The wording of the Government’s proposed children’s rights referendum could have legal effects “well beyond those indicated by the Government” according to Professor William Binchy of Trinity College Dublin. Professor Binchy, an acknowledged authority on family and constitutional law, said the proposed wording “raises several important questions of interpretation”. He said that the wording could...

The Catholic bishops are to examine the wording of the proposed children’s rights amendment but will not issue a statement about it until after their March quarterly meeting at the earliest. A spokesman for the Bishops made the comment after the wording of the proposed amendment was announced on Monday. Announcing the amendment, which will...

The PDs should “honour and respect religious practice and conviction”, and be prepared to work with the Churches “as partners in social action”, Tanaiste Michael McDowell has said. He was speaking at last weekend’s annual conference of the Progressive Democrats and was responding to a talk by David Quinn, the Director of The Iona Institute....

The Director of The Iona Institute was a guest speaker at the annual conference of the Progressive Democrats last Saturday. He urged the PDs to develop closer ties to the Churches, and also to develop a family policy that favoured marriage, while also assisting all families in need. Talk to the National Conference of the...

Ireland’s children receive a pass mark in terms of child welfare, according to a major new UN report. The study, carried out by Unicef, the UN body with responsibility for children, shows that Ireland is in the middle of the league table of industrialised countries. Research was carried out in 21 of the countries which...

A final wording for the Government’s proposed referendum on children’s rights has been decided upon, it emerged yesterday. The wording will be published on Monday. The wording includes a proposal to allow the Gardai, health authorities and voluntary groups to share “soft information” in the vetting of adults working with children. The information would include...

Richard Bruton, the Finance spokesman for Fine Gael, and Joan Burton, Labour’s Finance spokeswoman, poured scorn on the proposal to scrap the credit, which is worth E770 a year to stay-at-home spouses. Ms Burton said that under the current tax regime, “dramatic transfers” were taking place from families with children to dual income families, many...

Divorce rates in the US continue to rise among those who have a poor educational background, new research from the University of Maryland has found. While the average divorce rate in America peaked thirty years ago and has declined slightly since then, this latest study shows that this is not true for all sections of...

The Catholic Church in Scotland has decided to fight new legislation which forces them to consider homosexual couples as potential adoptive parents. In what could prove to be a significant change of tactics, the Church has decided not to close down its adoption agencies in Scotland. Instead, they plan to carry on until they are...

The Government’s controversial tax individualisation scheme has been branded unfair by the main Opposition parties. Labour and Fine Gael have both pointed to a growing income gap between homes with a stay-at-home spouse and those where both spouses are working. While the measure, which was designed to encourage stay-at-home mothers into the workforce, was controversial...