The news that Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore wants to see legislation introduced that will allow same-sex couples to adopt before a referendum on same-sex marriage is instructive in a number of ways. First, it tells us just how scared the Government is of the argument that children have a right to a mother and father. It...
The big story this week was the seizure by gardai of two children from their Roma families on suspicion they did not belong to those families. It turned out that they did. The two cases have highlighted to the public the extent of the State’s powers to remove children from their families. David Quinn writes...
Parents of primary school children have been invited to respond to proposals by Expert Group of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism aimed at making denominational schools more ‘inclusive’. Following is a slightly abridged version of a response to this invitation by parents Kate and Alan Whelan. The deadline for submissions to this consultation is...
A new study from Canada has found that High School graduation rates among children raised by same-sex couples are considerably lower than among children raised by opposite-sex married couples. The study is much bigger and more robust than studies claiming that children raised by same-sex couples turn out no differently than children raised by their...
An aspect of divorce that is little talked about is the difficulty remarried people can encounter when trying to persuade their grown-up step-children children to help look after their aging parents. It shows how the way in which divorce and remarriage can alienate children from their parents, even to the point where they won’t help...
The architect of Britain’s abortion law, Lord David Steel, is horrified by the fact that sex selective abortions take place on the strength of it. It was widely assumed that sex-selective abortions were illegal under Lord Steel’s 1967 Abortion Act. However, the British DPP has deemed otherwise. The sex of a child is not a ground for...
Some years back, with the support of Ireland, the European Union agreed to fund embryonic stem cell research. Now a petition is about to the sent to the European Commission that will oblige it to reconsider this funding. The petition is called One of Us. Signatures are being gathered by hand and electronically. Already more...
On Wednesday, Iona Institute director David Quinn went on Newstalk to discuss the work of the Institute and some of its key concerns, including the health of marriage with presenter Sean Moncrieff. You can listen to the discussion in full here. (The discussion begins after 5 min 30 sec.)
There is a huge double think going on in the media about the importance of the natural ties. When it comes to adoption, they seem to think they are very important, but when it comes to assisted human reproduction they seem to have a completely different view. This double think became apparent again back...
When abortion and euthanasia are first introduced in a given country, we are usually told that the grounds on which they can take place are very limited. But over time those grounds become ever more elastic. For example, earlier this year the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute doctors who performed sex...
