In 2021, it was recommended that the Committee be established to undertake an in-depth examination of the topic after an earlier piece of legislation, proposed by Socialist TD, Gino Kenny, was shelved.

The appointment of Deputy Healy-Rae as Chair of the new committee is based on the rotation system regarding chairmanships that operates in the Oireachtas between the various political parties and groupings.

The names of other committee members have still to be released but is expected to be heavily weighted in favour of euthanasia.

A sacristan was killed and a priest wounded during a suspected terrorist attack Wednesday on two Catholic churches in Spain.

The suspect is a 25-year-old Moroccan man who was due to be deported from the country, police said yesterday.

He was arrested on Wednesday evening after a machete attack on several people at the churches of San Isidro and Nuestra Senora de La Palma, around 300 metres (1,000 feet) apart, in the southern port city of Algeciras.

Police said they took the suspect to his home overnight for detectives to conduct a search.

He was expected to be transferred to the Spanish capital Madrid to appear before a High Court judge on terrorism charges at a time to be confirmed, police and court spokespeople said.

A police source denied local media reports that the suspect had been under surveillance by security operatives in the days or months before the attack.

Mayor José Antonio Landaluce said the attacker’s knife narrowly missed the priest’s spinal cord. “He lost a lot of blood, the stretcher was soaked with blood but if everything goes well he could be discharged today at the end of the day,” he told TVE.

The US Department of Justice on Tuesday indicted two suspects accused of vandalising three pro-life pregnancy centres in Florida in June 2022 in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The centres, also known as crisis pregnancy centres, provide free services and resources to pregnant women, including alternatives to abortion.

One centre in Winter Haven, Florida, was spray-painted with several threatening messages including “YOUR TIME IS UP!!,” “WE’RE COMING for U,” “if abortions aren’t safe than niether [sic] are you,” and “We are everywhere.”

Some pro-life activists were grateful for the indictment but expressed frustration about the length of time it took to indict the suspects and the lack of arrests in other attacks on pro-life pregnancy centres throughout the country.

The indictments represent the first suspects known to have been arrested in attacks on pro-life pregnancy centres since a rash of incidents of vandalism began in 2022 including one centre in Wisconsin which was firebombed.

CNA has independently tracked and confirmed nearly 60 attacks nationwide on pro-life pregnancy centres since May 2022.

Templeogue College, an all-boys secondary school, has been at the centre of grievances aired at the Workplace Relations Commission regarding a range of issues.

Among them, last month two dozen teachers raised concerns about a “non-inclusive culture” regarding LGBT issues and the taking down of a Pride flag in the school canteen.

A recent controversy over the handling of a rainbow flag raised “deep value conflict concerns” and words like “bullying, victimisation, gaslighting” have been used on all sides.

The mediator’s report includes a number of recommendations, including the creation of a “charter for shared future” and facilitated sessions to deal with challenging issues.

In light of the flag controversy, it says there is an “urgent” need to clearly articulate the values and approach of the school with the Spiritans, board and school community.

No one should be arrested because of their thoughts or prayers, according to the leader of the DUP as he challenged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on abortion clinic exclusion zones.

He was speaking after his party hosted a woman who was arrested for praying silently inside a protest exclusion zone near a Birmingham abortion clinic.

Jeffrey Donaldson asked the Prime Minister to review such laws and ensure that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are “beacons of religious freedom” across the world.

Mr Sunak replied that the matters were under discussion in Parliament.

Meanwhile, ADF International, which fights for religious freedom and is supporting the woman who was arrested, said Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was criminally charged, “for simply praying in her head outside a closed abortion facility, when no service-users were around”.

“To be able to pray – think – in one’s head is a core human right which is fundamental to everybody, no matter their view on abortion. We urge the Prime Minister to revisit the issues raised by Clause 9 of the Public Order Bill, which go far beyond proportionate condemnation of harassment or obstruction at the entrances of abortion facilities”.

Parents are far more interested in seeing their kids be financially independent or in a fulfilling career than be married or have children, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

The analysis is based on interviews with 3,757 U.S. parents with children under age 18.

When asked about their aspirations for their children when they reach adulthood, parents prioritise financial independence and career satisfaction. Roughly nine-in-ten parents say it’s extremely or very important to them that their children be financially independent when they are adults, and the same share say it’s equally important that their children have jobs or careers they enjoy. About four-in-ten (41%) say it’s extremely or very important to them that their children earn a college degree, while smaller shares place a lot of importance on their children eventually becoming parents (20%) and getting married (21%).

Japan’s prime minister says his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate.

Fumio Kishida said it was a case of “now or never.”

Japan – population 125 million – is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 births last year. In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million.

The issue is particularly acute in Japan as life expectancy has risen so that there are a growing number of older people, and a declining number of workers to support them.

“Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society,” Mr Kishida told lawmakers.

“Focusing attention on policies regarding children and child-rearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed.”

He said that he eventually wants the government to double its spending on child-related programmes. A new government agency to focus on the issue would be set up in April, he added.

However, Japanese governments have tried to promote similar strategies before, without success.

Europe’s top rights court told Russia on Tuesday it must recognise same-sex marriages, in a ruling likely to have an impact on many other member countries of the Council of Europe.

The European Court of Human Rights sided with three gay couples who had asked for the recognition of their relationships but were denied by Russian authorities. Other countries such as Poland, Ukraine and Hungary also do not extend marriage-like rights to same-sex couples.

The ruling states that countries have an obligation to make the legal protections of marriage available to same-sex couples.

Less than 15 years ago, the Strasbourg-based court concluded in another landmark ruling that the European Convention of Human Rights allows for gay marriage but does not require it. Now the court claims that consensus on the issue has shifted sufficiently that it is no longer optional.

“The Convention is a living instrument which must be interpreted in the light of present-day conditions,” the judges wrote.

Of the Council of Europe’s 46 member states, 30 countries offer same-sex couples either marriage or an equal form of legal partnership. The remaining 16 offer no such legal standing for gay couples. It remains to be seen if the other 16 countries comply.

Allowing children to opt out of an updated Junior Cycle sex education syllabus dealing with issues such as pornography and gender identity may prove a challenge that could pit students’ rights against the rights of parents, according to a consultation report.

The comments are contained in a public consultation document by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) on its proposed revamp of the Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum for Junior Cycle pupils.

The report noted a wide spectrum of parents’ views, some of whom stated their intent to withdraw their children from all SPHE classes in the event of the full revised specification being implemented.

It said one dimension of this tension is “students’ right to a broad and balanced education, including comprehensive health education, balanced against the right of parents to withdraw their child from SPHE”.

The handling of the Enoch Burke case has caused some concern with teacher unions over aspects of how the case was managed and the grounds on which he was dismissed.

Mr Burke, who was employed as a German and history teacher at Wilson’s Hospital School, in Co Westmeath, was formally dismissed from his post on Friday afternoon following a dispute stemming ultimately from his refusal to use new gender pronouns for a pupil pursuing a gender transition.

The Irish Times is reporting that there is unease over the manner and speed at which he was dismissed. One senior union source expressed concern at whether a precedent could be set in the handling of his case. “We’re not involved in this case in any way, but we are concerned about the wider issue of teachers’ rights and we haven’t seen details about the grounds on which the dismissal took place,” the person said.

Another union source said: “You would wonder at the speed at which the dismissal took place. It took place the day after the disciplinary hearing, which is very unusual. If this goes to an appeal, you can expect that every aspect of the process will be examined in minute detail.”

Sources commented that dismissals in the case of a teacher or principal with no prior conduct or performance issues have typically involved gross misconduct such as theft. “In cases such as performance or conduct, an outcome such as a suspension or retraining would be more likely, especially following a disciplinary appeals panel hearing,” said one source.