A growing number of people in countries like Ireland and the US say they don’t belong to any religion. When filling out a census form or responding to an opinion poll they might tick the box marked ‘none’. But is this the same as saying they have no religion at all? Funnily enough, it doesn’t...
A big review of the way Relationships and Sexuality Education is underway, led by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. Yet, an absolutely crucial question that needs to be considered in all this is whether RSE-type programmes even work. What outcomes are they seeking, and are those outcomes being achieved? International data suggests, probably...
The National Maternity Hospital is advertising for consultant obstetricians who, as part of their job description, must perform abortions. This is the first ad to ever appear in this country that has as a job requirement the deliberate ending of a human life. Truly a terrible moral boundary has been crossed. But the ad tells...
A new law will allow all couples, gay and straight, to record themselves on birth certs as the ‘parents’ of their child rather than as the mother and father. Thus, is another giant step taken towards de-gendering parenthood and the family, and without a peep of protest from the opposition parties. The new measure is...
The diagnosis of a life-limiting condition in an unborn baby is always devastating. These hard cases played a big part in last year’s referendum and moved many people to vote to repeal the 8th amendment. However, new studies show that the vast majority of couples who carry these babies to term are glad that they...
By David Mullins During the abortion debate, the Government was happy to leave terms like ‘mental health’ vague and ill-defined. In a debate about a new Bill this week, it insisted on a strict definition. The double standard was striking, to say the least. On Thursday, the government was defeated in its attempts to block...
By Margaret Hickey In its magazine section at the weekend, The Sunday Independent published an article entitled ‘A letter to the first woman to have a legal abortion in Ireland’. The writer was novelist, Mary O’Donnell. The letter acknowledges how difficult it can be to decide to have a termination but nonetheless presents abortion as profoundly...
The primary function of religion isn’t to make you happy. It is to draw you closer to God and make you a better person. In addition, every spiritual writer, every great novelist, every thinker worth their salt knows that sometimes we only become better people through suffering, which anyone who has ever cared about someone...
Earlier this week the Joint Committee on Education presented a report on Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). This report has two main flaws: it undermines the role of the school ethos in RSE and it fails to address the question of what the purpose of RSE should be. Both of those flaws are based on...
The Oireachtas Education Committee has published a report on Relationships and Sexuality Education recommending big changes to how it is taught. One recommendation is that religious ethos be barred from exercising any influence over the teaching of RSE, even in religious schools. David Quinn discussed the matter with Dr Ciara Kelly on Newstalk this week...
