Was the nuclear family more trouble than it was worth? The headline on a piece in the prestigious American monthly, The Atlantic, would give the impression that it was. More surprising is that the headline is over an article written by New York Times columnist, David Brooks who, despite writing for that newspaper, is on...
Is ‘porn literacy’ something we should be teaching in schools? If so, at what age? What is ‘porn literacy’? Is there such a thing as ‘ethical porn’? To what extent will these things be part of the planned new Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) course? For clues, we might look to Kate Dawson who is...
The impression is often given that there is something very and unusual, not to mention undemocratic, about religious schools receiving public funds. In fact, it is absolutely normal. What is unusual is faith schools receiving no public funds. What is more, the Irish education system is one of the freest in the world, that is,...
David Quinn was on Today with Sean O’Rourke (RTE Radio 1) to discuss the possibility of moving some of the preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation outside school hours. The item can be heard here.
Parents and teachers are objecting to proposals to divest one of eight Catholic schools in Malahide, Kinsealy and Portmarnock in north Dublin to another educational patron. David Quinn appeared on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk during the week to discuss the matter, as well as on RTE’s Drivetime. You can listen to items here...
Mind the Gap II finds that those in the most disadvantaged social class are three times as likely to have suffered a broken marriage as those in the highest. It is a companion paper to Mind the Gap I which found that the most disadvantaged are far less likely to marry in the first place...
Maria Steen was on Today with Sean O’Rourke last week to discuss the future of Catholic schools. also on the programme was Michael Kelly, Editor of The Irish Catholic. Maria spoke about growing pressures on the ethos of Catholic schools, and that the Church needs to greatly cut down on the number of schools it...
Is the average family more fairly taxed now than they were in 1974? Taxation and the Family: Restoring Balance and Fairness, the Iona Institute’s new paper, analyses tax bands, credits and benefit payments and shows definitively that the answer is no. You can read the paper here.
A few months ago, The Iona Institute submitted a document to the Oireachtas Committee on Health regarding the General Scheme of a Bill to regulate Artificial Human Reproduction (AHR). It is co-written by Dr Joanna Rose, who is herself donor-conceived. Two weeks ago, The Irish Times reported our submission. The report said our submission “claims”...
Maria Steen, of the Iona Institute, talked to Sarah McInerney on Newstalk Breakfast about Minister Bruton’s plans to forcibly amend the admissions policies of some faith-based schools, namely, removing the so-called ‘baptism barrier’ to Catholic Schools. The item can be found here.
