slugger O’Toole blog, a review of Love’s Betrayal: The Decline in Catholicism and the Rise of New Religious Movements in Ireland, by Peter Mulholland.… Read more...