Twenty European countries have now joined the Italian appeal against a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (pictured), regarding the display of crucifixes in public places, it has emerged. The group does not include Ireland. The number of states supporting Italy has been described as “a major political victory” by a leading group...
A leading Supreme Court Judge has defended the Constitution from critics who have claimed it is too old and too complicated. Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman (pictured), speaking yesterday at the McGill Summer School, said that the fact that the Constitution was 73 years old and of a certain length should not be drawbacks. He said,...
There has been a fall of almost 15 per cent in the number of people seeking judicial separations or divorce resulting in the lowest number of applications for a decade. According to the annual report of the Courts Services for 2009, there were 5,398 applications for judicial separation, divorce or nullity last year, compared with...
Romantic comedy films with happy-ever-after endings have a negative impact on people’s real love lives, according to an Australian survey. A poll, conducted by Warner Home Video, of 1,000 Australians found almost half said romantic comedies with their inevitable happy endings have ruined their view of an ideal relationship. One in four Australians said they...
Eighty per cent of the teenage girls offered a controversial cervical cancer vaccine in schools last term availed of the jab, according to new figures revealed yesterday. The Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed that 1,300 first-year girls received the first dose of the vaccine in May, as part of the limited rollout before it is...
The British Labour Party are continuing to push for compulsory sex education for all children, including those as young as five in a new amendment to Government education legislation. Former Education Secretary Ed Balls has put forward plans for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) to be compulsory for all pupils in academy schools. Academy...
Christians in Britain are being unfairly targeted for hate crime prosecutions, according to a new report by the Civitas think-tank. The report, entitled A New Inquisition: Religious Persecution in Britain Today, also warns that existing hate crime legislation poses a danger to freedom of speech. Jon Gower Davies, the report’s author, said: “Some police forces...
Frightening numbers of children are being physically abused, and many under-18s are being sexually abused because of alcohol addiction, Bishop Donal McKeown (pictured) has said. Speaking at the annual Mass for the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association on Sunday, Bishop McKeown pointed to statistics showing that “50,000 children get drunk every weekend in Ireland”. Ireland had...
Potential constitutional issues and significant administrative difficulties are set to scupper Government proposals to tax or means-test child benefit payments in the next budget, reports suggest. According to internal Department of Finance records, seen by the Irish Times, there are a number of serious obstacles to the plan. The Government last year cut the monthly...
Pope Benedict has chosen the theme of “religious freedom, the path of peace” as the theme of the 2011 World Day of Peace on January 1. In a statement this week, the Holy See said that religious freedom was being restricted and denied all over the world, and that in addition to the more obvious...
