Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Education Minister Ruairi Quinn have both appeared before the Seanad this week to discuss issues to do with the rights of denominational schools. Both men showed an awareness of the need to not simply trample over religious freedom rights. Ruairi Quinn was commenting on the report of the Advisory Group...
Last week, one of Britain’s most senior judges, Sir Paul Coleridge launched a new project to tackle what he called “the scourge of divorce”. Maria Steen, barrister and a board member of the Iona Institute, appeared on Newstalk’s Breakfast Show to discuss the impact of divorce on society. You can listen to the discussion here.
A recent case came before the European Court of Human Rights involving a German brother and sister in an incestuous relationship who have had several children together. The couple are in breach of German law and the couple brought Germany before the court saying their rights to a private and family life had been violated....
On Wednesday the Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, in the course of reiterating the Government’s committment to holding a children’s rights referendum confirmed that the referendum wording would include a reference to a child’s ‘best interests’, and would ensure that children are treated as citizens. What she neglected to mention is that Irish law actually contains...
Religious freedom is one of the concepts which underpins most modern democracies. Most significant international human rights documents guarantee religious freedom. And most people when you ask them say they are in favour of religious freedom. But what exactly do we mean when we talk about “freedom of religion”? Increasingly, secularists are attempting (and succeeding)...
A few days ago The New York Times carried a very insightful piece about cohabitation that should be read by every cohabiting couple in Ireland. The number one justification for cohabitation is that it is good preparation for marriage because it supposedly gives a couple a chance to decide whether they are compatible or not....
We are all Protestants now. Or at least that is the opinion of our Education Minister Ruairi Quinn (pictured) who was interviewed by The Sunday Independent last weekend. The Minister was commenting on the widely publicised opinion poll commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests which confirmed that lots of Catholics don’t go along with...
A poll commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests has found that the vast majority of people – three quarters – believe the Church’s teachings on sex are irrelevant both to them personally and to their families. But what do they actually mean by this? Do they mean it is totally irrelevant in every respect,...
On Tuesday, the Advisory Group to the Government’s Forum on Patronage and Pluralism published their recommendations. Some of their proposals pose a very significant threat to the distinctive ethos of denominational schools. Dr John Murray of the Iona Institute and Mater Dei, and Paul Rowe of Educate Together debated the proposals on the RTE Radio’s Today...
A story has emerged from Holland that should make anyone’s toes curl . It involves a married couple in their early 30s who discovered they could not have a child because the husband produced no sperm. But instead of adopting they decided they wanted a child that was a close a match to them genetically...
