Chlamydia cases this year are up 43 per cent on the same period last year, while gonorrhoea cases have almost doubled (up 95 per cent), according to the latest figures published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

Young people aged 15 to 24, and gay and bisexual men, are most affected. The biggest increase in notifications was in women aged 20 to 24.

Over half of chlamydia cases and almost 40 per cent of gonorrhoea cases are in those aged 15 to 24. Similar trends are being observed in Northern Ireland.

“Young women are biologically more vulnerable in terms of catching bacterial STIs,” according to Prof Ina Park of University of California San Francisco’s school of medicine. “The cervix has a greater quantity of certain cell types that are targets for gonorrhoea/chlamydia in particular”.

“Men who have sex with men are also more likely to acquire STIs, due to higher rates of infections in their sexual networks and higher numbers of partners than men who only have sex with women.”

The PSNI has said it will not arrest pro-life clerics giving sermons against abortion whose churches happen to lie within abortion exclusion zones.

The zones of 100-250m, which includes a prohibition against silent prayer, are now in place across Northern Ireland. Criminal sanctions apply to any breach of the law.

One zone in Belfast covers two churches, a planned mosque and an Orange hall.

However, the PSNI has now said preaching or praying against abortion within such a church will not be criminalised.

Police advised the Belfast News Letter: “Safe Access Zones only apply to the strictly designated public space areas. Places of worship within a Safe Access Zone are not public areas.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health the zones apply to the public areas, not to private premises including churches.

However, she said, “anyone living, working in or visiting private properties within the Safe Access Zone will be required to abide by the zone requirements when in the designated public spaces.”

In response, the group Abolish Abortion NI noted how this could impede church-goers.

“It appears that this totalitarian imposition interferes with the free expression and religious activities that are conducted outside of their premises,” the spokesman said. “This is a clear violation of freedom of expression.”

Parents of pupils at Catholic primary schools, as well as potential incoming parents, are to be surveyed to assess the level of support for changing to a multi-denominational ethos.

A recent pilot initiative aimed at delivering multi-denominational schooling options in eight areas resulted in a distinct lack of local support and only two schools transferred from Catholic patronage.

Nonetheless, the Department of Education secretary general Bernie McNally told the annual conference of Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) that the Department is looking at running an online parental survey of Catholic primary schools regarding reconfiguration.

“This would be for parents of children in the school and also potential incoming parents,” she said.

“As part of this process, it is our intention to keep school staff informed as the process progresses. We are currently examining the best ways of providing specific information directly to all staff.”

She added that the Department was conscious of the need to give concise information to parents, school staff and the wider community.

The Department of Foreign Affairs gave €300,000 of taxpayers’ money to the world’s largest abortion lobby group last year under the aegis of ‘international development aid’.

The information was contained in a reply to a parliamentary question of Fine Gael TD, Alan Dillon, who asked for the breakdown of overseas development assistance given by the State. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is listed as having received €300,000.

The move has been denounced by the Pro-Life Campaign.

“Planned Parenthood is a fervently pro-abortion NGO based in the United States which has aggressively pushed for extreme abortion policies globally. The minister for foreign affairs and Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, also spoke in the Dáil on 28 September about how the Irish government works with the Clinton Foundation towards furthering ‘women’s reproductive rights’, which is a mealy-mouth way of talking about abortion”, a spokesperson said.

“Serious questions need to be raised about the reckless spending of the Irish state on well-heeled NGOs which promote extreme pro-abortion policies. This has been particularly evident in African nations, where the US and other Western Powers have adopted a policy of offering ‘foreign aid’ in exchange for a liberalisation of these respective countries’ abortion policies”.

She added: “A strong opponent to this neo-colonial interference has been Obianuju Ekeocha of Culture of Life Africa, who will be speaking at the PLC’s National Conference in October”.

Christians in the Holy land must be free to worship without the threat of violence or provocation, the Tánaiste has said.

Mícheal Martin told The Irish Catholic he is “concerned by the increasing acts of violence against Christians in the Old City of Jerusalem”.

He added that the “imposition of restrictions on non-Jewish religious ceremonies” is also concerning.

“Ireland – and indeed the EU and the UN Security Council – has been consistently clear in insisting that the status quo of the holy sites must be respected.

“Furthermore, peaceful worshippers must be allowed to exercise their right to freedom of religion and worship freely and without threats, violence or provocation,” he said in his statement.

Green Party Minister Catherine Martin has welcomed plans by the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) to reconsider the use of the National Stadium by Christian groups opposed to aspects of the new Social Personal and Health (SPHE) curriculum, including gender ideology. The move is being seen by many Christians as an attempt to crack down on opposition to the State programme.

The probe follows an “SPHE information evening” held at the stadium. It was organised by Christian Voice Ireland, a coalition of Evangelical Christian groups and churches. A similar event was held at the stadium in July, but this time activists contacted the IABA to protest against the event.

The use of the stadium for the event was questioned by far-left TD Mick Barry, who asked whether the IABA are “not concerned that their own Diversity and Inclusion Policy, which includes LGBTQ people, is being breached by hiring the hall out to this particular church?”

In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for the IABA said the event did not reflect its views and confirmed that it would investigate the use of the stadium.

Minister Martin – whose department holds the sports brief – welcomed the association’s review of how the stadium was used.

“They weren’t aware of the exact use of it and I’m glad that they have said that they’d keep a much closer eye on their leasing arrangements,” she said in response to questions from The Journal.

“I think that is welcome.”

The failure to consult parents about new regulations on Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) in the North has caused “massive anger,” according to Baroness Nuala O’Loan.

Writing in the Irish Catholic, the former Police Ombudsman said education is a devolved matter for the Assembly and when a law was introduced in Westminster in June without any prior consultation, providing that pupils must be made aware of abortion access, it provoked anger among the parents.

She described this as “typical of the contempt with which the government treats the people of the North now”.

Encouraging parents to participate in the Department for Education’s consultation on guidance and support material, Baroness O’Loan said that it “will give people an opportunity to challenge what has happened, to call for clear, unqualified parental rights to withdraw children and for the provision of information which really is clear, scientific and accurate”.

Pro-life work will continue in Northern Ireland despite the arrival of so-called “Safe Access Zones”, according to one prominent advocate.

The exclusion zones come into effect today and are designed to stop any pro-life presence outside hospitals and clinics that provide abortion.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Director of Precious Life, Bernadette Smyth said that while they will need to be more “creative” with regards to their work and that they may have to do things differently, they’re “not going away”.

She also raised an apparent inconsistency between the operation of exclusion zones in England and Wales in contrast to Northern Ireland.

“In early September, the UK home secretary Suella Braverman announced that silent prayer near abortion facilities is not a crime in the UK. That really encouraged us because she has written to every police force in the country to clarify that silent prayer, in itself, is not unlawful,” Ms Smyth said.

“I have written to my MP, Ian Paisley Jr, and I’ve asked for clarity regarding this statement by the home secretary. Does this apply to Northern Ireland?”

“We need clarity from our MPs, . . . that we can continue, even if it’s silent prayer.”

A bill to create exclusion zones around medical facilities that provide or administer abortions has passed its first vote on its way to becoming law. Very few countries have national laws preventing pro-life activities near centres that conduct abortions.

The Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023 was approved in the Dáil by 113 to 10 votes.

It will now go to a committee stage to be examined in far greater detail.

Responding to the vote, a spokesperson for Aontú said “Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, Labour and PbP have voted on mass for censorship zones around all abortions clinics in Ireland”, adding: “the right to peaceful respectful protest is being eroded”.

The Pro-Life Campaign said it was “tragic that such a regressive and draconian piece of legislation as the #SafeAccessZonesBill was rail-roaded through the Dáil”.

“We owe a lot of gratitude to the 10 TDs who bravely voted against it.

“Once the unintended consequences and discriminatory nature of this law is realised, many government TDs may start to have buyer’s remorse”.

Public health doctors have expressed concern about unprecedented levels of the sexually transmitted infections chlamydia and gonorrhoea in the Mid West so far this year.

Last year 798 cases of chlamydia were recorded – a 20% increase on 2019 – while 188 cases of gonorrhoea were also recorded – a 41% increase on 2019.

These were the highest numbers recorded for both infections over the past ten years.

So far this year, 664 cases of chlamydia have been recorded and 274 cases of gonorrhoea.

Dr Kenneth Beatty described the rising incidence as “an issue of public health concern”.

“For males and females, chlamydia and gonorrhoea can lead to painful inflammatory diseases, which can lead to infertility,” he said.

He said that wearing a condom correctly and availing of frequent testing is “the most practical way” to prevent infections.