Pro-marriage campaigners in the US have won a major victory after the lower house in the state of Maryland halted a proposal to legalise same-sex marriage after meeting unexpectedly strong opposition, especially in African-American districts. The defeat happened despite the fact that Maryland is traditionally a strong Democratic state. Brian Brown, the president of the...
New Education Minister, Ruairi Quinn, has confirmed that he will set up a national forum as soon as possible to discuss the hand-over of some Catholic schools to new patron bodies. He told RTE the purpose would be to “assist” the Catholic Church to divest itself of some of its school “where they choose and...
A controversial new IVF technique, which would give children three biological parents is being considered for regulation by the UK Government’s fertility watchdog. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to assess the safety and effectiveness of the procedure. Pro-life groups expressed alarm last April when the ‘three-parent IVF’...
A new survey has found that most young American believe it is more important in life to be a parent than to be married. The poll revealed that while 52 per cent of Americans under 30 believe being a parent is “one of the most important things” in life, only 30 per cent feel the...
The new Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, has said that she will “examine the differences” between the wordings for a children’s rights referendum produced by the Government in January and the wording produced by an All Party Oireachtas committee last year. Ms Fitzgerald, who is the first Cabinet level Minister for Children told RTE’s Morning...
The Central Statistics Office is launching Census 2011 today and the forms are being sent out today. The last census took place five years ago, in 2006. Roughly 5000 staff working for the CSO will deliver the forms to 1.8 million homes in the country over the next few weeks. The Census is to take...
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (pictured) has urged the newly-elected Taoiseach Enda Kenny to reinstate the formal dialogue between Church and State on faith and social issues. Speaking to The Irish Independent, Archbishop Martin said it would be “a good idea” for Mr Kenny to call a meeting of the Government’s forum with Christian, Jewish and Islamic...
A mother in Germany has been sent to jail for refusing to pay a fine for taking her children out of government-run sex education classes. Heinrich and Irene Wiens were initially fined €2,340 for refusing to send four of their children to the controversial classes in 2006. But when the couple, who believe that the...
New sex education classes with the message “no means no” are to be aimed at pupils as young as primary school age, the British Government has announced. The initiative will involve telling schools to ensure youngsters understand the need for sexual consent at an “early age” as part of a drive to cut violence against...
Families in the UK where one parent stays at home to look after the children pay more than a third extra in tax in Britain than similar families in other Western countries, according to a new report. British single-earner families with two children on £33,745 a year were paying 39 per cent more in tax...
