A commitment to establish a Citizens’ Assembly on education was a core feature of the recent general election manifesto of the Green Party. Among other things, what are the implications of this for faith schools? We saw where this went with abortion. But first, a look at the origin of the idea. This proposal was...
A new study confirms that Ireland’s population is ageing fast, partly driven by a below-replacement level fertility rate. Iona Institute Director, David Quinn, was on Newstalk to discuss what, if anything, we can do about this. He said we need to debate the matter, and this needs to be led by young people who will...
There is a strong possibility that as the world ages between now and the end of the century, it will also become more religious. Why? Because the fastest growing continent by far in population terms is Africa, and Africa is more religious than most of the rest of the world. A major new study published...
By Jim Stack MSc PhD The new report on abortions in Ireland is very short on information, but does allow us to compare the abortion rate of different counties. The figure for the total number of terminations in Ireland last year was, of course, 6666. The measure of abortion rates used in this article is...
Does a religious school have the right to employ only staff who will uphold the school’s ethos? Should a religious employer be forced to pay for contraception and the ‘morning-after pill’? In two separate rulings last week considering these matters, the US Supreme Court has ruled in favour of religious freedom. The first case concerned...
Something went very wrong with Ireland’s Covid-19 policy for nursing homes. Five months from the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis, the failure of the health authorities to properly protect the care homes has become evident. It is now clearer than ever that the needs of nursing homes and their residents were placed behind those of...
By Jim Stack MSc PhD The first annual report on the operation of the 2018 abortion legislation was published on 30th June 2020, covering the twelve months January – December 2019. A total of 6,666 abortions are reported. Under the legislation, a standard reporting form for each abortion is supposed to be completed and forwarded...
The report on abortion presented this week by the Department of Health may have informed us that 6,666 terminations were carried out in Ireland last year (plus 375 in Britain), but aside from that, it is abysmally and purposely poor in terms of information given. It does not include typical data to allow us to...
We now know how many women had an abortion in Ireland last year; 6666. If you add in the 375 women who went to England for an abortion in 2019, despite our new law, it adds up to 7,041, a horrible figure. The official figures were published today. If we allow for (a high estimate) that...
Marriage continues to change and decline in Ireland as the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show. Fewer marriages are taking place, fewer are taking place in churches, more are taking place between people who were married before and are now divorced, and couples are older when they marry. Same-sex marriage is now permitted....
