Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin have called for imposing radical gender theory in the new primary school curriculum, despite a call from Catholic educationalists to leave it out and ‘let children be children’.

The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) wrote to the Children’s Minister arguing that there is a lack of scientific consensus on the issue, that it would create division in schools, and that it might add to “a growing psychological contagion” among children.

Mr Martin described the letter opposing the imposition of gender theory in the new course as “not the way to deal with these issues”. Gender ideology teaches that your ‘gender’ and biological sex have no necessary connection.

Asked if he was in favour of primary schoolchildren being taught about such matters, Mr Varadkar said: “I am. I think the purpose of the education system is to prepare children for life, to teach them about the world. Trans people exist, they’ve always existed, and I think it makes more sense in schools to just inform children about the world around them.”

The importance of a father in a child’s upbringing has again been highlighted by recent research.

A literature review just published in the journal Infant and Child Development looked at nearly four dozen studies on father-child relationships and highlighted the role that dads play in building a child’s skills in regulating emotions.

Fathers who were involved in caregiving and play, and who reacted with warmth and greater sensitivity to a child who expressed emotions, were significantly more likely to have children with better emotional balance from infancy to adolescence. Those skills in children are linked, in turn, with higher levels of social competence, peer relationships, academic achievement and resilience, while poor emotional regulation skills are linked with anxiety, depression and behavioral problems.

A group of lawyers, doctors, psychologists, and others from five continents gathered in Casablanca, Morocco, at the weekend to call for the repeal of all laws allowing or tolerating surrogacy around the world.

The group released a signed document titled “International Declaration for the Universal Abolition of Surrogacy,” which aims to raise global awareness of what the group considers to be a practice that violates human dignity. Along with the statement, a proposal for an international convention was made available to all organizations and governments that wish to ratify it.

“We call on [countries] to condemn surrogacy in all modalities and kinds, whether remunerated or not, and the implementation of measures to fight such practice,” the signatories, who represent more than 70 countries, wrote in their “Casablanca Declaration,” at the same time maintaining to be “aware of the suffering of people who may not conceive” and of the “appeal of reproductive technologies.”

Catholic primary school managers said their pupils should not be taught transgender theory, in a strongly worded letter to Government ministers.

The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) has argued there is a lack of scientific consensus on the issue, that it would create division in schools, and that it might add to “a growing psychological contagion” among children.

The CPSMA says teaching primary children “what it means to be transgender would require to teach something about which there is neither a scientific nor social consensus to highly impressionable young children”.

It would be “counterproductive, generating unnecessary divisions in school communities where none now exist”.

According to the CPSMA, “more seriously, it might add to a growing psychological contagion amongst young and vulnerable children”. There has been a huge increase in recent years in the number of children saying they are transgender.

“We believe a more prudent and sensible policy is to teach children to respect every human being and to allow children to be children,” it added.

“We should not prematurely introduce children to complex and sensitive topics around which there is no scientific or medical consensus.”

An atheist whose application to be a chaplain was rejected by the Defence Forces had been discriminated against on religion grounds, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has said.

John Hamill, a former officer with Atheist Ireland, made the complaint.

He questioned whether it was a genuine occupational requirement for the role to be a Christian appointed by a bishop, as per the usual practice. This excluded other faiths as well as non-believers. The evidence was that there were good atheist military chaplains in other militaries. He should have been able to apply for the role of chaplain and the role should be allocated to the best applicant, he said.

WRC adjudication officer Kevin Baneham ruled Mr Hamill had been discriminated against on grounds of religion, and he ordered a review of the process of appointing military chaplains to ensure compliance with the Employment Equality Act.

A recent paper examining the correlation of more premarital sex partners with more divorce has found it is not due simply to sample selection, but to some inherent destabilising factor in the sexual relationships themselves.

The paper by Jesse Smith and Nicholas H. Wolfinger in Journal of Family Issues ruled out numerous factors including religiuosity, sexual attitudes, and psychological attributes, as explanations for the phenomenon.

This left them with two broad possible explanations for their results.

“One is that there could be a causal relationship here: having premarital sexual partners, especially a lot of them, does in fact undermine the prospect of a successful marriage. Perhaps as people accumulate partners, they find that breakups get easier, develop an “other fish in the sea” mentality, or move into peer groups with weaker marriage norms, any of which might make divorce seem like more of an option”.

“The other possibility is that selection mechanisms might still be driving these differences, but we need to reconsider what those mechanisms are. Maybe there are genetic factors at work, or unmeasured psychological traits such as hypersexuality that contribute to both promiscuity and divorce”.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of a Nicaraguan bishop who was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment after refusing to leave the country for exile insisting he wanted to be with his people.

Mr Martin said he was “gravely concerned” about Bishop Rolando Álvarez (56) and the wider crackdown in the Central American country under authoritarian leader Daniel Ortega.

It comes as the regime announced a new ban on public processions for the ‘way of the cross’, a popular devotion in the mainly-Catholic country.

Mr Martin insisted that the Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the bishop’s detention “and continues to call for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as that of all other remaining political prisoners”.

“The continued human rights violations, crackdowns on opposition voices, on civil society and on independent media, together with backsliding on democratic norms, are unacceptable,” Mr Martin said in a written answer to a question from Laois-Offaly independent TD Carol Nolan.

A leading voice in Catholic education has welcomed the dropping of references to gender being “experienced along a spectrum” from the new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum following consultation with the public. SPHE includes Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE).

The idea is part of a radical theory that says a person’s ‘gender’ has no necessary connection with their biological sex.

CEO of the Catholic Education Partnership Alan Hynes told The Irish Catholic that they’re “glad to see that the final draft reflects some of our concerns and observations” regarding the proposals for the new curriculum.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) agreed to change a “learning outcome” in a draft for the new SPHE curriculum, according to papers seen by The Sunday Times over the weekend.

“Like ourselves, I think parents will be satisfied that the concerns that they communicated to the NCCA through the consultation process have been attended to,” Mr Hynes said, continuing, “this was important as parents are the primary educators of their children and their views on questions of morals and values are of paramount importance within the education system”.

A Belgian woman who murdered her five children in a case that shocked the country has been euthanised at her own request, 16 years to the day after their killing, her lawyer has said.

Genevieve Lhermitte killed her son and four daughters aged three to 14 at the family home in the town of Nivelles on 28 February 2007, while their father was away.

She then tried to take her own life but the attempt failed and she ended up calling the emergency services.

Lhermitte was sentenced to life in prison in 2008, before being moved to a psychiatric hospital in 2019.

The 56-year-old’s lawyer Nicolas Cohen confirmed to AFP reports in local media that his client had died through euthanasia on the 16th anniversary of the killings on Tuesday.

Belgian law allows for people to chose to be euthanised if they are deemed to be suffering from “unbearable” psychological, and not just physical, suffering that cannot be healed.

The person must be conscious of their decision and be able to express their wish in a reasoned and consistent manner.

Journalist, playwright, author and feminist Mary Kenny has had her invitation to speak at a conference organised by the University of Limerick revoked.

Kenny, who was a founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, was due to deliver a presentation as keynote speaker on the evolution of feminism titled ‘The Media and Feminism over six decades to coincide with International Women’s Day’.

The International Women’s Day Conference 2023 is hosted by the University itself, rather than any student body. Marketing materials urge readers to “imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated”, and then adds: “Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #EmbraceEquity”.

Her invitation was rescinded by the University following complaints about her stance on gender ideology, a stance common to many other feminists who reject the idea that biological sex and gender are unrelated.

University administrators were put under pressure by militants and caved into demands that she be disinvited from the March 8 event.

Commenting on the decision, Kenny said that the organising committee at the university was “put under enormous pressure” to cancel her and that it was “a pity not to have open discourse” but that the “objectors seem highly sensitive to that suggestion”.