On Sunday, Michael Duignan introduced the Happiness Conference 2026, organised by the Irish Dominicans at the Galway Bay Hotel.
Welcoming participants, the bishop greeted those gathered in both English and Irish and thanked Fr Maurice Colgan OP for the invitation to open the conference. He noted that the theme touches on one of life’s enduring questions — the human search for happiness.
“All of us search for happiness. Many of us never find it. In fact, some contend that it can never be fully found at all. As we know Thomas Aquinas contends that ‘God alone constitutes man’s happiness.’ No offence to Aquinas, but I really like Augustine of Hippo’s version of the same truth — ‘Lord! You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.’ And then there is the French philosopher Blaise Pascal who said, ‘There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.’”
Bishop Duignan concluded by thanking those who organised the event and wished participants well as they reflected on the theme during the conference. He then invited those present to pause for prayer and ask God’s blessing on their work.