The abortion ratio in Ireland varies greatly by county. What is the explanation for this? Is it under-reporting in some counties, population density (in many countries, there tends to be a higher percentage of abortions in cities), or is there another reason? One possible explanation is the type of pre-abortion counselling women receive. In some...

Practising Catholic students and staff members are sometimes targeted for bullying in Irish schools, according to a major new report. Teachers see evidence of pressure on students to hide their religion. A survey of 214 Religious Education teachers, conducted by the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre in Dublin City University, found that students of...

The Covid pandemic has obscured almost all other news, but even before the outbreak one story garnered far less attention than it deserves, namely the violent persecution of Christians in many parts of the world, not least in countries like Nigeria, and increasingly in the Tigray region of Ethiopia where a war is raging. Over...

There was a huge increase of applications for divorce last year. It was the highest number since divorce was introduced in 1997. There are many reasons why we should be worried about it, not least because children affected by parental divorce have a higher risk of developing a variety of difficulties. The 29pc increase in...

Almost half of practising Catholics have returned to Mass post-lockdown says new poll but fear of Covid still a big factor among those who have not come back yet 56pc of Mass-goers think First Holy Communion ceremonies should take place again A new Amarach Research poll commissioned by The Iona Institute shows that 46pc of...

Applications for divorce reached their highest level ever last year, according to new data from the Courts Service. Some 5,266 applications were made, an increase of 29pc on 2019, and by far the highest annual figure since divorce was introduced in 1997. Breda O’Brien, Patron of the Iona Institute and Irish Times Columnist was on Newstalk Breakfast yesterday to discuss...

The Private Member’s Bill to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia, proposed by Deputy Gino Kenny, has been rejected by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice as it contains serious flaws and it was criticised by the majority of the public submissions, particularly by doctors. The Committee has recommended that a Special Oireachtas Committee should be...

In many countries, including Ireland, not enough babies are being born to prevent the population ageing and declining. Many factors are at work, including the cost of living. But another, linked factor, is that increasingly we prioritise work over family, that is ‘workism’ supplants ‘familism’. Different strategies have been implemented by governments to tackle low...

The Oireachtas Justice Committee discussed the topic of assisted suicide/euthanasia in private session during the week. We wonder if the members considered concerns raised by disability rights groups internationally about such laws affect them, the signal it sends that their lives are less worth living than those of fully healthy people. Four United Nations Rapporteurs...

“100,000 people are alive today because of our laws on abortion, why change that?”, said a Northern Ireland-based billboard campaign in 2017. The Advertising Standard Authority found the claim was largely accurate. Now we can see how accurate the ad was, because a radical liberalisation of the North’s abortion law in March of last year...