| Type | Monthly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Editor | Fr Brian McKevitt |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | St Mary's Priory, Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland |
| Circulation | 300,000 |
| Official website | Alive.ie |
Alive! is a free monthly publication in the style of a newspaper which has been produced, since its first edition in 1996, by Alive Group, an organization with an address at the Dominican Order St Mary's Priory, Tallaght in Dublin, Ireland. The current editor is a Catholic priest, Fr Brian McKevitt, who refers to the publication as a 'newszine'. While it claims a circulation of over 300,000 copies, its actual readership is difficult to establish since a substantial portion of its circulation is delivered door-to-door, with most of the remainder being available through Ireland's network of Catholic churches (who do not provide estimates of take-up).[1] It is printed by Datascope, an independent publishing company in Enniscorthy and contains an appeal in each issue for donations totalling EUR160,000 annually to remain in circulation.[2]
Since September 2008, the front page has contained a disclaimer text "The content of the newspaper Alive! and the views expressed in it are those of the editor and contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Irish Dominican Province".
Alive! upholds a right-wing orthodox Catholic position on a number of issues which it believes are of prime importance to Catholics. These include abortion, euthanasia, marriage, teenage sex, homosexuality, feminism, parenting, children's education, "moral decline", the European Union, the idea that Global warming is a hoax and the broad environmental movement is "anti-Catholic" and, ultimately, the necessity for the primacy of Catholic Christianity over all other belief systems.[3] Each edition of the newszine will typically contain at least four or five articles on topics drawn from this list, and the majority of its articles are written anonymously.
The publication strongly opposed the Nice Treaty and more recently, fiercely protested against the Lisbon Treaty, a position which drew criticism from Irish politicians such as Senator Paschal Donohoe as its position could be erroneously interpreted by many Catholics as representing the official views of the Catholic hierarchy. TD Thomas Byrne, attacked the publication claiming it "bombarded" church goers with its "anti-EU" views.[4] While Senator Ivana Bacik went further and described the publication as being the "equivalent of the paramilitary wing of the Catholic Church"[5] Following Donohue's comments, Cardinal Seán Brady asked bishops to monitor unofficial literature which was distributed through Catholic churches.
A regular article entitled "Dumbag writes...!" features letters, purportedly from a devil named Dumbag, which highlight what it believes is the folly of viewpoints which are not Catholic in scope or origin. This feature is inspired by The Screwtape Letters by the Anglican writer, C.S. Lewis.
In 2009, McKevitt attended a meeting in Roscommon of the John Paul II Society along with Declan Ganley (the founder of the now-defunct political organization Libertas), Senator Ronan Mullen and a number of other conservative Roman Catholics.[6]
McKevitt was listed at number 67 in the Ireland’s Most Influential 100 list published by Village magazine. [7]
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