When issues like abortion or euthanasia are debated, opponents issue warnings about the ‘slippery slope’ and predict that the ‘floodgates will open’. By this they mean that after either one is introduced, the grounds for it will expand, and the numbers availing of it will increase. Proponents deny either of these things will happen. For...
In many parts of the world today, people are having few children than they want. A new report from Canada confirms this phenomenon. A report from The Iona Institute last week predicts that one in four members of Gen Z will never have a child. An Amarach poll we commissioned finds that average person still...
One in four members of ‘Gen Z’ look set never to have children, a new paper from the Iona Institute forecasts. The paper is called ‘Choice or Circumstance? Rising Childlessness in Ireland’. The document examines trends in childlessness by generation starting with women born in 1955 (the ‘baby boomers’). It finds that only 13.5pc of...
Today, Pope Leo XIV has issued his first encyclical. Titled Magnifica Humanitas, it offers a broad sweep of Catholic social teaching, and in light of that, what the Catholic Church’s response to Artificial Intelligence should be. Three years ago, The Iona Institute hosted a talk by philosopher, Dr Gerard Casey on a very similar topic....
The Dáil last week rejected an attempt to make Ireland’s abortion legislation even more permissive than it already is. The failed Bill went far beyond simply removing the three-day waiting period before an abortion, which is the big ask of pro-choice organisations. It also sought to decriminalise doctors acting outside the law and substantially widen the...
A new curriculum for Leaving Certificate history is currently under development by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the signs are that the course will have a strong, and left-leaning ideological bias. The draft curriculum is broken into four strands. The first one seems straightforward enough. It looks at how history is...
Earlier this week we learnt that marriage rates in Ireland have hit a new record low. This trend is being repeated in many countries all over the world. Pope Leo XIV has now called a summit meeting on the global crisis in marriage. It will take place in Rome in October. The presidents of all...
New CSO data confirm a trend The Iona Institute first highlighted two years ago: the emergence of ‘New Age’ wedding ceremonies that take place overwhelmingly in hotels because it is so convenient. Both the wedding and the reception can happen in the same place. The alternative spiritual ceremonies are often offered as part of the...
Many boys today, especially those from working-class backgrounds, are caught in a downward spiral, according to a recent report by the UK Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). They are spending more time on screens, less time with other people, less time outdoors, are doing worse at school and are less likely to flourish later in...
Last year, Italy, my country, recorded just 355,000 births in a population of about 59 million. That corresponds to a fertility rate of 1.14 children per woman of childbearing age, one of the lowest in Europe and indeed in the world. Around 650,000 Italians are now dying each year. You can see the direction of...
