There was always a danger that the trial of Bernadette Scully for the manslaughter of her severely disabled daughter, Emily, would lead to calls for euthanasia and so it has happened. The fact that Bernadette was acquitted of the charge has made no difference to this. Writing in The Sunday Independent yesterday, Donal Lynch, usually...
A new law has been passed in Ontario that strikes the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ from the law and replaces them with the word ‘parent’. This places a lie right at the centre of the law because every child without fail has a mother and a father or could not exist. But this is what...
A conference in Vienna on the persecution of Christians worldwide earlier this month heard that Europe has shown a worrying rise in State-sponsored hostility to freedom of religion. “Concern for overt persecution should not blind us to more subtle forms of hostility and, yes, of persecution” said Gudrun Kugler, the founder of the “Observatory on...
A new opinion poll commissioned by the Iona Institute looks at people’s ideal work-life choices. It finds that most people, given the financial freedom, would not work full-time, but if also finds marked differences between the sexes, differences feminists such as our Children’s Minister, Katherine Zappone (pictured), ought to carefully note. In the recent Budget,...
The persecution of Christians and religious minorities has risen to the level of genocide, and far more needs to be done by Governments around the world to counteract it, a recent conference in Vienna was told. EU Special Envoy for Religious Freedom, Jan Figel, said Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. “More...
Today on Twitter I said that the media ought to pay as much attention to Irish women pressured by doctors into having abortions as they do to stories of rogue pro-life agencies giving inaccurate advice. The tweets in response engaged in either denial or deflection even after I provided several examples. The denials are too...
British PM, Theresa May, stood up in the House of Commons this week and told MPs, “our Christian heritage is something we can all be proud of”. It is very hard to imagine any senior Irish politician saying that, never mind Taoiseach, Enda Kenny. May was responding to a question from MP Fiona Bruce about...
David Quinn of The Iona Institute appeared on the Last Word yesterday to debate the question, ‘Has political correctness gone too far?’ It was prompted by a column he wrote recently for The Irish Independent. He said that while the basic aim of political correctness can be correct, that is, to combat racism, sexism etc, it...
Hear a fascinating and in-depth talk by Jennifer Lahl on the history of surrogacy, the industry that services it, and the victims it has left in its wake. The talk was hosted by The Iona Institute. Jennifer is the founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network(CBC) in California. She has 25...
A conference was held in Dublin last week called ‘Safe Ireland’. The intention was to draw attention to, and find ways of reducing, violence against women and children. One issue it appears not to have gone near is whether there is a link to family structure. That was a big oversight. Broadcaster Olivia O’Leary warned...
