The head of the Church’s new umbrella body for Catholic schools has said he believes that perhaps 10 per cent of primary schools currently under Church patronage will be transferred to alternative patrons. Fr Michael Drumm, chairman of the Catholic Schools Partnership (CSP), said that this figure would be more realistic than the 50 per...
Civil Partnerships should not be used as a stepping stone to same-sex marriage, The Iona Institute has said. It was reacting to the first public Civil Partnerships that took yesterday. Speaking on behalf of The Iona Institute, Dr John Murray said: We hope Civil Partnerships will not become a stepping stone to same-sex marriage. Permitting...
A French history teacher who was suspended last November for providing pro-life materials and showing images of aborted babies during a debate about abortion in his 10th grade class has been fired from the National Education system. Mr Philippe Isnard, 40, lost his position without salary, benefits or any right to financial compensation via the...
It has emerged that 27 children and young people in State care or known to the child protection services have died in the past 12 months. According to a report in The Irish Times, seven of the deaths were due to suicide, four were drug overdoses and two were homicides, the Health Service Executive (HSE)...
Teaching children the sacraments takes up too much class time, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said. The Minister, while attending the annual conference of the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS) said he would prefer schools to spend time on reading and maths skills rather than preparing pupils for First Communion and Confirmation, according...
A key equality body in the UK has said that children as young as eleven should be asked about their sexual orientation and parents need not know. The proposal emerged from research for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). But a key Government backbencher has branded the contentious proposal, which is likely to alarm...
The UK Government is considering proposals under which parents would be handed a leaflet at the birth of their child spelling out their responsibilities, in case they later get divorced. The proposal, announced yesterday, is that the pamphlet would be given when parents register a new birth so they consider “seriously from the start” what...
Tougher economic conditions being blamed for increasing the number of UK mothers working full-time from less than a quarter to almost a third. According to new figures from the Office of National Statistics, 29pc of mothers worked 35 hours a week or more at the end of last year, up from 23pc in 1996. The...
A secular education system would be “far from neutral”, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Paul Colton told the Annual Convention of Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools today. He said that he doubted that most parent would choose such a system. Bishop Colton also called on called on the Government to ensure the...
An American academic who desecrated a consecrated Host in 2008 by driving a rusty nail through it and photographing the result, is set to address a gathering of European atheists in Ireland in the summer. P Z Myers, biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, who also descrated the Muslim holy book the Koran...
