Tánaiste Joan Burton’s been telling a story recently. She recounted it at the end of her speech at the Labour Party Conference, and told the Irish language online magazine Tuairisc.ie too. Speaking in support of a Yes vote in the marriage referendum, Burton says that she was struck by one woman she met in Moneygall, Co...
We know a moral viewpoint has hardened and slipped its moorings when it will brook no public dissent. The pro-same sex marriage viewpoint has reached that stage. Those who do not believe in same-sex marriage are to be treated by society as the moral equivalent of racists and under certain circumstances to be prosecuted by...
As the debate over same-sex marriage continues in the lead-up to Ireland’s referendum on the question, the prospect of allowing a “conscience clause” has been thoroughly rejected by the Yes side. If the referendum passes, they argue, anyone who doesn’t want to wholeheartedly support it in their own business – say by baking a cake...
David Quinn appeared on Morning Ireland, debating Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International about the introduction of a “conscience clause” protecting the freedom of conscience rights of bakers, printers, and other citizens who don’t support same-sex marriage, in the event that the referendum was passed. Listen to the item here. It’s an important and relevent debate to...
Last night (Mar 19) Archbishop Diarmuid Martin addressed a meeting of The Iona Institute attended by over 200 people. His topic was ‘The Teaching of the Church on Marriage Today’. In the course of the talk he addressed the topic of the nature of marriage. Among his main points were the following: There is something...
The two sides in this referendum debate, so far as I can see, don’t just disagree. They disagree about what it is they are disagreeing about. Most of those I’ve seen arguing for a Yes vote sincerely believe that this is, wholly and solely, a debate about who should be able to get married. Most...
Elizabeth Howard, a woman from England who was conceived through sperm donation, was on the Right Hook programme on Newstalk yesterday (11/3). Howard, who wrote this article for the Guardian last year about the experience of being the child of an anonymous “donor”, made it clear to George Hook that she thought all sperm donation...
In 2010, Argentina legalised same-sex marriage. At the time, Pope Francis was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He voiced his strong opposition to the proposal. This is quite contrary to the common misconception that he is silent on the issue. Since becoming Pope, Francis has reiterated many of the things he said in Argentina. We reproduce...
Fergus Finlay wrote in The Irish Examiner this week about the Children and Family Relationships Bill, and his piece unfortunately follows a familiar template adopted by most of the legislation’s defenders. It goes something like this: 1. Talk about the good bits of the bill 2. Avoid any questions that might be awkward. 3. Assure...
When two different questions get quite different results on the same issue it is a good sign that voter intentions on that issue are volatile. Thus it was that a poll by Red C and another one by Millward Brown on the issue of same-sex marriage and conducted within a week of each other got...
