David Quinn of The Iona Institute was on the Tonight Show on Tuesday (May 17) to discuss the row over the new National Maternity Hospital. He said that only the negative side of the legacy of the nuns in Ireland has been highlighted to date, and the positive side of their legacy is being badly...
In the debate about the National Maternity Hospital, Catholic health care, and the role of the nuns in particular, are being constantly demonised. We are led to believe that secular healthcare is far better, something that does not hold up to scrutiny. Among those attacking Catholic healthcare and the religious sisters has been Sinn Fein...
New figures from the CSO throw light on the changing nature of marriage in Ireland. To cut a long story short, the institution is in continuing decline. In all, there were 16,717 opposite-sex marriages last year; 15 percent less than in 2019. There were 500 same-sex marriages. The marriage rate per 1,000 population was just...
Robust new research confirms that religiosity is linked to well-being, particularly when there is a match between personal beliefs and the surrounding culture. The newest research took an unusual approach. As the interpretation of data can sometimes be affected by researcher bias, the authors of the study invited 120 different analysis teams to answer the...
Hear a fascinating and in-depth talk by Jennifer Lahl on the history of surrogacy, the industry that services it, and the victims it has left in its wake. The talk was hosted by The Iona Institute. Jennifer is the founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network(CBC) in California. She has 25...
David Quinn was on the Pat Kenny Show last week debating the future of Church-run schools. He said one reason that more Catholic schools have not been divested is because in practice there is not much demand from parents to do so. You can listen to the item here.
Moves are being made to legitimise overseas commercial surrogacy in Ireland. But as this briefing note points out, the practice exploits low-income women and commodifies babies. To download the document, click here. (Originally posted on 18th February 2022)
Officials from three Government Departments have expressed great doubt about the possibility of legislating for the recognition of international commercial surrogacy contracts in Ireland. Besides practical difficulties, it would create a double standard if commercial surrogacy, which is banned here in Ireland, is tolerated when it happens abroad. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on international commercial...
David Quinn spoke last week in University Church on the topic, ‘Taking Stock: assessing the last two years and the road ahead’. You can now watch the talk by clicking here. In the first part of the talk, David addressed how the pandemic impacted the Churches. He then discussed the review of the operation of Ireland’s...
Violence against Christians in Europe is both unrecognised and underestimated, says a major new report. Secular intolerance and Islamist physical violence are two main threats to religious freedom, but they often downplayed by media. The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) looks at five European countries where the rights of Christians...
