We have cast our eye over the Programme for Government [1] (PFG) and assessed it from the point of view of the issues relevant to The Iona Institute, that is, family policy, the future of Church-run schools, RSE, gender ideology among other things. The good news is that no new referendums are planned, or new Citizens’ Assemblies, and there is no mention of euthanasia or of further liberalising our abortion law. We will look at a few of the other issues raised in the PFG below.
Family policy
The chief bad news is probably that there is basically nothing aimed at stay-at-home mothers specifically. It’s as though we did not vote by an overwhelming margin last year to keep the provision on protecting the mother-in-the-home in the Constitution. The big extra investment planned for daycare clearly means the Government wants all mothers to enter the workplace after the first year of their child’s life, and for all the children to be placed in daycare.
Assisted Human Reproduction/Surrogacy
The Government is pressing on with its ultra-liberal policies in this area which almost totally disregard the importance of the natural ties and of a child’s right to a mother and a father. The wishes of adults are paramount. AHR/surrogacy are simply two more consumer services. International commercial surrogacy will be recognised, something that commodifies babies and exploits women.
RSE/SPHE
The Government believes the current way of teaching Relationships and Sexuality Education is out of date. It is in process of updating RSE for schools. Consent is treated as the only real basis for sexual morality. Relationships, love and marriage are treated as optional extras. The programmes offers no principled reason for believing one-night-stands might not be a good idea. Gender ideology (the belief that your ‘gender’ and biological sex might be different) is to be pushed on students.
The good news is that RSE must still be taught in accordance with school ethos and parental wishes. But will schools have the will to resist what the Government wants, and will parents be properly informed? (See our past submissions on the topic here [2] and here [3]).
Church-run schools
There is to be a stake-holder convention on the future of schools (not to be confused with a Citizens’ Assembly). Further divestment of Catholic schools is sought. The Catholic Church has no objection to this, and the Iona Institute has argued in favour of divestment of a certain number of denominational schools for years, but on the basis that the ethos of the remaining Church-run schools be respected.
Commemoration events: a strange silence on Catholic Emancipation
It seems very strange that the Government wants to run events marking the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, but makes no mention of the looming bicentenary (in 2029) of Catholic Emancipation, which was one of the most important events in either Britain or Ireland in the whole of the 19th Century. Yes, events in the life of Daniel O’Connell will be remembered, but we suspect Catholic Emancipation will be dealt with only fleetingly, even though it was the major achievement of his life. Is the Government reluctant to remind the country of that event at the time when (ironically) the Catholic Church, and religion generally, are being consigned firmly to the private sphere and being increasingly push out of public life?