Six far-left TDs protested the recitation of a prayer before yesterday’s Dáil session by remaining firmly seated throughout its duration. This violated the protocol of standing respectfully while the Ceann Comhairle recits the prayer. TDs are also required to stand during the new 30 second period of reflection, introduced to appease those of no religion. However, some of the protesting TDs held aloft posters stating “Separate Church and State” even during this silent time. The TDs want the prayer to be abolished entirely. The prayer states: “Direct we beseech thee O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspiration, and carry them on so that every word and work of ours may always begin from Thee and by Thee be happily ended.”
The Archbishop of Armagh, Eamon Martin, has said decades of work by priests and religious in education and healthcare are being “almost obliterated by a revised and narrow narrative that religious ethos cannot be good for democracy”. The Archbishop was speaking at the University of East Anglia in England on Monday night where he delivered a lecture on The Church in the Public Sphere – a perspective from Ireland. He said there was a view that religious ethos stands “against the progress and flourishing of society and the rights of citizens” and there was a belief that things related to faith were “unconnected with reason”, when, in fact, “every Catholic position on concrete morals is argued from reason even when there exists a biblical warrant for that position.” Archbishop Martin said the Church has no desire for a theocracy in Ireland, North or South. “However, the church does expect that in a true pluralist democracy or republic, religion and faith will continue to have an important part to play in the national conversation.”
A company in Australia has come up with a macabre ‘solution’ to the problem of leftover embryos of IVF cycles. For parents who are reluctant to freeze or destroy their embryonic children, they might now instead craft them into bespoke jewellery pieces. Amy McGlade, founder of Baby Bee Hummingbird, said since starting in 2014, they have crafted over 4000 pieces of jewellery, including 50 made with embryos. “I don’t believe there is any other business in the world that creates jewellery from human embryos, and I firmly believe that we are pioneering the way in this sacred art, and opening the possibilities to families around the world.” She added: “We knew the costs of storage are huge, and donation isn’t always possible or wanted solution. The families we craft for are very educated, loving people who are aware of the options. What a better way to celebrate your most treasured gift, your child, than through jewellery?” One such happy customer is Belinda Stafford who had seven leftover embryos crafted into a pendant which she wears around her neck. “My embryos were my babies – frozen in time. When we completed our family, it wasn’t in my heart to destroy them. Now they are forever with me in a beautiful keepsake.”
A General Scheme of legislation dealing with Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) and Surrogacy is being worked on in the Department of Health and should be ready by June according to Minister for Health, Simon Harris. He told the Dáil that the legislation “will regulate a range of practices for the first time, including: gamete (sperm or egg) and embryo donation for AHR and research; surrogacy; pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of embryos; posthumous assisted reproduction; and stem cell research”. Once the General Scheme is completed, it will be submitted to the Government for cabinet approval and then on to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health for pre-legislative scrutiny.
Dr Martin Mansergh, a leading member of the Church of Ireland and a former senior adviser to successive Fianna Fail Taoisigh has criticised the use of Protestantism by Irish liberals for political purposes. Writing in The Irish Catholic this week, he said that Irish liberals sometimes used Protestants to advance their social agenda without any real “concern for the rights of religious minorities”. He cited opposition to the 8th amendment back in 1983 as an example. In more recent times, he says, Irish liberals’ drive for secularism has usurped that of pluralism, and rendered superfluous even the lip service usually given to minority religious: “Such cover has ceased to be necessary, and advancing secularism has largely discarded pluralism.” Given this new situation, Protestant Bishops are now increasingly left to fend for themselves in defending minority interests: “Church of Ireland bishops have had to point out that the rights of minority denominations to run faith-based schools should not be trampled upon on the basis of some populist surge.”
Fianna Fáil leader, Michael Martin, has declined to say whether he would agree with abortion in the cases of rape and incest. Speaking on Kildare FM, he said: “It’s not a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’; that depends on a number of issues.” He added: “I know people today who are alive whose mothers, in one particular case, was raped. She was the outcome of that and she gets very angry when people suggest she should never have had a life.” Fianna Fáil will allow their members a vote of conscience on the outcome of the deliberations of an Oireachtas committee that will consider the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly. The make-up of that committee is yet to be finalised, though it is expected to include pro-life voices, Deputy Mattie McGrath, TD, and Senator Ronán Mullen.
A provision of an Adoption Bill that would impede adopted children from contacting their birth parents without their permission has come under sustained attack. The Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 contains a provision that adopted children must sign an undertaking not to contact their birth parents if given their birth certificate except in certain circumstances. However, the provision has been fiercely criticised by adopted children. Noelle Brown, who was born in the Bessborough mother and baby home in 1965 and then adopted, said it amounted to a “barbaric piece of legislation”. She said adopted people were entitled to equality and therefore access to their full records. “I want to feel equal to every other citizen in Ireland, and not remain a reminder of our terrible past and one that needs to shut up and get over it,” she said. Adoption Rights Alliance director Susan Lohan said adopted people were entitled to “unconditional and unfettered access” to their documents. She said only adopted people understood the “shattered narrative” of adoption. “It is absolutely vital that this information be given to adopted people in a timely efficient and complete manner,” she told the conference which was organised by the Adoption Rights Alliance. She described the proposed undertaking as “absolutely odious”
The Minister for Education, Richard Bruton’s proposed changes to the admission policies of faith-based schools have come under attack from members of his own party. His proposal would make it impossible for faith-based schools to prioritise the admission of children of their own faith who live beyond the catchment area of the school. At a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, Deputy Colm Brophy and Senator Neale Richmond said the Bill could have unintended implications for minority religious groups, particularly Protestants. Minister Heather Humphreys urged her Cabinet colleague to engage directly with minority religious groupings and warned of unintended consequences for certain schools. Minister Charlie Flanagan told the meeting the proposed legislative changes could be viewed as a threat to the Protestant identity. He said such discussions could potentially have an impact on the political deadlock in Northern Ireland.
