By Dr. John Murray First of all, full disclosure: Mark Hamilton is a good friend of The Iona Institute. He only recently retired from its Board of Directors, having contributed wisely, bravely, and always very energetically to our work over the years. So, having seen Mark’s intelligence in action in many Board meetings, I was...
On a regular basis, there are calls for the Irish State to invest more in day-care so that parents can afford to go out to work. The underlying assumption all the time is that this is something most parents want. This is a highly dubious proposition. In 2013, The Iona Institute commissioned an opinion poll...
Gardaí have been stopping priests distributing Holy Communion. All public worship is currently banned. The Government is fighting businessman, Declan Ganley challenge to the constitutionality of the restrictions on religious gatherings tooth and nail. But one legal expert believes the lockdown law is being incorrectly interpreted, namely Oran Doyle of Trinity College Dublin. Prof. Doyle...
Pope Francis has just returned from an historic visit to Iraq where Christians have been savagely persecuted and driven from their homes. His trip was a very necessary act of solidarity. He will have also seen the work done by organisations like Aid to the Church in Need in helping Christians to rebuild their lives...
Pro-euthanasia advocates in Ireland, as elsewhere, insist that properly drawn legislation permitting assisted suicide and euthanasia will ensure that such a law will never be abused. Numerous safeguards, they assure us, can be put in place. A new academic study from Belgium very much indicates the opposite is the case. The three authors, who are...
In an interview this week with David Quinn, Bishop Kevin Doran discussed the current ban on public worship, something that looks set to continue until summer. David put it to Bishop Doran that in other countries, bishops have taken their Governments to court. He asked why a similar tactic has not been tried here. Bishop...
Ireland is currently one of only two countries in the whole of the European Union where the Government has put a complete stop to public worship. The other member-state is Slovenia. Restrictions on worship vary from country to country, from mild in Austria, to strict in Belgium. In Belgium, dozens of Catholics gathered on Sunday...
The use of vaccines that have some connection with abortion poses serious for the Christian conscience. In two other blogs (here and here) I have explained why it is morally permissible to avail of them if they are medically necessary and if there are no alternatives. Nonetheless, the problematic origin of those vaccines remains and...
I will take the Covid-19 vaccine, when available, because on balance I believe I have a moral duty to do so. I also understand why some people have reservations about its safety, its efficacy and its morality. (I have already discussed here and here the morality of using vaccines using cell lines derived from abortions.)...
Some of the most important medical bodies in the country have now declared to be against Ireland legalising assisted suicide. Several have sent submissions to the Oireachtas Justice Committee and expressed opposition to far-left TD Gino Kenny’s ‘Dying with Dignity’ Bill. We must hope the voices of some of the country’s most distinguished doctors will...
