Girls as young as 13 should be given the contraceptive pill by pharmacies without a GP’s prescription or parental consent, public health advisors for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) have said. The proposal has been condemned by parental rights campaigners, who argue that the move will undermine the law with regards to underage sex. Health...
Irish teenage girls have the second highest rate of binge drinking in the developed world, second only to those in the US, and the weakening of the traditional family is partly to blame, according to a new report. The report, Health of the World’s Adolescents, published in the medical journal The Lancet showed that...
Children in lone parent families or whose parents are cohabiting are among those at most risk of poverty according to a new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). According to the report, entitled Understanding Childhood Deprivation in Ireland, even after controlling for other factors, children living in lone parent families are at...
The Government’s proposed children’s referendum will contain a reference to the “best interest” of the child, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald (pictured) has said. Legal experts have warned that the term “best interests” could be used in such a way as to make intervention by the State in family life too easy. Speaking on RTE...
The Government’s new child protection guidelines will prosecute priests who refuse to break the seal of Confession, the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter (pictured) has confirmed. Speaking last night he said that priests who heard information about child abuse in confession would not be exempted, the Irish Independent reports. Earlier, speaking on RTE’s News at...
Ireland has backed a Norwegian motion in favour of transsexual rights at a UN conference on teenage health being held in New York. The paragraph proposed by Norway expresses “grave concern regarding the acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity”. The...
Surrogacy is a form of commodification of human beings, like human trafficking or the trade in human organs, according to a document to be presented to the Council of Europe tomorrow. The document, Surrogate Motherhood: A Violation of Human Rights, is published by the European Centre for Law and Justice, which is a Europe-wide group...
Education Minister Ruairí Quinn (pictured), has told sources said that he was “surprised” by a recent address in which the president of Mary Immaculate, Limerick, Rev Prof Michael Hayes, stressed the college’s Catholic ethos, according to the Irish Times. This is despite the fact that Mary Immaculate College is a Catholic teacher training college. Mr...
Mothers who work in the home are being forced to go back into paid employment because of financial pressures, a UK cabinet minister has warned. Secretary for Employment, Chris Grayling said that the demise of the stay-at-home mum was one “very obvious” trend from the current jobs market, according to the Daily Mail. He said:...
School children in Cornwall are to be taught about paganism as part of their religious education classes for the first time. The controversial move means that the youngsters will be taught about pagan beliefs, such as witchcraft, in addition to faiths like Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The contentious requirements say that children should begin learning...
