Fresh figures from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, show the scale of Europe’s demographic challenge. In 2024, there were about 4.82 million deaths across the EU but only 3.56 million births, a deficit of almost 1.3m. In other words, when you compare births with deaths alone, Europe’s population is shrinking. So why is the...
Since the 2018 referendum repealing the Eighth Amendment, the number of abortions in Ireland has continued to rise. According to the annual report produced by the Department of Health recently the number rose to 10,852 in 2024 compared with 6,666 in 2019. This represents a 63pc increase. Additionally, 201 Irish residents had abortions in England,...
News emerged this week of a woman, Maureen Slough, who recently travelled from Ireland to Switzerland to end her life through assisted suicide. Her family only learned of her death afterwards, leaving them devastated. The case further reveals the existence in Switzerland of what is sometimes called ‘suicide tourism’ whereby people travel there to avail...
In Britain recently it was announced to huge fanfare that eight babies had been born using a new genetic technique which ensured they were not born with a hereditary condition which could have fatal consequences. The babies have three genetic parents, and the new technique was treated as an unambiguous good in almost all media....
New figures quietly released by the Government show that last year almost 11,000 abortions took place in Ireland, a new record high. The actual figure might be higher than this, because hospitals have not reported their full data yet, according to the Pro-Life Campaign. In her column last Saturday in The Irish Times, Iona Institute...
Concern about the world’s declining birth rates is growing; last year, the Office for National Statistics announced that ‘Fewer children are being born in England and Wales and the fertility rate is at its lowest level on record.’ Ireland’s fertility rate has also dropped well below replacement. Echoing the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recent...
New figures show that the number of people applying to divorce has fallen somewhat, seeming to reverse a previous upward trend, but look closer and you will see that divorce is becoming more common in Ireland, relatively speaking, that is, when compared with the numbers marrying each year, which is in steep decline. In fact,...
A recent opinion poll commissioned by The Iona Institute on attitudes in Ireland toward the Catholic Church, Christianity, and religion in general garnered plenty of coverage and comment in Catholic and other religious media. The prestigious American journal, First Things, carried a comment piece on it last week which particularly zeroed in on the finding...
The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have warned that the future of Catholic care homes and hospices is in doubt if the assisted suicide legislation currently before parliament is passed because they may be forced to comply with its provisions, thereby totally violating their own ethos. The warning came following the recent passage of...
The number of children that young couples are planning to have has plunged in the last 10 years in the US, according to new research. The decline is particularly evident among young women. This will worsen the coming demographic crisis. A Pew Research Center survey finds that adults aged 20 to 39 now expect to...
