The last couple of weeks have brought a little bit of clarity to public debate on the medical conditions at the heart of calls to permit greater access to abortion in Ireland. The medical conditions in question result in the unborn baby having a seriously curtailed life expectancy. They primarily include such conditions as anencephaly,...
Coverage of the death of David Bowie has been huge, bigger than the coverage of the death of Michael Jackson who sold far more albums. Why has the death of Bowie had a bigger impact? It’s because he had a bigger cultural impact and one reason he made a bigger cultural impact is because, in...
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) recognises the right of a child to know and be cared for by her parents. Ireland goes before the Committee on the Rights of the Child tomorrow and the proper understanding of this right, namely that a child has a right to be raised, where...
With the campaign to repeal the 1983 pro-life amendment to the Constitution gathering steam it is interesting to look back at the reasons why The Irish Times opposed that amendment. What is particularly interesting is that its opposition was based not on any apparent belief in the ‘right to choose’, but on perceived inadequacies in...
Often, the most interesting aspect of a survey is not the answers given but the questions asked. One of the first things the newly established lobby group EQUATE (Equality in Education) did was to commission a poll on people’s views on education. Between 77% and 87% of respondents answered “yes” to the questions asked, which...
Spun Out is a youth oriented website that is funded by, among others, the HSE and the inevitable Atlantic Philanthropies. It says its purpose is “to educate and inform our readers about the importance of holistic wellbeing and how good health can be maintained, both physically and mentally.” That’s a laudable aim, but a quick...
Ireland’s most recently ordained bishop, Alphonsus Cullinan, has said that the Church must continue to teach the truth about marriage in spite of May’s referendum result. Dr Cullinan, who is the bishop of Waterford and Lismore, was addressing a meeting of The Iona Institute last month in Dublin. His topic was, ‘Teaching the Truth about...
A decision this week by the High Court of Northern Ireland found that the jurisdiction’s abortion law is incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights because it does not permit abortion in pregnancies involving either so-called “fatal foetal abnormalities” or sexual assault. Article 8 deals with the right to privacy and...
A Church of England ad has been banned from cinemas. The makers of Downton Abbey didn’t want mention of religion in the series. In this week’s Irish Catholic, I write that a new secular prudery seeks to banish religion from public view, not least from our screens. The new attitude calls to mind “the old Hays...
This week sees the 20th anniversary of the referendum that narrowly legalised divorce in Ireland back in 1995. Various media outlets are marking the occasion, chiefly by claiming that the Yes side was right about the effects of the referendum and the No side was wrong. (This leader in today’s Irish Times is a good...
