The Conservative government would consider allowing atheists to set up state-funded schools Education Secretary Michael Gove has said. Mr Gove said he would be “interested” to look at ideas about setting up schools from figures such as leading atheist Professor Richard Dawkins. Mr Dawkins said he approved of the idea of setting up such schools...
The Department of Education has submitted a list of more than 40 areas around the country where it wants to transfer schools from Catholic patronage to other potential patrons. The department has written to senior bishops stating why it might be appropriate for the church to cede control there, according to a report by the...
The proposed referendum on children’s rights is set to be postponed until at least 2011, due to concerns over how the wording of an amendment to the Constitution would affect several key policies. Government officials are said to be concerned that the proposed wording could prevent the deportation of parents unlawfully in the State and...
Ireland remained top of the EU’s birth league last year, new figures show. The rate of births here — at 16.8 children born per 1,000 people — was the the highest in the European Union. The figure is more than twice the rate of Germany’s birth rate of 7.9 per cent. The report from Eurostat,...
The EU is set to hold a summit with atheists and freemasons in Brussels in October, inviting them to a political dialogue parallel to the annual summit the bloc holds with Europe’s religious leaders. While the EU is a secular body, the three European presidents, of the commission, parliament and EU Council, alongside two commissioners,...
Americans trust their churches more than the Presidency, Congress, the Supreme Court or the media, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll, released last week, showed that out of 16 major institutions, organised religion ranked fourth, with 48 per cent of people saying they trusted it “a great deal or a lot”. A further...
An American Christian student has been told will not be permitted to graduate unless she changes her beliefs. Jennifer Keeton, 24, is studying for a degree in counselling at Augusta State University in Georgia. But her beliefs about sexual ethics do not conform to the prevailing views of the counselling profession, and she must change...
Families are set for a double blow in the next Budget, as the Government contemplate both a property tax and water charges next year after a senior Government minister put both firmly back on the table on Sunday. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern (pictured) made it clear that both measures were still under serious consideration as...
Christians have had enough of being treated as second class citizens, a Conservative MP has said during a Parliamentary debate. The stark warning from Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, is likely to be welcomed by many Christians who feel that their faith is often marginalised in the public sphere. During a debate on the Academies...
The Health Service Executive (HSE) is “not fit for purpose” when it comes to looking after the welfare of children in care, an expert on the subject has claimed. Norah Gibbons, director of advocacy at the children’s charity Barnardo’s, who is one of two people reviewing deaths of children who were, or had recently been,...
