The Iona Blog

Please explain why this ‘throuple’ can’t marry one another

They call themselves a ‘throuple’ and they consist of three women who say they are ‘married’ to one another and are expecting a baby. A ‘throuple’, since you ask, is a variation on the word ‘couple’ but is made up of three people, not two. Two of the three women are married under Massachusetts State...

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Cameron’s ‘Christian’ Britain ruffles atheists’ feathers

An alliance of public figures has accused British Prime Minister David Cameron of “fostering division” within the UK by claiming that Britain is still a “Christian country.”  Writing a letter published in the Daily Telegraph, these intellectuals and politicians claimed that Cameron’s message will have “negative consequences for politics and society.”  They go on: “At...

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The de facto sacking of Brendan Eich and Section 37

In a recent issue of The Irish Catholic I wrote a piece strongly criticising the de facto sacking of Brendan Eich as CEO of Mozilla. Eich was shown the front door because he once made a donation to a campaign in favour of traditional marriage. In turn it was pointed out to me on social...

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Catholic schools continue to outperform State schools in NI

Last week the Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland published its latest Peace Monitoring Report. This is designed to measure the extent to which Northern Ireland is progressing socially in what the report describes as a ‘post-conflict situation’. The report covers many aspects of society, but one in particular is relevant to the ongoing debate on the future of education in...

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Where have all the girls gone?

A new survey of birth ratios has been launched by the British government recently, “amid fears that sex-selective abortions are taking place in Britain.” Earl Howe, a UK health minister, “wants to ‘monitor the situation’ and ‘remain vigilant’ following evidence that some doctors in the UK are carrying out selective abortions.” This is old news....

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Selling children short at the Health Committee hearings on family law reform

On Wednesday the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice heard from groups interested in Alan Shatter’s ‘Brave New World’ family law reform. With the exception of Family and Life every group broadly supports his extremely radical and far-reaching law. Also on Wednesday I came across this blog by Mollie Hemingway at the Federalist. She puts some very...

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Why parents should pay less tax

Slate magazine is famous for publishing contrarian writing, and the piece they recently published by Reihan Salam certainly fits the bill. What, after all, is more contrarian than saying “me, and people like me, should pay far more tax?” The category Salam belongs to, and the one which he believes should be taxed more heavily,...

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Euthanasia: so much for the guarantees

Our wise ideologues are never short on assurances that every last one of their society-changing initiatives are brimming with “guarantees” and “safeguards.” The obvious one is abortion.  In 1996, Bill Clinton said “abortion should not only be safe and legal, it should be rare.”  In New York in 2012, more African-American babies were aborted than...

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What does Frances Fitzgerald think of egg and sperm donation?

Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald’s recent proposal to give adopted people greater access to information about their biological parents is a genuinely good idea. If they don’t run afoul of the constitutional right to privacy, Minister Fitzgerald’s proposals could end up  So I’m curious as to why the same government currently advocating common-sense reforms helping many adoptees to trace...

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David Quinn takes part in childcare debate on Today with Sean O’Rourke

David Quinn was on the Sean O’Rourke programme yesterday discussing childcare with Roisin O’Hara, who juggles work with having four small children; Evanna Boyle, also a mum of four who gave up work as a solicitor to mind her kids at home; Independent Senator Jillian Van Turnhout and Theresa Heaney, Chairperson of the Mothers’ Alliance...

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