During the riots that engulfed parts of Britain last summer, one figure stood out for the clarity of his analysis and the credibility of his witness, namely Labour MP, David Lammy (pictured). Lammy was raised in Tottenham, one of the worst hit areas, and from the age of 12 was raised by his mother alone,...
The Irish Times has been running a series of articles focusing on some of the issues surrounding Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR). These include the issues of surrogacy, conception involving donor sperm or eggs and the treatment of embryos which result from IVF. One of the notable features of this series is that it has looked...
Americans see religion as more important, and more important for morality, than Western Europeans, according to a new poll carried out by the Pew Research Centre. The poll, published yesterday, 50pc of Americans deem religion very important in their lives. From the European side, the survey looked at Spain, Germany, France and the UK but...
Since writing a blog earlier in the week about a recent episode of Glee someone has brought to my attention the musings of Ian Brennan, the co-creator of Glee on being a Catholic. Incredibly, Glee was given an award by a Catholic group in the US. The decision was so incredible that Brennan himself was...
We are frequently told that, for Ireland to be truly “modern” and “pluralist”, it must remove the reference to God in the preamble to the Constitution. In fact, it is commonplace for European countries to include a reference to God in their constitutions or the preambles to their constitutions. Our own preamble reads: “In the...
The Crisis Pregnancy Agency runs a campaign called B4udecide aimed at encouraging teenagers to delay having sex. But it is up against the massive cultural force called ‘Glee’ which essentially promotes the opposite message. Glee is the super-popular musical comedy set in an American High School, and centred on the school’s ‘glee’ or music club....
The Amarach Research poll on attitudes to the Catholic Church in Ireland, commissioned by The Iona Institute following publication of the Cloyne Report contains some interesting figures as regards the views of the supporters of our various political parties. Overall, what emerges is that Fianna Fáil supporters tend to be the most sympathetic to the...
In the Sunday Independent of last Sunday week, Eamon Delaney, the former editor of Magill, wrote a column in which he argued that the gay rights agenda is overreaching by seeking, for example, a right to marry, to adopt children, and to intimidate opponents into silence. Admittedly he left himself open to accusations of stereotyping...
In the last year to 18 months the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR, pictured) had handed down several excellent decisions. The most famous is the Lautsi judgement in which it ruled that Italy could place crucifixes on the walls of state classrooms. In another, it ruled that a prohibition on same-sex marriage did not...
One of the sections of Bunreacht na hEireann that will almost surely be for the chop before too long is Article 41.2.1 and 41.2.2, which says that women should not be forced out of economic necessity to leave the home. Speaking for myself, I will shed no tears if and when it does go. Feminists...
