Ireland and Latvia have the highest percentage of children living with a lone parent in the EU, new figures published today show. The figures, produced by Eurostat, the EU’s official statistics bureau, showed that, in 2008, 23 percent of children in both Ireland and Latvia were raised by single parents. The average figure for the...
Peter Tatchell, one of Britain’s leading and most radical gay rights advocates has said that the actions of local housing authority, Trafford Housing Trust in demoting and slashing the pay of a Christian employee who posted comments about civil partnerships on Facebook were “excessive and disproportionate”. Adrian Smith, who worked for the Trust for 18...
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin addressed The Iona Institute last night on the topic of ‘Marriage and the Common Good’. He told an audience of almost 200 people that the State must continue to support marriage and the “love and fidelity” that are its essence. He warned that today the individual is replacing the family as the...
Those who rioted in London and other English cities in August were predominantly young, male, and from poorer backgrounds, according to a new report. However, the report provides no details concerning how many came from fatherless families, a factor identified by many commentators and politicians as one cause of the riots. David Lammy, Labour MP...
Those who rioted in London and other English cities in August were predominantly young, male, and from poorer backgrounds, according to a new report. However, the report provides no details concerning how many came from fatherless families, a factor identified by many commentators and politicians as one cause of the riots. David Lammy, Labour MP...
The European Humanist Federation (EHF) has lodged an official complaint against the European Commission, accusing it of treating them as second class citizens. In an open letter, they say the Commission, by refusing their proposal of a dialogue seminar on “Competing Rights Issues in Europe” has failed to implement Article 17:3 of the Treaty on...
Local UK health authorities are giving IVF treatment to single women, paid for by the National Health Service, while elsewhere married couples are being turned down. Nearly a fifth of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), bodies which are in charge of commissioning local health services in the UK, offer fertility treatment to women even if they...
The Maltese courts granted their first divorce judgement last Friday to a couple who had been living apart for 21 years from the day of their legal separation. Malta voted in a referendum to legalise divorce in May. The referendum was passed by a narrow margin of 52pc to 48pc. It was the last country...
A theatre in Dublin is set to stage Jerry Springer the Opera later this month, a blasphemous play which mocks Jesus, God the Father and Mary. The play, which sparked a storm of protest when it was screened by the BBC in 2005, will be shown at the Grand Canal Theatre, Dublin, from October 31st...
A key pledge by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to bolster child protection by hiring extra social workers has been broken. On foot of recommendations made in the Ryan Report into institutional abuse, the HSE said it would appoint 60 additional social workers this year to strengthen child protection services. However, none of these additional...
