There is a leader in The Irish Times today in favour of ‘marriage equality’ that is particularly philosophically illiterate. It seems to have no understanding whatever of why the institution of marriage has ever had special status historically and tellingly offers no definition of marriage at all. Its illiteracy is particularly revealed in the penultimate...
Last week, David Quinn appeared on the Today with Sean O’Rourke show to debate same-sex marriage with Waterford Labour TD Ciara Conway. During the debate, David pointed out the blindingly obvious, namely that where a child has two parents of the same sex, only one can be the birth parent. Ms Conway’s reply, oddly,...
The Constitutional Convention has recommended removing the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution, and replacing it with a new provision prohibiting incitement to religious hatred against minority groups. They also voted to strengthen existing incitement to hatred legislation. At its meeting at the weekend, 61pc of the Convention’s members voted against keeping the Constitutional provision...
I am a divorced parent of three children. I work full time on earnings about 20% above the 2012 average industrial wage. I separated in 2002 and was “married but living apart” until 2011 when legally divorced. I have always paid two thirds of my income in maintenance – voluntarily from 2002 to 2011 and...
David Quinn debated Waterford Labour TD Ciara Conway on RTE’s Today with Sean O’Rourke earlier today as the Government prepares to announce a referendum on the subject. You can listen to the debate here.
The news that Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore wants to see legislation introduced that will allow same-sex couples to adopt before a referendum on same-sex marriage is instructive in a number of ways. First, it tells us just how scared the Government is of the argument that children have a right to a mother and father. It...
The big story this week was the seizure by gardai of two children from their Roma families on suspicion they did not belong to those families. It turned out that they did. The two cases have highlighted to the public the extent of the State’s powers to remove children from their families. David Quinn writes...
Parents of primary school children have been invited to respond to proposals by Expert Group of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism aimed at making denominational schools more ‘inclusive’. Following is a slightly abridged version of a response to this invitation by parents Kate and Alan Whelan. The deadline for submissions to this consultation is...
A new study from Canada has found that High School graduation rates among children raised by same-sex couples are considerably lower than among children raised by opposite-sex married couples. The study is much bigger and more robust than studies claiming that children raised by same-sex couples turn out no differently than children raised by their...
An aspect of divorce that is little talked about is the difficulty remarried people can encounter when trying to persuade their grown-up step-children children to help look after their aging parents. It shows how the way in which divorce and remarriage can alienate children from their parents, even to the point where they won’t help...
