John Waters (pictured) has a provocative column on the proposed children’s rights referendum in today’s Irish Times. Among the useful points he raises is the fact that, while the State arrogates to itself the right to revise the proposed wording, in order to protect its right to make policy, it refuses to grant the right...
A new report on the death of a seven-year-old girl, Khyra Ishaq (pictured), due to months of abuse at the hands of her mother and her boyfriend Junaid suggests that social services in her home town of Birmingham could have prevented the tragedy. The report finds that her death could have been prevented, and occurred...
On Thursday, Norah Gibbons, Director of Advocacy for children’s group Barnardos described the HSE as not fit for the purpose of looking after children’s welfare. It is a depressing, if unsurprising analysis given what we now know about the fate of too many of the children in the care of the HSE. Furthemore, Ms Gibbons’...
At the McGill summer school this week, Justice Adrian Hardiman made a very interesting and telling comparison between certain legal practices in the old Soviet Union and the impatience of certain groups in Ireland with the Constitution. Some people, he suggested, looked fondly to the days when Soviet judges regarded their jobs as the application...
Here’s an article about two homosexual men who went through the process of finding an egg donor, written by one of the men involved. Despite the fact the author is clearly in favour of the practice, a number of disturbing details emerge. Probably the most shocking is this assertion by an anonymous member of staff...
Recent pronouncements by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern on the influence religious values should play in the life of a legislator have been depressing to say the least, but yesterday he seemed to contradict himself, although not in the way you might expect. In fact, he added insult to injury. As you may recall, a few...
A professor of religious studies has been fired by the University of Illinois for informing a student attending his course on Catholicism that the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts violate natural moral law. To put it another way, Dr Kenneth Howell was fired for explaining Catholicism to a student studying….Catholicism. The implications are deeply...
Ronan Mullen tabled a lengthy series of amendments to the Civil Partnership Bill in the Seanad yesterday. An experienced political reporter told me that he had never before witnessed any TD or senator being subjected to the level of interruptions, bullying and harassment that Mullen was subjected to by some of his fellow senators. Senators...
Since Monday night’s edition, The Frontline has been under fierce attack over its alleged bias against the pro-gay side. The attack rests on two pieces of evidence. One is that the panel consisted of two pro-traditional marriage proponents, namely me and Senator Jim Walsh, and only one person in support of the family diversity position,...
I was on Frontline last night on RTE debating the family. Senator Ivana Bacik and I had to read out an opening statement at the start of the show briefly setting out our cases. Here is my script. “The family in Ireland has changed a lot in the last 20 years. Divorce and separation are...
