A judge in Dublin Children’s Court has called discussion of the Government’s children’s rights referendum “a joke” and said it will change nothing. Speaking yesterday at the Dublin Children’s Court, Justice Ann Ryan said that the fact that the State had just 10 places for troubled teenagers in need of secure and special therapeutic care...
There have been an average of two civil partnership ceremonies have per day since their introduction last year, with a total of 862 ceremonies registered between April 2011 and September 2012. In that time period, 1,724 lesbian and gay people from 61 countries entered into civil partnerships, , the Irish Times reports. The majority, or...
Over half the number of births in Limerick city were to unmarried mothers in the last quarter, according to the latest Vital Statistics report from the Central Statistics Office, released today. The figures also show a decline in the marriage rate, and a rise in the percentage of children being born outside marriage to just...
Secularism is the most important challenge faced by Christians in Ireland today, the new Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Richard Clarke, has said. And he added that he fully accepted his Church’s belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, the Irish Times reports. Speaking in Belfast yesterday after his...
Proposals to create a two tier Child Benefit system could have a negative effect on family formation, a leading think tank has warned. Social Justice Ireland (SJI), in response to suggestions that child benefit be cut in the Government’s upcoming Budget, said that was “currently the only universal payment or benefit made by Government to...
The wording of the Government’s children’s rights amendment is balanced and creates “a new focus on the centrality of the child’s interests,” the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin (pictured), has said. Speaking at the annual Mass for the commencement of the new legal year, he said: “I believe that proposed wording for the upcoming...
The Northern Ireland Assembly has narrowly voted against a motion to legalise same-sex marriage. Fifty members of the Assembly (MLAs) voted against the motion, which was tabled by Sinn Féin and the Green Party, while 45 MLAs voted in favour. No members of the Sinn Féin or SDLP, the two Nationalist parties, voted against the...
Labour leader Ed Miliband (pictured) has said same-sex weddings should be allowed in churches, the BBC reports. His call goes further than the policy being proposed by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition Government which only proposes to allow gay marriages in civic settings. He made the statement in a video for the Out4Marriage campaign. But supporters...
Two Labour TDs have said that the Catholic Church should come out in support of the Government’s children’s rights referendum. Speaking in the Dáil yesterday in the debate on the referendum, Anne Ferris (pictured) and Michael McNamara said the Church should support the amendment. They were echoing comments made on Wednesday by the Minister for...
There has been a sharp rise in the number of fathers demanding more access to their children in divorce cases, according to new UK figures. The increase comes in the wake of moves by the UK government to introduce shared parenting into law, the Daily Telegraph reports. A second reason offered by experts for the...
