Press Releases

Government should heed new poll showing big majority of voters want more support for stay-at-home parents

Press release from The Iona Institute  August 23, 2017 – A new poll in the Irish Daily Mail today shows that two-thirds of voters believe the Government should give stay-at-home mothers at least the same financial support as parents who go out to work. The poll comes as Children’s Minister, Katherine Zappone presses ahead with plans...

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New CSO survey reveals huge preference for parental care over creche-care for small children

A new CSO module on childcare reveals a huge preference among parents for minding their pre-school and primary school children at home. The module reveals that only a small minority of parents wish to place their children into a creche, Montessori, or some similar arrangement despite the growing Government preference for this kind of childcare....

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Public split down the middle on Good Friday drinking laws says new opinion poll

Press release from The Iona Institute  Public split down the middle on Good Friday drinking laws says new opinion poll June 19, 2017 – The public is split almost exactly 50/50 on whether or not we should change our Good Friday drinking laws. The poll, conducted by Amarach Research, was commissioned by The Iona Institute....

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Coppinger Bill would destroy denominational education

Press release from The Iona Institute  Coppinger Bill would destroy denominational education May 16, 2017 The ‘Equal Participation in Schools Bill’ proposed by Ruth Coppinger TD would have the effect of destroying denominational education in Ireland, the Iona Institute has said today. The Bill would take away the right of such schools to have a...

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TDs urge Government to recognise ISIS actions against religious minorities as ‘genocide’

Press release from The Iona Institute  TDs call on Government to recognise ISIS persecution of religious minorities as genocide May 2, 2017 – A group of 22 TDs and Senators have written to Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, asking that he and the Government recognise as genocide what is being perpetrated by...

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Bruton speech latest in a series of moves against faith schools

Press release from The Iona Institute  Bruton speech latest in a series of moves against faith schools January 16, 2016 – The speech delivered today by Education Minister, Richard Bruton, signalling changes to the admissions policy of faith schools, is part of a wider pattern of moves against faith schools, The Iona Institute has said. It...

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Only 17pc of mothers want to work full-time

Press release from The Iona Institute  Only 17pc of mothers want to work full-time Public more likely to say stay-at-home mothers are undervalued Zappone child-care policy out of step with public opinion December 7, 2016 – Only 17 percent of mothers with children under the age of 17 would opt for full-time work if given a totally...

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Commission proposals another attack on ethos of faith schools

Press Release from the Iona Institute Commission proposals another attack on ethos of faith schools November 17, 2016 – A new submission from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in response to the ‘Education (Admissions to Schools) Bill 2016’ amounts to an attack on the rights and ethos of faith schools of all types,...

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Plan for subsidised childcare is inherently unfair and unjust

Press Release from the Iona Institute Plan for subsidised childcare is inherently unfair and unjust State must support choices of all parents not just day-care September 16, 2016–  Reports that the State is considering a “radical new plan for subsidising childcare” are extremely concerning because if the State goes down this path, then it will...

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Proposal to reduce time for RE is another attack on denominational schools

Press Release from the Iona Institute Proposal to reduce time for RE is another attack on denominational schools July 26, 2016 – A draft proposal by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to reduce the two and a half hours allocated by primary schools each week to the teaching of religion is another...

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