Earlier this month saw the publication of the latest PISA results by the OECD. These measure the performance of 15-year-old school pupils in reading, mathematics and science. The results badly weaken the case of those who say the teaching of religion in our schools is dragging down academic standards because Ireland ranks well in the...
Unnoticed and unreported by most of the world’s media, on November 24 a group of several thousand pro-choice demonstrators decided to descend on the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in the city of San Juan, Argentina. What resulted is deeply disturbing to put it at its very mildest. The women had taken part in an annual...
Pure in Heart is a Catholic organisation devoted to promoting chastity in schools. Among other things, this means waiting until you are married before you have sex. Needless to say, a lot of people today don’t like this message but this doesn’t mean Pure in Heart don’t have a right to teach it. However, some...
Are some in the media beginning to understand that the sexual revolution isn’t an unalloyed good? Today’s Irish Independent ran a column by Sinead Moriarty suggesting that rising levels of STIs, abortion and depression among young people means we should look again at what our culture is telling young people about sex. She discussed the...
John Waters has written an excellent piece in the Irish Times about the disturbing case of an Italian woman who was forced to undergo a Caesarian section and had her child forcibly removed and given up for adoption against her will. He writes: “A pregnant woman, who travels from one European country to another to...
Marc Coleman had two interesting guests on his show on Sunday night arguing against gay adoption. One was Kate Bopp, a blogger who was also on Prime Time last week about the same issue. The other was Robert Oscar Lopez, a lecturer in English in the US who was raised by a lesbian couples and...
Earlier this week, the UK Supreme Court ruled that a Christian couple, Peter and Hazelmary Bull running a bed and breakfast were not entitled to deny a gay couple the use of a double room because such an action amounted to discrimination. In this blog, British barrister, Jon Holbrook argues that the ruling is draconian...
On Tuesday night the issue of adoption by same-sex couples was debated on Prime Time in front of a studio audience. Dr John Murray representing The Iona Institute was one of the panellists. A key moment came when Dr Murray directly challenged Grainne Healy of Marriage Equality to say...
Prior to the last General Election in Britain, then Tory leader, and now Prime Minister, David Cameron made great play out of being pro-family and pro-marriage. He boasted that bolstering families would be one of his priorities in fixing what he called “Broken Britain” and, specifically, he promised that he would, if elected, deliver a...
In practically every sphere from gender equality to poverty reduction, Sweden seems to top the world league. But there is growing evidence that all is not well in the Secular Paradise. For example, a 2006 investigation by the Swedish government reveals that in regard to mental health problems among teenagers, Sweden fares more poorly than...
