About the Iona Institute

The Iona Institute promotes the place of marriage and religion in society. We defend the continued existence of publicly-funded denominational schools. We also promote freedom of conscience and religion. The Iona Institute is headed by religious and social affairs commentator, David Quinn.

Latest News

Iona director addresses Brussels conference on religion and the EU

The Director of The Iona Institute, David Quinn, was one of the speakers at a conference on religion and the EU organised by Fine Gael MEP, Gay Mitchell, that took place on Wednesday in the parliament building of the European Union in Brussels. The conference, attended by roughly 200 people including MEPs, parliamentary staff and lobbyists, was called ‘Unity in Diversity: What role for religious belief following the Lisbon treaty’. The other speakers were the President of the Italian Senate, Marcello Pera, and Mr Jorge Cesar das Neves, adviser to the European Commission on the EU’s dialogue with religions, Churches, and ‘communities of conviction’.
Read more »


Get Church out of primary schools, head of Euro think tank says

The Catholic Church should be removed from its role in primary education as a matter of urgency, a former general secertary of the Labour Party has said. Speaking at the Leviathan political cabaret in Dublin last night, Brendan Halligan, now chairman of the Institute of International and European Affairs, said there should be full seperation of Church and State. “No question they should be taken out of primary education as soon as possible. We need proper and thorough complete separation of church and State,” Mr Halligan said
Read more »


Most Recent Blog Article

Guess what? Abstinence programmes work

There is hard evidence that in Africa abstinence and fidelity programmes are effective in the fight against HIV/AIDS. (See ‘The Invisible Cure’ by Helen Epstein). Therefore, why should it surprise us that abstinence programmes in Western countries are also successful? Actually, what Epstein catalogues in her excellent book is the tremendous resistance on the part of many Western aid workers to the evidence that ABC programmes (‘Abstain’, ‘Be faithful’, use a ‘Condom’) actually work. As such worker put it, they didn’t want to “give succour” to Christians.
Read more »


Events

Dec
09

Making Babies: a conference on the ethics of Assisted Human Reproduction

Half-day conference from 2pm to 4.30pm in the Georgian Suite of Buswells hotel. The Main Speaker will be Breda O'Brien

Nov
16

Studies/Iona Institute lecture: 'The place of religion within the European Union'

November 16 2009, at 8pm, former Taoiseach and current representative of the European Union in Washington, John Bruton, will deliver a talk called ‘The place of religion within the European Union’.


Follow Iona on Twitter