The Government has published the wording of its proposed children’s referendum. The wording of the proposed Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution, was published yesterday, and it provides for, amongst other things, the adoption of the children of married couples, “ where the parents have failed for such a period of time as may be prescribed...
The Australian Senate has rejected a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, mirroring the result in the lower house earlier this week. Senators voted earlier today against the private members bill sponsored by Labour backbenchers Trish Crossin, Carol Brown and Gavin Marshall by 41 votes to 26. It followed a lower house vote on Wednesday on...
The UK could be on the verge of legalising a fertility treatment which enables babies to have three genetic parents. Advocates say that the treatment would enable children to be born free of genetic diseases, but opponents say that it raises serious ethical questions. Members of the public are being asked whether families with a...
An Austrian lesbian couple who are attempting to deprive the natural father of their child his right to access and care for the child are set to have their case heard before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights The case, X and others v. Austria, involves a woman who wishes to...
The Children’s Referendum will be held on Saturday, 10 November, the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, has announced. Mr Kenny said he would be briefing opposition leaders in advance of tomorrow’s publication the working of the proposed amendment, RTE News reports. The Adoption Amendment Bill will also be published tomorrow as will details of the referendum commission,...
Parents in parts of Dublin, Mayo, Meath, Wicklow and Waterford will begin voting within weeks on whether they want to hand over a Catholic primary school in their area to another patron body. The move is part of the Department of Education’s plan to divest schools from the control of the Catholic Church. Under the...
No allowances for conscientious or religious objection will be permitted in the France’s planned same-sex marriage legislation, according to French Justice Minister, Christiane Taubira. Speaking to the mainstream Catholic daily La Croix on Wednesday, Ms Taubira gave the broad outlines of the same-sex marriage bill to be presented by the government by the end of...
The BBC and other broadcasters are dominated by a “liberal secular elite” whose “default position” is to assume that Christians are “lunatics”, a Radio 4 broadcaster warned last night. In an outspoken attack, Roger Bolton, a former presenter of the station’s Sunday programme, warned that those in charge of broadcasting suffered from a “suicidal”...
A Muslim woman who worked as a sales assistant at Dunnes Stores has claimed she was unable to go to work because she was not allowed to wear a hijab, or headscarf. Loreta Tavoraite (35), is a Lithuanian who converted to Islam after she began working in a Dunnes Stores in Ballincollig in Cork...
Proposals to make it easier to adopt are misguided, according to a retired social worker and former childcare manager with the HSE. Writing in The Irish Times today, Mr Eric Plunkett was responding to Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan who has said Government’s proposed children’s rights referendum should make it possible to adopt the children of...
