Legalising same-sex marriage would damage the fabric of society, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has warned. It is the first time Archbishop Welby, the head of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion world wide, has intervened in the debate, the Daily Telegraph reports. It comes ahead of today’s vote in the...
A majority of children of mothers aged 28 or less are born outside marriage, according to Central Statistics Office figures released on Friday. According to the report, in the fourth quarter of 2012, 70pc of births to 25 year olds were outside marriage, 65pc to 26 year olds and 52 percent to 27 year old. By...
Every child in Scotland is set to have their own state-appointed overseer under new legislation designed to promote their welfare. Critics have described the move as “dystopian” and an invasion of family privacy. Under the Children and Young People Bill, the Government is required to provide each child with a “named person” from birth, such...
Fewer than half of Fianna Fáil TDs may end up voting with their leader Micheál Martin in support of the Government’s abortion legislation after his failure to bring the parliamentary party with him on the question. Mr Martin has granted a free vote on the legislation after a meeting of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party...
Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald has blamed mistreatment of children at a number of creches on overinvestment of public resources in Child Benefit payments and therefore underinvestment in crèches. Speaking in the Seanad yesterday, she said that direct cash payments to parents, rather than investment in services, had led to the breaches in childcare standards revealed...
Any policy changes stemming from the current debate on childcare must “respect the choices parents actually want to make in respect of how their young children are cared for during the day and not favour crèches over home” the Iona Institute has said. The statement was issued following a Prime Time report which found that...
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has rejected calls to legislate for assisted suicide. He was responding to Independent TD John Halligan, who raised the case of multiple sclerosis sufferer Marie Fleming, who is seeking the right to have her partner, Tom Curran, assist her in taking her own life, the Irish Times reports. Earlier this year Ms...
Ireland is one of a number of European countries with laws limiting freedom of conscience according to a leading watchdog on religious intolerance. In a new report, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians details 41 examples of national laws with adverse effects on Christians in more than 15 European Countries. It mentions...
The Catholic Church has slammed as “untrue” the Government’s claim that its proposed abortion legislation is not a change in the law. The proposed law, which allows women who claim to be suicidal to access abortion if their claim is verified by two psychiatrists and one obstetrician, is set to be debated next month. The...
Hundreds of thousands of same-sex marriage opponents gathered in Paris on Sunday to protest the passage of the French government’s Bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, which came into force earlier this month. It is the third such demonstration in only a few months. They are the biggest demonstrations France has seen...
