It is increasingly the case that criticism – even if completely legitimate – is being denounced as “shaming”. The most obvious example is the viral use of the term “body shaming”. To label a particular body type as too fat, or too thin, etc., is to demean those with that body type, to belittle them. Obviously criticism can...
Two experts, Janet Bettle, a barrister at Trinity Chambers in England, and Jonathan Herring, a law professor at Oxford University, have co-written a piece on the legal possibility of marrying – wait for it – a human-like robot. You can access it here. The piece is not intended as a plea for law reform. Rather,...
By Dr Tom Finegan The public debate leading up to the Brexit vote was fascinating. Not so much for the substance of the arguments put forth by either side of the debate, but for basic messaging of the Remain side against the Brexit position. The messaging was encapsulated in those (in)famous PR images of couples...
Public debate on abortion mostly pits the “fully pro-life” view against the “partly pro-choice” view. So the campaign against the 8th Amendment is being spearheaded in part by those looking for so-called minor exceptions to the protection of unborn children, exceptions like abortion on the grounds of a child having a severe life-limiting condition. This...
‘Mind the Gap’, a new report from The Iona Institute, shows how a person’s chances of marrying are hugely affected by the social class they are born into. The report shows that upper professional workers are more than twice as likely as unskilled workers to be married. The huge discrepancy shows that there are formidable...
The issue of the ‘right to die’ has resurfaced in Ireland after ‘right to die’ campaigner, Tom Curran, admitted he has helped some 200 people to plan their suicides. David Quinn of The Iona Institute, and Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland, debated on The Pat Kenny Show today (June 15) whether such a right exists....
New research shows that the percentage of Britons who say they have no religion now exceeds the number who say they are Christian. By any reckoning that is a watershed. It is one that many ‘progressives’ will welcome, but they should be careful what they wish for. One reason ‘progressives’ will welcome it is because...
This week, new Education Minister, Richard Bruton, announced plans to speed up divestment of some Catholic schools so as to allow a wider choice of schools to parents. David Quinn of The Iona Institute and Paddy Monahan of Educate Equality debated the new proposals on The Right Hook on Monday. The debate can be heard here....
Una Mullaly has an issue with media balance. Her piece in this week’s The Irish Times is a reaction to the recent Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s (BAI) decision to uphold a complaint made against RTE’s The Ray D’Arcy show. The complaint alleged bias against an item on the show that dealt with the law of...
When a case involving a child in care comes to light it can be extremely hard to get to the bottom of why the child is in care or whether decisions made by the State on behalf of the child are genuinely in his or her best interests. It’s understandable that we don’t tend to...
